non-fixie 

I wondered about that bar end cap, but in the end I decided this was best for the following reasons:

• the caps are too wide for the bar without the tape
• it fits perfectly over the the tape, which means you can just fold the the remaining inches into the bar and put on the cap
• putting the tape on top means wrapping from bottom to top, and use finishing tape. I don't like finishing tape, prefer the clean look
• many sources claim that Benotto tape should be wrapped top-to-bottom
• and I get to keep all of the length for reuse on another bike.

Anyway, if I / you don't like the look, it's always possible to use a generic, more narrow plug that goes inside the bar. Those cheap chromed plastic ones would probably work quite nicely as well.

As to your question about my source: I got it at a swap meet, so that doesn't help. I checked my parts bin, as I have another set, but that turned out to be the more familiar thin & hard stuff. Have a look at the pic below. The orange tape, with the wafer structure is what I have in blue on the Batavus pictured above. The yellowish tape is what I usually come across.



Pics are borrowed from bike-vintage, where both kinds are for sale, BTW.

noglider 

Never knew of that site. I better stay away!

My McLean is purple with yellow trim, so I'm using yellow handlebar tape.

Back in the day, we would use a match to burn the end of the tape on the underside of the bar (near the stem), causing it to fuse with the rest of the tape. No finishing tape. I learned that matches burn hotter than lighters, as lighters don't do the job as well.

3speedslow

@non-fixie sounds well thought out. Thanks for answering my question. I took a dive into that site, indeed it be dangerous!

I was happy to finally get some rims to go with those Shimano hubs. They were the original ones to the Sekine I am building up again.

CoRide59

I've been trying to put a shorter stem on my Bottecchia. Simple enough job, but it was starting to feel like I'd never be able to finish.

I was looking for a 70mm, or a 65 would do. First find was a lovely 3TTT stem. Looked to be early 70's maybe. Seller listed it as a 26mm clamp which is what I need. It showed up and wouldn't ya know, he miss measured I guess cause my Cinelli 66 wont go in. It's a 25.4. I almost kept the stem, it was really nice, but I don't see myself ever being able to use it so I returned it.

Next was a nice looking Cinelli 1E. It showed up looking good except for a crack in the bar clamp that the seller missed. Another lovely stem that I wish I could have used.

So, in the end I decided on enough of the used stuff. I bought a 70mm Nitto Tecnomic. Never had one of these before so I was a bit concerned about the "Technomic" engraved in the side but it doesn't jump out at me so I'm OK. This is I guess kind of fitting too. I've been putting taller handlebars on a couple of my more sporting motorcycles, trying to alleviate some discomfort from old injuries, so raising the bar on the Botty is just more of the same. First impressions are so good, I might be ordering up a couple more stems!

Doesn't look too goofy, at least the bar is still below the saddle...

Bottecchia by Ed Lutz, on Flickr

jimmuller 

That's a nice looking bike and the stem look right at home. Of course the silver handlebar makes a statement but I'm sure it's just temporary.

CoRide59

Thanks Jim, it's nice to have it back on the road. And yeah, statement or not I'll be wrapping it once I'm sure it's all set like I want it, I hate riding on bare bars.

Prowler 

I've not done this on plastic bar tape but I always do this on electrical tape used for finishing. I always cut the tape so the end is under the bar. Then I take my soldering iron and "dab" a few spots across that final edge - fuses the end to the layer below it. That tape does not loosen and ravel on me. Not enough nerve to use a match.

I wonder how many "young people" these days even have a soldering iron? Throw away society.

Ol Danl

I've been attempting to service the weird bottom bracket in the wife's old bike with cotters and Shimano FF. The cotters came out with little effort, but I need a 22 mm cone wrench to get the spindle out.

RiddleOfSteel

I will be taking pictures of the numerous spare framesets I have and putting them up for sale, along with other components. Maybe cobbling some spare groupsets onto a bike and selling them as a whole. A good bit of work ahead of me, but I really need to clear things out.

Recently, a frameset that I did not want to sell (a 1986 Cannondale SR400 in navy blue metallic) was finally, after some time, rebuilt with full 6400. It rides so well, and complements my '85 ST400 (metallic black). Such great bikes.

non-fixie 

Finally finished this one. At least for now. I may want to redo the paint job later (even after four weeks the paint is not fully cured) and add some decals, but it's good enough for a planned couple of weeks of hilly touring. After the previous test ride I exchanged the saddle (from Brooks Professional to B17 for a saddle bag), the brake levers (from 144's to 162's for the adjusters and quick releases), the cable hangers (from the beautiful Dia Compe hangers with QR to the standard Weinmann stamped items) and the bell (for one with a nicer 'ping').

Also added a couple of light fixtures to fill the holes in the fenders. May add a BB generator later on.

All in all it's now a bike that rides, shifts and brakes like I envisioned, but is best seen in fuzzy phone pics, which is what you'll be getting.

CoRide59

That's very pretty Non-fixie, I like it a lot!

Whats the paint color? I'm trying to come up with a color for a future build I'm thinking of and that could be it.

bikemig 

1972 Fuji Finest, this has been a heck of a project. The bike came to me with almost all original parts. The frame was in good shape, the stem was stuck, and the parts had some rust issues. I'm still dealing with the stuck stem (it's a bear) and there is rust inside the frame as well. An oxalic bath will cure that. Evaporust fixed the small bits. I like the bike but it will take me a while to get that stem out,

CoRide59

Finishing the Bottecchia after changing the stem. New wrap using Cinelli cork.

New Wrap by Ed Lutz, on Flickr

jimmuller 

No pics, just a work report. Spent today cleaning up the Bianchi after yesterday's commute home in the rain. Also glued up two new sew-up wheels for a new and as yet unannounced project. Then started addressing the funky noises coming from the Bianchi's drive train. Hmm, a week or so ago I installed a new big chainring. Today I observed that the chain didn't fit the teeth very well. Measured the chain. Twelve links came out to about 12 1/4 inches. Uh, I guess it's time for a new chain. Also observed that my most-used sprocket wasn't looking to good either. Well, swap chain and sprockets together, I've heard somewhere.

Addendum-de-dum-dum: I needed to get that Bianchi back on the road because it's my prime commuter. I happened to have an appropriate FW, just needed a chain. Hmm, ...rummage through stuff...find an SRAM box with shiny new chain inside! Ah, but it doesn't have enough links. Last year I replaced the tandem's timing chain which is so long it requires two linked together. That SRAM box held what was left over. But wait, I have random fragments from cutting all my other chains down to size...rummage...here they are! One segment of four outer plates, just enough with a power link added. After some fiddling with my chain tool I had the bike back together.

And that is why we never throw small bits away. You never know when they will come in handy.

noglider 

Yesterday was a beautiful day for riding, but I couldn't stop myself from wrenching instead. But I did haul the stand and tools outside so I could do the work there.

I replaced both saddles on our tandem bike. We both hated the saddles we had. Both new saddles came from ebay, used. Hers is a Terry Liberator, and mine is a Specialized Riva (discontinued).

I replaced the bars and stem on my Lemond. This time, I'm using a threadless stem adapter and a threadless stem. I think I got the position right. I took it for a five-mile spin with no handlebar tape. Now the bars are reasonably high and reasonably far forward. Now that I think it's right, I can replace the cables (which are now too short) and re-install the handlebar tape.

thinktubes 

Built up from a bare frame, mostly with parts on hand.

I've taken it on two 40-mile shakedowns. HS and BB both loosened on the first ride. Everything was tight for the second.

3speedslow

^^^ was that the Superior that came up for sale recently? Great to see it out!

I strayed from building the Winter bike to get this up and running for fall.

Quite a hoot!

greg3rd48 

I am FINALLY getting around to the last stages of completing my '78 Fuji Newest rebuild thanks to @noglider for helping me through my first wheel building project. Everything is almost back together aside from dialing everything in, bar tape and new brake pads. I promised myself within two weeks... We shall see.

thinktubes 

It be.

Did a quick build to confirm fit and feel. Definitlely a keeper!

3speedslow

A keeper indeed! How far are you going to go with the rehab?

thinktubes 

Not far. The only thing that might change at this point is the stem.

Love the original color and patina.

CoRide59

"Winterizing" my early 90's Specialized Epic lugged carbon bike.

In this case winterizing means taking off the nice comfy 25mm Vittoria tires and latex tubes, and putting on the skinny 23's with normal tubes. All in preparation for winter roller riding. Probably kidding myself that I'll actually ride the rollers enough for it to matter, but I don't want to wear/waste the good tires on the rollers.

The rear wheel has a bit of a warp in it, so before putting it all back together I'll spend some truing stand time and get it back where it should be.

16Victor

2002 Subaru WRX, my son's car. He wants to rallycross it. I want to ride my Paramount and put finishing touches on milady's Vitus 979.

2cam16

Sweet.

16Victor

2cam16... Maybe you can figure out where my user name came from.