seaneee

I'd have to say, I used velox for a while and then recently started using cateye. Velox was a pain to keep from creasing it, but cateye was great. Went on much easier and had a little more stretch to it. Needless to say, my vote goes to Cateye.

robo

Cool, thanks.


Hmm.. i just waited an hour or two after the first coat. It seemed to be dry to the touch.

Six jours

I prefer Cateye over other brands as well. It is easier to work with.

I have a few roles of Viva, from Jitensha Studios, as reccomended by another poster here. It is certainly the most expensive cloth tape I have seen. I hope it lives up to its reputation and cost.

Six jours

I get the impression there is a pretty big difference between the different brands of shellac flake. And of course if you are using premixed that throws all equations into the dumpster. Then there is the matter of ratio of denatured alcohol to flake -- assuming, of course, that you're not using some other type of solvent.

In light of all that, I now feel a bit silly for having made any kind of hard-and-fast statement about drying times.

robo

Hmm.. i was using a can of the Zinsser clear shellac from the hardware store. The tin says it's a 3lb cut in denatured alcohol. It has a moderately thick texture and is a sort of caramel color, although when it goes on it's a very pale yellow. It seems to dry to the touch very quickly, although i'm not sure about how long it takes to go really hard. Anyway, it's getting dark now so i won't be able to ride until Sunday at the earliest, i think.. it should by dry by then huh?



BTW - the tape i used was from Rivendell - they didn't specify the brand, but i think it wasn't Cateye, so it's probably one of the French brands. I kind of wish it was stretchier, as it was hard to go around the curves and around the levers without it wrinkling. This was my first taping job ever, though, so i think i didn't do too badly - it looks fine to me.

I started at the ends and reversed the direction of the wrapping at the brake levers (by wrapping around the lever once). Not sure how this will work out but hopefully it will be the best of both worlds in the sense that the it will be the optimum direction of wrapping in both the drops and on the tops.

I fastened the ends with hemp twine in true Grant Petersen style.

bikerosity57

Tressostar, they still make it. You can order it at The Yellow Jersey, or a lot of people carry it on eBay. Personally I like Benotto acetate bar tape. It is similar to shellaced tape right out of the box,as it has a slick and fairly hard surface, and seems to last forever. You also can find loads of it on eBay in many colors, and it too is still made in Mexico just as in the old days. I swear by it, not at it.

bikerosity57

Oh, and I would not put cloth tape over cork. If you use gloves, or don't need cork at all. I hate the stuff! It is everything it should not be: expensive, fragile, short-lived. You need to change an expensive wrap of cork every season, where-as I have been using the very same Benotto white acetate tape on some of my bikes for ten plus years.

Six jours

Robo, I know a lot of folks have used that Bullseye brand; some complained about it. I don't know if the complaints stem from any real problems or just the lack of historical correctness.

I think the stuff from Rivendell is Tressostar. Not my favorite as it does give some troubles with wrinkling, especially around the levers, just as you describe. If it works for you, of course, then it's fine, eh?

Did you have to buy the twine in the 325 foot roll? I didn't get it from Rivendell because it was like $8 vs. $1.50 from the "Hemp Sisters" online store. I'm sure there's big money to be made from selling "genuine hemp twine", just enough for one bike. Ha.

Actually, of course, the only real money to be had is in psychoanalyzing goofballs who have nothing better to do than seek out authentic hemp twine to wrap around their handlebars...

Six jours

I remember Benotto cellotape. Very "in" during the eighties, esp. for crit racers. Which is amusing, because when you crash, it unravels. I finally got tired of replacing it all the time, so just fixed it with electrical tape when it happened. You could tell whether my season had been a safe one or not by the amount of electrical tape on my bars. One particularly bad track season had me riding around with mostly electrical tape with a few bits of white Benotto fluttering in the breeze!

seaneee

If the shellac is fresh, the first coast should be dry in an hour or so.

I also opt for a couple of coats, as the first coat just absorbs into the cloth, the second starts to give it that cool lustre. I usually do around 3-4 coats. Around the third coat, I rub it down with some fine sandpaper to get rid of the little shark peaks that sometimes pop up.

The cool thing about cloth/shellac is you don't really have to finish it (tape/twine) and you can get a really clean look. Just start at the top and wrap it over itself. End at the drops and use your bar end plugs to hold it in place. That in conjunction with the shellac really holds it in place.

That and a nice pair of gloves and you can forget the cork layer.

Six jours

I'm pretty sure it's a mistake to generalize about shellac, unless everyone is talking about the exact same stuff. My shellac came in flake and I mixed it according to the directions that came with it (Velo Orange.) They said the first coat wouldn't dry for many hours, and they were right. Fun stuff, eh?

robo

I bought the ball when i was buying a bunch of other parts for this build from Rivendell. I think it was $5 for the ball. Probably not a bad deal when you consider the free shipping.

As for the shellac, i have heard that as shellac gets old, it takes longer and longer to dry and doesn't go hard properly. I'm not sure how this works - maybe the properties of the shellac start to change when it has been in solution for too long. My can indicates that it was made on June 26, 2006, and should be good for 3 years from that date.

Maybe it's drying fast because it's fairly fresh?

seaneee

Actually, you make a really good point just in what you said. I got the same shellac from orange velo and my first coat dried much quicker than your. So point taken.

I would also venture to guess that humidity, etc have an effect on the dry time. Our apt is right above the boiler room in our building so our place stays pretty warm and relatively dry.

Here's some bars I just did:

robo

Here are a couple pics, one of the halfway taped bars (no shellac), and one just now after the third coat.

robo

seaneee - heh, i'm not a weight weenie, but that stem looks frighteningly heavy!

seaneee

That's the form over function stem. Little weighty, but I like how it looks.

robo

You mean function over form

amnomad

I've been starting cloth tape near the stem and working to the end, I mean why finish with tape when you're wrapping with tape. I haven't had problems with the edges sticking up or anything. Cork I go the opposite and finish with tape

Grand Bois

It shouldn't take an hour for shellac to be dry enough for another coat. I use Zinsser and it's dry enough in minutes. It doesn't take long for denatured alcohol to evaporate.

Shellaced cloth tape is flexible enough that you can apply it over gel tape for some extra padding. I've done it. I need the extra thickness because those are 7/8" mountain bars.

I sold the bike Sunday. I miss it, even though I was never comfortable on it.

Six jours

I bet you're right. My neighborhood averages 70% humidity, so doubtless drying times here are going to be on the long end.

Great stem. Never have to swap out to get a different length. I'm sure I'd be fussing with it all the time!

Six jours

Mine was made the day before I used it. So no...

Anyway, you now have it on firm authority that shellac takes much less than an hour to dry and also takes at least a day. Ain't the internet grand? LOL.

Rusty Valiant

I like hockey tape- I found a place that does all sorts of colours and got burgundy to match, then wrapped a few layers over old inner tubes. End result- cheap and comfy. Looks good too, till it gets dirty. Then it's time for another layer.

Fiori

on wrapping
I start an the stem and wrap using a half overlap till i hit the brake levers, then I start from the bottom and wrap up till I hit the brake levers...
I may use 4 rolls but i like they way it looks with no electric tape, and I don't have the edge problem in the drops (where I try to do most of my riding).

rmikkelsen

I've used super glue instead of electrical tape to finish up the ends on both cork and celo-tape. Works fine.

Fiori

I soaked my cloth tape in water over night the other day and then waped it, it was hella lot easier, and no wrinkles!