Do tell!

Brown cloth tape over hockey tape. Apparently no store anywhere near center city carries hockey tape :rolleyes:

Hey Aaron...I use tennis tape on all my bars (under Fizik Microtex)...should be available at any sporting goods place...I usually just end up ordering it from Amazon, FWIW.

I still play for a senior men's hockey team occasionally.

What width do you need, I'll mail you a couple rolls?

I didn't know it came in widths :lol: I'm not sure...I'm trying to end up with, roughly, the padding level of fizik mikrotek.

I didn't know it came in widths either, and....does it really provide any extra comfort and padding? Stuff seems like thin cloth to me.
Anyway...

Doesn't provide any padding when hit by a puck......

Half inch, one inch, two inch....

I only use white, but the young bucks seem to be more color coordinated.:)

I looked at Tennis tape and it seemed a bit thicker than what I wanted...I would imagine that's VERY thick under a roll of padded Fizik. Gomango - thanks for the offer; I think I'm going to head to the burbs and look to make sure I get it right...or I might stop at a hardware store and see if they have anything that looks like what I need.

Not thick...stretchy (unlike hockey tape)...perfect under Microtex...IMHO. I tape the tops and use 28c inner tube pieces on the drops...FWIW.

Buldogge...would it be horribly inconvenient to take a photo for me? I'm trying to get an idea of the thickness.

Also - how many rolls of tennis tape would I likely need?

Just do 2 layers of cloth tape. Use Neubaums. Tressostar is to thin and does not stretch as well. I use that on all of my bikes. A little padding to edge off but not to thick and it looks the part. FWIW, stay away from the new VP super-wide & thick cloth tape. I bought it and did not like the look, feel or application.

The cloth tape I bought was Newbaums...lucky! I had no idea what to get, the last bike I had with cloth tape was a Lotus in 1988. I almost always follow the concept of contact points aren't restoration points, but I think my usual tape would look weird on this bike. I say that after having put on SPDs :lol:

Maybe I should just use cork and forget it!

My process goes like this:

4 Rolls of Neubaums.
2 Color of choice, 2 white or black, depending on what the top color is.
Wrap the bottom layer normally, secureing w. tape at the stem. I don't cut any strips to cover the brake levers.
Top layer, cut 2 small pieces from each roll and cover where the lever attaches
Trim the edge of the tape so it is not so thick and wrap from the stem toward the lever, bringing the tape towards you.
Attach under the lever
Do the same from the bottom of the bar and attach under the lever.
4 coats clear shellac.

This way, there is no electrical tape or twine on the bars needed to "finish" the tape. The shellac locks everything in place and after a couple of rides is nice and smooth. The bars have a bit of give from raod shack etc. The tape resists dirt & grime and can easily be claened and re-shellaced if need be. It lasts a really long time. I can send you some pics if you are interested.

I'd love some photos!

Cool bike, man. Though, I'm not a fan of the fenders. But, they'd look better with a better fender line.

Fender's technique is good. His bars look good and hold up for a long time.

I like cloth tape, but I don't expect it to offer any real padding so I'm not disappointed. I would advise against brown cloth, Aaron. I doubt it'll turn out how you are expecting. People have strong opinions (usually against) on white cloth, but that's what I'd use on that Cinelli. It would look entirely appropriate.

I use hockey tape (from my LBS - he accidentally ordered a case of it) to secure cables, but I've never covered the entire bar with it. It's thin, though, so it would offer no padding and would be a pain to remove later on. I tape from the ends and finish with some sort of thread, securing the thread with shellac or plenty of clear nail polish.

This is what white looks like with one coat of clear shellac. It has since received some miles and a second coat; I'll try and post an updated pic. Looks like I don't have a close up of the sleeve area.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/7...58145e88_b.jpg

Black waxed thread to finish Fizik.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8285/7...bcccd851_b.jpg

This is some kind of fine thread that goes on about 5 strands at a time. My wife picked it up at JoAnn's Fabrics. It works really well with shellac or nail polish on it.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7269/7...3abd143a_b.jpg

I think I might just go with cork...it's probably silly to try to get the right aesthetic for the bars when I'm going to use SPDs and LED lighting.

FYI - those photos look terrific.

I dunno. Pedals are pedals. That World Voyageur got SPDs the minute after those photos were taken. If you already have the brown cloth give it a try. Just use clear shellac and only one coat at first. It'll darken a lot.

Mine don't look as nice as the Colonel's but here you go.

This is on the Riv. It is 2 yrs old, thousands of miles and keep in mind I changed a number of flats, repaired a snapped chain and never washed my hands. Just cleaned and re-applied shellac.
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...025_165044.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...025_165051.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...025_165032.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...025_165025.jpg[/IMG]

On a Raleigh Pro that has not been ridden too much (yet)
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...025_164820.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...025_164802.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...025_164753.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...025_164745.jpg[/IMG]

OK...Fender, come to our house for dinner, my wife is an AMAZING cook. Bring Holiday's tires. Help me set up the tape. We grab a beer. Everyone wins.

Ha! Kinda figured it would work out this way.....let me figure out a time.

Slick work, fender! I dig the "endless" wrap.

Thanks! Just like music, all good ideas are stolen from somewhere...

http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2009...ape-guide.html

So what's the restoration consensus regarding headbadges? I'd imagine this is an area you don't touch...even if it looks a bit rough.

FWIW, Jim Cunningham tells a story on the Cyclart website about how someone once sent him a nice Frejus that he wanted painted all black, all the markings taken off, etc., so he could use it as a stealth commuter. The east coast dealer who sent it said the owner was adamant about it, that if Jim C. didn't do it he'd just get someone else to do it. Jim C. said he took the headbadge off the bike, totally restored it, put it back on the bike with original-style rivets, then returned the bike and deposit to the sender.

I'm not sure what the significance is except that here was a case of Jim C. restoring only the headbadge because he didn't want to deface the bike. One supposes that if he'd been asked to restore the bike he'd have done the headbadge too.

Then again, some people don't always agree with Jim C.'s decisions.

Busch and Muller makes a Lumotec Classic that looks like an old light. Oh, you don't like dynolights? Well, you really have to try them to judge them. I just ordered my second, because I like my first so much.

Side effect of this thread is that I'm now sold on cloth tape with shellac. fender1, do you find that the edges of the tape don't roll and fray? We used to tape from top down until we realized that bottom-up prevented the edges from being pushed down. In other words, the shellac prevents or mitigates this?