Force 

Check out these Cinelli VIP bars set with stitched leather.

https://cgi.ebay.com/Cinelli-VIP-Stem...efaultDomain_0

Now I want some of that stuff. Does anyone use stitched leather? Where can you find it?

Old Fat Guy

My wife has two bikes with stitched leather, one black, one brown.

You find them from generous friends or eBay

gomango

Close?

https://www.velo-orange.com/elsebarco.html

gridplan

I bought some white wrap from https://www.ciclodicuoio.com for my Somec. It came with needles and thread. It was dead simple to wrap. I just soaked the leather and it conformed nicely to the shape of the handlebars.

Force 

Thanks for the tips! That stuff looks great. I might have to try it.

tashi

How's your wrap holding up?

My white elkhide from V-O got dry and grey real fast. I probably should have followed the instructions and put some protector on it, but hell - I gotta ride! It would be nice if the white colour held up a little better.

gridplan

I've only had mine for about a year. So far I haven't noticed any dryness. The white is no longer perfect, but it still looks pretty good. Like you, I want to ride the thing, which means wear and tear. I might try a liquid shoe polish on the few places where the white is wearing thin.

love2pedal.com

There is this site called etsy.com where people sell only handmade items and one seller sells leather grips and bar wrap.

Link to seller:

https://tinyurl.com/leatherbarwrap

love2pedal.com

Another sample from this seller

Gary Fountain

Hi Force,

You may be interested to know that the Cinelli VIP bars and stem also came with other items in similar colour and leather to the bar wrap. You could get a bottle cover, a spare tubular pouch, a saddle with a replacement alloy seat pin bolt (to replace the shorter Campy bolt on the Super Record seat pin) and toe clip straps.

These items sometimes come up for auction on ebay.

Here's a photo:

Force 

Gary - yes, I saw that the VIP items came in a package, but I did not find a photo with them all at once, so thanks. They seem like some very luxurious items. I recall seeing a picture of the leather handlebar covers that had aged and they looked great, even after use. I might have to try it out some day. Great looking Cinelli. Is it yours?

Gary Fountain

Yes it is Force.

Force 

love2pedal.com - thanks for the links. i like the stitched version, but it seems that it would look better with the stitching on the underside of the bar/not facing outward. The price seems decent for that stuff. Might be worth a try.

Citoyen du Monde

Sorry, but that is not much of a stitching job, look at the puckers. The oblong holes will also foster ripping. I would not trust anything from this person.

Grand Bois

+1

I always put the stitching on the bottom and slightly to the inside.

The black elkhide holds up really well. I use Lexol on it.

repechage

I agree that initial stitched cover is not something I would be proud of, but the later image of the woven bar wrap does have some merit, but not a small job to create, and it might not wear really well, it would provide some extra diameter and one would not slip.

3speed

For those who have leather wraps, I was just thinking about this the other day and wondering if there's any cushion to it. I love the look and it seems classy, but I don't want to be on hard bars for 25+miles just for the good looks.

That woven wrap is absolutely awesome. It would provide more padding too. Maybe I'll give that a shot...

xB_Nutt

Not much cushion at all with the Elk hide version I bought from VeloOrange. I ended up scrapping it.

gridplan

Same with the ciclodicuoio wrap. It's just thin leather. But I wear cycling gloves that have decent padding in the palms, so it's not a problem.

Consul

I agree that it is not a very comfortable ride with the thin leather and it will not last long looking good. Therefore I never mounted my Cinelli VIP/Golden Black.
After 20 years of lying around I am selling it right now on ebay... It is a pity that it is just stored on the attic

Chombi

Those stitched on leather wraps look nice, but I've always been kinda confused about where the stitched seam is located as it goes up the bar from the bar end to the stem area. It alwys seems to take a weird twist on most installations. I'd really rather not see the stitching at all and have it run under the bar mostly away from sight all the way up. can that be done with these things, or is it just the way the leather wraps are cut and there's no option on stitch seam location when you put it on....like it goes where it goes??

Chombi

Italuminium

when was the time that these wrap were used on high end bikes?

1987

I mostly see them on bikes from early 80s. Cinelli also made special stems for them, so that you could swap bars without removing brake levers and leather cover. For example Cinelli Domino: https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.as...5-7BDAD4DB362D

Chombi

One came up in the 80's, I forgot it's name, but it was usually on Cinelli bars and was usually colored black. It was pretty much "de rigueur" for top line Italian bike builds/show bikes back then. The bars were only sold with the wraps and stems on already, IIRC. It had a logo/name brand near the bar ends on the outside where it can be seen.

Update: the name of the leather cover was "ALMARC".

Chombi

tashi

I have the VO elkhide and really like it. It's not cushy like new cork, but I don't like cushy or thick so it suits me just fine. I rarely wear gloves on road bikes which is why I bought leather covers- for the feel. I'm quite pleased with the feel and grip. The only downside is when I'm caught in a down pour they can get a little slippery to grip- gloves are required then, which is not much of a problem as I do my best to not be caught in the rain on my bike with white leather accessories and no fenders!