plonz 

I know there will be a lot of personal preferences but I'm looking for generally accepted practice (if there is such a thing)... Are white tape and hoods commonly acceptable or should a contrasting hood be used?

Mr.Peloton

My preference is black hoods with white cork tape, but that's just me.
https://bluestrat.imgur.com/all/

randyjawa 

White on white works for me...

3speedslow

White with contrasting hoods has always been my choice.

sloar 

Not my preference, but it looks nice until you ride it. I normally go all black on an everyday rider.

due ruote 

Nothing wrong with the above choices, but on an older bike I'd go with traditional gum hoods and white cloth, no shellac.

ThermionicScott 

I like white tape with white hoods, as long as it's that leather-y kind of tape that resists dirt better than the usual cork tape.

btpdragon

Worked for this guy

RobbieTunes

+1

72Paramount

Good for show, not for go. Gets dirty too easy, but looks great until you ride it once.

cs1

A few squirts of Simple Green on white hoods and they look like new again. No need to use black.

top506

It's OK between Memorial day and Labor Day......and any time on old Schwinns.



Top

richardalan

I enjoy watching white cloth tape dirty over time in contrast with gum hoods, but have thought about doing white/white on a build and wondered about this.

Chombi

my personal experience with white lever hoods:
My Peugeot had sported white hoods and white tape since sometime late 85/early 86 when I lowsided the bike and killed the black Concor Saddle and Spidel lever and hood on the left side and replaced it with Diacompe AGC aero levers with white powder coated levers and white hoods and a white perforated Turbo saddle, and that's how I had it since then and four years ago as it worked out quite well for me. The white lever and hoods also updated the bike nicely to the aero look that bikes were beginning to sport in the mid 80's.



The white hooded AGC's worked well both functionally and aesthetically, blending well with the white bar tape and saddle, so I kept it that way for may years. Fortunately, I never killed them in another crash and although they already turned a bit off-white from age, the white hoods always cleaned up really nice by just scrubbing it with Pledged furniture polish. The hoods also never dried out or rotted, maybe because they were made by Diacompe with a silicone based rubber material.

But recently, after moving my white Turbo saddle on to my other bikes, I've been thinking about changing it back the levers to a pair of Spidel non-aero levers with flesh colored gum hoods for a more appropriate/better matching look look......


Thought of going with my dark anodized levered/white hooded Mavic brake set too, but I think a change from having white hoods after so many years might be refreshing.

SingleTrack86

Up to you really, but I went with a contrasting white & black theme.

John E

The red-with-white Modell Campagnolo would probably be a good candidate for white tape and hoods, but I chickened out because of the dirt visibility issue others have mentioned. The white-with-red Sieger is getting red tape (and red brake cable housing), because its well-preserved clone on eBay looked so good that way. My problem is then what to do about brake hoods (gum? white?), which the eBay one did not have, but which I need for hand comfort.

Chriscraft760 

I recently picked up a frame set that came with used dingy white Campy hoods. So I decided to clean up the white hoods and find some white bar tape. I came across this Cinelli white cork bar tape on the bay and installed them on my Trek. I already had the Cinelli stem and matching Cinelli bars on the bike. My Trek was in need of hoods anyway so these will have to do. I like the way the white bar tape /hoods look on my trek with the white trek decal lettering. I know keeping the cork bar tape/hoods clean will be a challenge, but I will be building a daily rider with dark colored bar tape soon to give this 760 a rest.

KonAaron Snake 

As others have said, it depends on the bike.

This would look wrong with white hoods:



These would look wrong without them:

Johnny Mullet

I prefer the black hoods with white tape. I mostly ride in the hoods anyway and so less cleaning involved.........

callig

White tape gum hoods classic

John E

That does look good!

horatio 

Shimano, yes. Haven't noticed much buildup on my Campy hoods.

Dave Cutter

White tape is classic and looks good with any hood color (or even bare brakes).

67tony 

White on white works well on this Super Sport, in my humble opinion.




I almost used it again, but changed my mind at the last minute.

jyl

I like white tape because it says that you are a leading rider and your pro race mechanic changes your bar tape daily. Black tape says you are the lowliest of domestiques and have to ride the whole race with the same grubby tape.

(Fizik white tape, while not vintage, stays clean and cleans easily. Benotto tape is vintage, and also cleans easily. Cotton tape, if not shellacked, cleans instantly with one pass of a pressure washer. Cork tape is, I find, the hardest to keep clean and white.)

Yellow tape says you are either a poseur or indeed very very fast; you'd better be wearing a yellow jersey too! Pink tape says the same, only in Italian; or, you are a girl and/or your bike is named Sparkle Pony.

Spatter tape is retro groovy, if you're into the mullet sort of thing.

Rainbow tape is just not allowed. Sorry. No, this isn't a homophobia thing.

Brown leather tape says your saddle is worth stealing.

And then there is the harlequin tape which says you are a very obsessive person.