In my experience, no. The finish is a bit nubbly, same as the cloth tape. Because cloth tape alone is a bit hard, and cork tape alone is a bit susceptible to damage and wear, I put cloth over cork tape and then shellac that. You get the comfort of cork, the nice looks of shellac and the durability of cloth. It's a very good bar tape setup.

By the way, the Tektro levers can definitely take the Cane Creek hoods, and vice versa (I have personally made this swap). They are identical products.

A back brake will come in handy if you take your bike into some trails (and this is fun as hell on a fixed road bike)

Finally, **** is Cinelli cork tape annoying! At least in my own experience, if you don't get it perfectly wrapped on the first try, it tends to disintegrate as you pull it off your bars. It's the opposite of what Laforge was talking about. This just seemed like an appropriate spot to complain about that.