What did you remove? That was perfect!

I think Chombi had it right in his outline, though the plastic tape certainly was in use earlier, and the British had these rubber sleeves they seemed to like.

Back in the 70s, we'd just keep adding on the cloth tape over the old when it got torn or dirty. By the time you got 5 or 6 layers on there it was really comfortable. I like the padded vinyl now, hate the cork. My main bike had cork and I just added padded vinyl over it.

And I think using the foam tubes was a grass roots invention. Late 60s, early 70s we'd get a length of pipe insulation at the hardware store and use that, under plastic usually.