climbhoser

What is the best match for Brooks honey but won't break the bank?

climbhoser

O yeah, if the title didn't already indicate it well enough, I'm looking for bartape.

barba

Shellac and yellow cloth tape gets you pretty close. You could also try the elk hide bar covers from velo-orange. They will only cost you $28 and some time stitching.

Banzai

I know it's not what you're looking for...I've heard very mixed things about leather bar tape, and so far I've shied away.

Some good cork/gel wrap lasts me at least a year, anyway.

robtown

I've stained natural cork and covered with shellac. I can't say how durable it is but it matches.

ConstantRider

in addition to the sew-ups, velo-orange also sells leather bar tape for $40.

climbhoser

Yeah, I don't need leather, just something that matches. FWIW I really don't like those Velo-Orange sew ups...it reminds me of Buffalo Bill/Silence of the Lambs.

I was thinking along the lines of the cork or cloth + shellac. Anyone wanna let me know which shellac/stain and which cork tape they use?

Thanks

robtown

Red Devil Oil 43. Redwood Mahagany. I"m not 100% sure - the stain is dark but the cork took very little of the color. VeloOrange clear shellac. Nashbar cork, natrural. https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...All%20Products

climbhoser

robtown, thanks...do you think you could have done it without the stain?

robtown

No, the plain cork was light colored and plain - not dark like that pictured. I had the elkskin ordered as a backup. I may have tried a cloth / shellac combination but they are hard to gauge since the color changes dramatically with shellac.

Sixty Fiver

Cloth tape and shellac works quite well... Bullseye shellac can be acquired at one's local hardware store very cheaply and works well.

My Peugeot had cork wrap that was looking a little scruffy do I shellacked it last fall rather than wrap it with cloth...

stringbreaker

I have cork and the elkhide stitched items from Velo Orange. They are as different as night and day but I like them both it depends on what look you are after but the elkhide I used matches my Brooks honey B-17 almost perfectly after I proofhided the barwrap which by the way V.O. recommends

CHenry

Even the Brooks bar tape won't hold its color like the saddles will. I have found that the tape fades badly. The best color match was yellow woven cotton cloth tape painted with amber bullseye shellac, several coats. The color was a dead match with the honey Brooks saddle leather. Shellac was a bit of a mess, but the effect worked well and was cheap to make.

Schwinnrider

Soma makes a bar tape they call "Thick and Zesty". The milk chocolate color is a pretty close match.

HauntedMyst

I don't have an alternative but I do encourage you to find an alternative. Brooks tape was the first Brooks product I've been disappointed int. I have the antique brown and the color is nothing like the seat. Its darker and duller and without character. It was also not very long. I've had some leather sctretch and some leather not stretch and this was definately of the no stretch variety. Given the $70 retail price, they definately go to the trouble of making sure they included enough to cover odd size bars. If I had it to do over again, I'd go with the elk skin bars or cork and shellac.

tarwheel 

Cinelli natural cork tape is close enough in my book. Lots of cyclists have found the elkhide tape at www.velo-orange to be a close match, if you must have leather. Personally, I like the feel and comfort of cork so much that I would rather have a slight mismatch in color.

climbhoser

I don't see a milk chocolate on their site.

They have a new brown that looks like it could be close (I can't tell).

climbhoser

Do you think you could have had a similar effect with yellow cork? I only ask because I found some VERY reasonable yellow cork at Performance, and with some amber bullseye shellac I can have honey colored tape for cheaper than normal cork!