1970’s Road Bike Bar Tape
 

Hi. I am renovating a 1970’s Road Bike (AMR frame)

I just wondered if anyone could recommend handle bar tape to keep as original as possible.

Apparently before 1975 inch it should be cotton bar tape.

Or Mid 1975 it could be padded Synthetic Tape

Thanks.

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the preeminent brand of cotton twill adhesive handlebar wrap was a product termed Tressostar manufactured by Velox

Velox also had a lighter weight cotton twill adhesive tape called Tressorex

these come from France and would seem appropriate to the AMR

link to VELOX catalogue (1985 date, only one could locate online):

http://velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=59293
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the major brand in Italy was Gaslo

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No doubt, it would be Tressostar if you want to set your way-back watch to 1975.

While it is true that Bike Ribbon was invented in 1975, it took a few years for it to catch on. 99% of road racing bikes would have had cotton tape in the 70s, typically Velox.

Search ebay for "newbaum's" and "newbaum's 2."

I love cotton tape. Newbaum's is what I believe I've been using of late. I have one synthetic leather bike that's a little softer on the hands, but I like the minimalist look of cotton. It's easier to wrap top down (NO TAPE!); and at the distances I ride typically only up to 30 miles, my hands are plenty tough enough.

Mid 70s French would have been Tressostar. If a racing bike almost certainly white. Current production Velox Tressostar is not that much like original. If Newbaum is more to your liking it’s equally incorrect or equally correct depending how you squint.

Occasionally I still see original boxes of Schwinn Approved. It is the real thing and even comes in an English dimension roll that is slightly longer than the French packaging. Still, white gets dirty quick, you would need a real supply. The old adhesive seems to stay fresh forever.

If not a racing bike consider shellac. Correct to French, not correct to American builds of French in 70s. Done with cotton twill tape @ $0.25/yard. Lasts forever. White not possible.

If you actually find yourself a roll of original Tressostar, bear in mind that it's length will be just a few inches short of what you actually need.

Thanks brilliant advice. The next question I was going to ask is what colour but you nicely answered that with white tape. I am planning to get it re powder coated to make it look like new again.

if I could work out how to add a picture I would show you the bike.

Can’t post photos yet I have to have made 10 posts or more. 🤔

Then, to be faithfully "vintage", you will need to figure out how to wrap the bars, in the approved period-correct manner. Watch out! There are vintage police lurking everywhere.

Cloth tape and I get mine on Ebay...
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...56d3233c99.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c31dc90e4b.jpg


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...85fc5d6ab0.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...70a805d145.jpg

And, for what it is worth, this old Toapado handlebar was wrapped with shellac coated cloth tape back in the sixties...
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e4396ab247.jpg

The hot setup was two layers of cloth tape - way more comfy. No one really GAF about the brand that I knew. But cloth tape was $0.50/roll then and we replaced it pretty often. It was a no BFD sorta thing.

Actually, my nold (new + old = nold) Torpado was covered with three layers (personally, found it to feel too thick) and I was expecting that removal would be a pain. But it wasn't...

I put the handlebar into really hot water (not boiling but extra warm to feel). I let the bar soak for a minute then tried to remove the tape. Wow! Off it came with so little effort that I thought I should share the idea. The Torpado still has no bar tape on it. I am just finishing up getting it dialed in for my fit. Sadly, it will sit on hooks for a while (gotta finish my Rabeneick 120d and ride the poo poo our of the Feather (Feather - apparently Piuma means feather)...

If you'd prefer vintage white tape and don't mind plastic, you might be able to find white Velox Plastilac tape. For example, Budget Bicycle Center apparently stocks it ($49 for a box of ten rolls).

Edit: Although the photo in the Plastilac page on Budget Bicycle Center's site shows 10 rolls, the text says that the price of $49 is for two rolls, not ten.

Hey that's interesting. Thanks for posting. It's the earliest American (presumably) example of shellacked tape I've seen. Maybe it was done early on and people forgot about it. If you read old Pop Sci magazines it seems like people shellacked everything in the 1950s, so why not bar tape. Or maybe the owner visited France and picked it up there?

If you go for white, buy a bulk box because you will be replacing it often as it soils easily.

My recommendation would be for Newbaum's. Tressostar rolls seem to have gotten stingier lately.

I wouldn't go with white unless I was wrapping a wall hanger or had a team mechanic waiting for me at the end of each day prepared to put a new wrapping of tape on ready for the next race day. If you don't have that then your white tape will look awful after very few rides.

Yes good point. I think I will go with black. Does not seem practical to keep changing it or being so careful to keep it clean.

I think they're supposed to be shellacked from what I've read recently. Gives it more color and makes it easier to clean. Without shellac, i i thknit would have to black.

I'll only use black and brown foam/cork tape for the grime control.

Black and red were the only colors I ever used. No racers or even riders I knew used more than one layer. Granted, we were all reasonably (or unreasonably) weight obsessed, faster, and farther being of paramount concern. Padding? What we have cobbles? Wear gloves. Helps with those inevitable... Shellac was for serious randonneurs, who rode indestructible machines that weighed, well... (a lot more than my bike).
"Shut up legs" makes me laugh. In those days we could make our whole bodies hurt. 😂
The corollary to this is that no, the roll is not too short. You're overlapping too much, or trying to hard to hide the brake band. HTFU. We now return to a saner, less rigid point of view...😊
To answer the OP, I concur that no one was using anything but cloth in 1975. NO ONE. (Sighing, every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better.)

Great thanks for sharing. The old days were the best.

Nobody shellacked cotton tape then. Wasn't done.* It was a French randonneur thing that you realistically never saw in real life, like 650B. It's only become somewhat more common recently, like post 2000 or so. *(doesn't mean you can't do it now)

I also concur that racers never doubled up the tape, black was more popular than white - for obvious reasons, and if you run out of tape you are overlapping it too much or trying to do that dumb X thing around the levers. White was cool though, cuz Eddy. Yeah, it will get dirty fast. All colors were used. Then as now people had their own preferences. As always, there's going to be a one in a million exception out there somewhere, but this was general practice, at least in norcal/nev.

Here's about as dirty and ratty as I let mine get before replacing. That's after yesrs and many miles. Maybe it's not super dirty because I always wear gloves.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...22ec688899.jpg

Just starting to look cool, IMO. :thumb: :D Since you wear gloves and it's still clean, I'd be tempted to let it go longer.