Bar Tape on a Flatbar?
 

Has anyone here used cork tape or another kind of bar tape on their flatbar bikes? I hate my rubber grips and want to replace them with something a little more comforting and possibly something that is sweat absorbent.

I haven't. As a new user of drop bars (and bar tape), I was surprised by how much cusioning it actually provides (I'm using cinelli cork tape).

That said, I would probably just look for some regular grips you like better because the edges of bar tape can get pulled up by lateral hand movement.

If you do decide to try the bar tape, you might ask at your LBS if they have some scraps left over from a wrap job that you could have.

Looks like sheldon has it on the stoker bars of this bike http://www.sheldonbrown.org/picchio/

I put bar tape on my wrap around bars and love it. I can't believe the difference it makes in cushioning. I went to the wrap around bars because I was having problems with hand pain and numbness and wanted more hand positions, but now that I am using the bar tape I find I really don't need the extra positions because of the cushioning the tape provides although they are nice to have. Maybe some of the foam style MTB grips might offer similar cushioning?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/3...6d9d138688.jpg

My first commute bike was a cruiser with those foam grips. They are incredibly comfortable but they wear out quick and can get stanky if you sweat on them. Switching from the foam to rubbery grips took a while to get used to.

i wrapped the bars on my SU100. was 1000x better than those crappy bontrager rubber grips.

Sure, I use bar tape on my mtb instead of rubber grips.

I'm not the OP, but I think the obvious follow-up question is: what's the preferred method for wrapping a flat bar? Any meaningful changes from wrapping drops?

Check out Ergon grips, they rule.
http://aebike.com/page.cfm?action=de...=30&SKU=HT1707

I put some on my inboard mounted bar ends, almost a full drop bars worth - over some old grips. The end result is fairly thick, tapering in from the top to the bottom. I shaped it a little to suit my hand position. Lovely!

Here's how you should wrap a flat bar bike- on both sides, your starting point is going to be closest to the stem. Keep it in place on both ends with a 1 inch strip of electrical tape.

I use Cinelli cork ribbon. I've found that in the rain it is 100 times superior to rubber grips (which are very slippery).

Also for a second hand position, install some bar ends.

Forgot to mention, you only need to wrap them once. Double wrapping is not necesarry. If you need extra padding consider using electrical tape underneath the Cork tape.

My brother has tape on his riser bars. Just a little longer than normal grips, and it's shellacked and twined and looks great. You could use all of the leftover tape to wrap your right chainstay.

Just did this morning.
 

I did a search and came upon this thread. My partner wanted "baby blue bar tape" to make her bike pretty, so...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rorowe/...in/photostream
We'll see how she likes it. And how long it lasts.

I did it on my Ross Mt. Rainier. I used cork grips then wrapped the rest with black cork tape then shellacked them. I used jute twine to finish off the ends.

http://i1038.photobucket.com/albums/...52_Medium_.jpg

Rubber grips are absolutely awful in the rain, even with gloves on. Cork/foam tape all the way.

I have big hands and use a double wrap of bar tape, very comfy.

I have those exact cork grips on my Trek that I built up into a city bike. They are awesomely comfortable. Because of the curves and the diameter, they are actually more comfortable than the bar tape on my road bike. Cork grips are nothing at all like rubber grips.

I double wrap my Trekking Bars with 'cork' tape,, the older stuff as base layer.

got some Ergon grips for my Straight bars, they integrate a comfort grip
and bar end in a 1 bolt adjustable unit. . GC3
the Grip Shift length seems a bit too cozy narrow, think I'll add 3/4"
of old other grips.. .. on the inside end ..

they added a Biocork grip this season , I got the black rubber version..