corysold

How difficult is this to do. I have searched the forum and found out how to do, but don't see any mention of the difficulty. I don't want to waste a lot of tape practicing, is it easy enough to do or should I just pass the job to my LBS.

powers2b

Easy,
10 min for someone that has done it before.
20 min for a newbie.

Enjoy

martin_j001

I'd suggest getting some cheap tape with no adhesive backing to practice with. I found the stuff with adhesive makes it harder to unwrap a bit and redo. Profile makes some that has no adhesive, and I just get mine at a local R.E.I. for about $9.

borg

Just do it.

In my opinion it is not easy to do a good job, but easy to practice without wasting tape. I am picky about how my bars are wrapped...so I do my own.

If you get wrap with tape on one side....practice wrapping before you remove the cover over the tape. Once you get the hang of it, then tape it down.

roadfix

Taping will be a lot easier if you bungee cord the front wheel so your handlebar is immobile. Also secure your bike on a repair stand if you have one.

jsharr

also, unwrap only one side at a time. when you get to any tricky bits, like around levers, you have a plan to look at on the other side of the bar. easy to do, esp. with non sticky wrap.

clfjmpr44

Just wrapped my first pair this weekend, probably took about a half hour. Bought some performance brand (non-sticky) Forte cork tape and off I went. I paid special attention when I unwrapped the existing tape, and just remembered the pattern when I put the new stuff one. Two sticking points that gave me a little bit of angst.
A) catching the cork tape in the bar end with the plug evenly (took a little practice)
B) Be careful not to wrap under the hoods very much (once again pay attention to how it comes off) I made the mistake of doing this and when I unfolded the hood there was a big uncomfortable bulge around the hood area, so I redid it and it came out fine.

Other things to note is the that electrical tape makes for good taping at the end of the wrap and that the faux carbon fiber Forte wrap feels slippery, stay away from it.

rmwun54

Make sure you wrap it tightly.

sparknote_s

I will give you the lowdown on how to wrap your bars (steps 5, 6, and 7 are the most important):

For new tape:

1) Unwrap the old tape
2) Take out the handlebar end plug.
3) Start from the end of the bar
4) Plug in an end of the tape with the bar end plug

For rewrapping old tape:

1) Unwrap to desired spot
2) ---
3) ---
4) ---

*********************

5) When you are wrapping on the drops, the tape must move over the top side of the bar, moving towards the frame. Aka clockwise when looking from seat to the handlebars on the left half of bar.

6) Keep wrapping this direction until you get to the hoods, then:

7) When it gets real close to the hoods, you take the tape and cross upwards, the side of the hood on the inside (side closest to frame). When you have covered the inside of the hood/bar area (where hood attaches to bar), you continue to wrap so that when the tape moves over the top of the bar, it is moving towards you. This is because people have a tendancy to rotate their hands toward themselves at this part of the bar, so it will tighten the grip vs loosen it.

8) You reach the end of tape, hopefully about 1.5 - 2 inches away from stem clamp. Use electrical tape to keep it there.

Voila, you are done.

soda

I found this thread immensly helpful and interesting. I now have yellow hockey tape wrapped bars. I put a black layer down first then my yellow layer. Super cheap too. I think one roll ($3) could wrap 3 sets of handlebars easily.

https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/101401-harlequin-bar-wrap-warning-lotsa-graphics.html

MediaCreations 

I was looking at my tape this morning and thinking it's about time I did a re-wrap.