For the benefit of a noob such as yours truly, could someone give me a basic overview as to what types of grip tape (or the equivalent) were commonplace during various eras for bikes with drop bars? Such and such looks really stereotypically 1970's, this brand is very 1980's, etc.

Grab-Ons are early 80's

Cotton is timeless.

I think it generally went like this:
60's and earlier, mostly cloth
Late 60's and 70's, cloth and cello type tapes dominated
Early 80's to mid 80's, vinyl padded tape in all colors was the rage (especially in white like the pros preferred).
Mid 80's to 90's, "cork" in all colors jumps in the mix with vinyl padded tape
Mid 90's to present, tacky synthetic (silicone?) tapes comes in to join "cork" (in parenthesis because I'm never sure if all of them are synthetic or real cork). I think vinyl padded tape can still be found but less and less of them around every year.

IIRC, Grab-ons actually felt nice on hands........til they get wet in the rain and feel freezy clammy......and add maybe 2 pounds to the bike with the water they absorbed.....

You can get "Bike Ribbon" from Excel Sports. It's semi-padded vinyl and it's only $8.

https://www.excelsports.com/main.asp?...jor=1&minor=32

Just leave your water bottle at home when it rains...

Actually, they go back further than that. I used them on my college bike (1975).

From the grab on site:
"HISTORY. Established on year 1973, Grab On Foam Grips was the first company to make foam grips for diverse applications and consumption. What started out as a comfortable bicycle grip "

First thing I did when I brought this bike home, was remove this.

But the water in the Grab-ons would taste like foam rubber and grubby hands......

I still have some unopened 'The Tape' and/or 'No 1 Tape' from the late '70s/early 80s around here somewhere. My last tape job on the Fuji was probably 15+ years ago, using some of my NOS stash... I just can't remember which it was. The unopened stuff is out in the back garage...

To me- the bar tape epitomized the "TEN SPEED" when it came into the focus of my neighborhood friends and I in the mid-60's- and no place was it moreso than at the local Schwinn shop-

The line of schwinn drop bar bikes then were all metallic in nature- and the tape a transluscent matching plastic- mesmerizing- so cool and so very much 'the 60's' with drag racing and glossy magazines of Candy colored hot rods spewing flames-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRTkgicMbQk

Gold, metallic red, metallic blue, two shades of green- still love the colors- the tape was I think about 79 cents a roll and the matching spray paint- available everywhere- three or four dollars a can.

Thank God for Schwinn-

Nothing still surpasses that look as far as tape goes-

At some point, I'm sure I'm going to give it a go. I am really drawn to the "harlequin" weave look, but I haven't quite worked my way up to that level of confidence with wrapping grip tape just yet.

This thread is a good place to ask a question I've had for a while. Look at the tape on Bartali's '38 TDF bike in the following picture, does it look to anyone else like the fabric wrapped around the bars is something other than tightly woven cotton twill? Maybe it's just a result of how the tape has degraded over time combined with very thick, uneven wrap, but I've always wondered if there was something different going on here:

I won't defend the horrid stuff, but I thought Grab On foam was closed-cell neoprene, which shouldn't absorb any water (or other liquid like bodily fluids), or at least hardly any...

Used Tressostar (French) black cotton handlebar tape in the early 70s.
Currently using black carbon fiber weave tape.
Prefer black tape as it does not show dirt and goes with any color bike.

Used tape? Why not new? It isn't that expensive.

Do I need to add this?

I think that stuff on Bartali's bike is the shreds of Coppi's old undershirts.

I recently equipped a bike with some NOS plastic tape that my LBS had filed away with the stuff he never expected to sell. I think I actually like it.

I put Grab Ons on my girl friends new Raleigh Grand Prix in 1973. Still have the bike but not the Grab Ons as they decomposed.


Pic taken in 2008/9

Grip tape is what you use on a skateboard. Handlebar tape goes on a bike. If this nonsense of grip tape, cockpit , dashboard, transmission doesnt stop........... X

Yes- Grab-on was waterproof- until it aged- then it got more porous- It was hell to put on, and back in the '70's everyone who worked at the shop hated it- because it was quite popular, and people would buy it aftermarket and want it installed-

So anyway- personally I never used anything but plastic tape- and wearing gloves all the time, I never had any problems with the grip- it simply looked the best to me, and lasted the longest- I put this red Benotto on this Le tour last year before I sold it- too much money now- I think it was about $12, and I got it less than the going rate on ebay- for red especially.



Is Gino really our Candy Girl? We get along sooo well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMICD3aMZpw

Yummy! What's not to like?

To my eyes, it looks like there were multiple layers of tape on the handlebar.

benotto bar tape

The cells on the foam were definitely open. That's why it had that rough looking (but soft) grippy texture on the surface. Pretty much like a sponge.
I still remember squeezing out water from them to dry them out when I got caught out in the rain.....

Chombi