Originally Posted by
bulgie
They were not stitched; they were molded in the shape you see with FAKE stitching molded in.
As to whether they were rubber -- that word gets used for a lot of things that never came from a rubber tree. I'm no expert but I would assume they are some kind of petroleum-based plastic, but definitely a rubbery feel. I wouldn't mind if someone called them rubber. They give a slight amount of cushioning, less than say Cinelli cork or some other padded tapes, but better than unpadded tape.
BTW I think the ones in the photo from
randyjawa have normal bands holding the levers on -- not riv-nuts. I'm pretty sure I can see the bulge in the rubber where the band is underneath. Unless I'm imagining it...
Mark B in Seattle
I don't think you're imagining it, unless the power of suggestion has me seeing them too.
On purchase, the bars were wrapped with Cinelli cork tape. So, a previous owner dispatched with the rubber sleeves. I've not seen "soft-stitched sleeve" handlebars in the wild and I imagined they were a bit more "luxe"-- like the leather sleeves VeloOrange was selling a while back. A bit of a let down. My only point of reference for this bike are the catalogs available online-- I believe you may have posted many of them, Thank you. In any case, I won't worry about restoring that original detail.
Cheers