handlebar tape direction
 

hi. does anyone know from which i end i should start the tape? i know it should be tight but it still seems to bunch up AWAY from whichever end i start the wrapping due to hand pressure. if this is just how it is, so be it i just wonder if there is a better end to start, the middle or the very end.

start at the end of the bar. I like to wrap toward the centerline of the bike; bringing everything to center is a little more zen.

Try this - I think it really helps this job: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=71

The Park Tool instructions are good. I've always started wrapping at the end of the bars, but wrapping the opposite direction around the bars (clockwise on the right side when viewed from the back of the bike; the tape is pointing "out" away from the bike when it comes over the top of the bar) because I've found that this way my hands are less likely to curl the edges of the tape as my hands turn on the bars while riding.

+1 Wrapping with the tape going outward may not be "zen" but it goes with the natural twisting tendency of the hand, which keeps you from unwinding the tape as you ride. The one time I did the opposite by mistake, I had edges lifted in a matter of weeks and couldn't stand it.

To sum up what everyone has said before, just tape in the direction your fingers curl as you grasp the bars on the drops right in front of the bar ends. Note the direction is different for the right and left side.

If you use the drops and the tops about an equal amount of time try starting in the middle. Cut the tape roughly 60:40, fasten the 2 pieces of handlebar tape to the sides of the brake lever body (under the hoods) with a couple of bands of electrical tape. Apply the long end of the handlebar tape toward the handlebar stem and the short end toward the handlebar end. The open part of the overlap points away from you and in the direction of the pressure when you lean on the bars, both on the drops and on the tops at the bend behind the brake levers.

It depends if you are in the northern or southern hemisphere