Plain cloth feels nicer. I removed the shellacked cloth from my Cinelli and went for plain cloth for my last back-to-back century and I was glad I did. I've tried lots of different tapes and I have non-cloth tape on some of my bikes because it doesn't look right on every bike, but I find one layer of cloth tape is still the most comfortable - I don't like it when the bar gets too fat. I've also found that the kind of cloth tape you use makes a difference. So far I still like Cat-eye the best, it's just a shame it's not available in more colours.