Originally Posted by fishboat

Some bikes scream for white bar tape and when it's first wrapped on the bars it looks..perfect. Unless the bike is a wall-hanger, then comes the first ride and that lovely white tape just...gets..trashed. From that point on the tape is only white in memory or in your dreams.

Last fall I was looking for some tape that stayed white. I did about as much research as I could on the topic here on BF as well as anywhere else I could think of. I ended up taking someone's advice here (don't remember who) to buy some brand (don't remember which) that stayed white! While I don't remember the brand, I do remember it ran me $30-$35..not crazy expensive, but not cheap in the world of bar tapes. I wear grey-padded riding gloves.

Well..the following two pics are after three rides(approx 140-150 miles total) with the new "stays white!" tape. Actually it looked nearly this bad after the first ride. I tried cleaning the tape after the first ride...zero help. Pretty disgusting.



Then I had an idea to try something else. I wrapped some different tape over the existing ugly tape. The following two pics are after about a dozen rides, maybe 500-600 miles total. I do wipe the tape off after every ride(soapy water, window cleaner..whatever is handy), though I don't really see anything that needs cleaning.




The following is the over-wrap tape I'm using. About $6 a ten foot roll(at Menards). You'll need nearly a full 10 foot roll for each side of your (drop) bars. I've had no issues with it being slick wet or dry. Actually it's a tacky-type surface feel. So far..it works well. It's available at box stores in the electrical dept.