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Favorite relatively inexpensive bar tape?

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Favorite relatively inexpensive bar tape?

Old 03-17-16, 09:32 AM
  #1  
kewlkevkev
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Favorite relatively inexpensive bar tape?

Do you have a preferred bar tape <$20ish? I usually just end up grabbing what my lbs has but I'm wondering if theres a brand that people find to be better.
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Old 03-17-16, 09:39 AM
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Seattle Forrest
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Cineli cork tape.
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Old 03-17-16, 09:42 AM
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Deda Elementi Perforated Handlebar Tape

Forté Grip-Tec Pro Handlebar Tape
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Old 03-17-16, 09:45 AM
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Lazyass
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I like regular black cork tape, i don't need all that fancy crap. I bought Forte last time and I see no difference at all between it and Profile.

Forté Classic Cork Tape
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Old 03-17-16, 09:48 AM
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I'm a fan of zipp's service course tape. Amazon link: https://goo.gl/etoIQi
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Old 03-17-16, 09:49 AM
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PRO brand stuff is pretty nice. Has silicone backing so you can pull it off and put it back on too.
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Old 03-17-16, 09:50 AM
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I just use Bontrager cork tape, they pretty much all come from skins from the same herd of cork beasts, anyway.

Except on my Propel, the stock tape for Contact SLR bars is just perfect on those bars, which is weird because I think that tape would annoy me on my other bikes.
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Old 03-17-16, 09:53 AM
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I've never bought tape that costs more than $15-ish, and I like nice tape. Tapes I've had good experience with include standard Fizik Superlight, Pro Smart Silicon Microfiber and B'twin Gel.
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Old 03-17-16, 09:58 AM
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Originally Posted by KBentley57
I'm a fan of zipp's service course tape. Amazon link: https://goo.gl/etoIQi
Agreed. Close second is Fizik Superlight. Neither has much padding, but that is why I prefer them.
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Old 03-17-16, 10:13 AM
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KBentley57
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Do you really think the zipp sc is lacking padding? Just wondering. I have used the Bontrager cork tape, and it seemed to have a little more padding, and was also nice. I have also used the Deda "zero thickness foam tape" which I thought was just terrible in both quality, grip, and durability. The Zipp stuff seemed to have a good ratio of padding / durability / grip / aesthetics for me. I usually do about a half overlap wrapping, so perhaps I've got it on 'thicker'. I need to buy a truckload of this stuff before they discontinue it or something.
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Old 03-17-16, 10:21 AM
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The Zipp stuff is just a bit squishy and is plenty thin which I appreciate, but is also very stretchy which gives you some options when you're wrapping the bars. I tend to wrap it such that it is pretty stretched out to keep padding to a bare minimum, and the texturing still provides ample grip. I prefer to ride gloveless except for crits, because padding sometimes results in hot spots deep into rides.
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Old 03-17-16, 10:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
No! Too thin!
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Old 03-17-16, 10:56 AM
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No.
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Old 03-17-16, 11:08 AM
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Just replaced my Prologo one touch with Deda "cork" tape. Cost me about $6 from Ribble. I like it, has just the right amount of cushion and nice feel in the hand and goes on easy. The Prologo One-touch gripped and wore really well, but it is $20-$30 and the plasticky in the hand feel always kind of bothered me.

Oh and avoid Deda Mistral tape at all costs - no stretch, and the hardest tape I've ever tried to wrap, stuck to itself and tore apart, ended up binning it before I could even test ride it.
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Old 03-17-16, 11:56 AM
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I bought some generic tape at Mike's Bikes last summer just to throw on after a cable change. Was going to change it to a much more expensive Fizik tape later, but I liked the cheap stuff so much I left it on for the rest of the season.
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Old 03-17-16, 12:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Seconded, although the bar plugs suck.
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Old 03-17-16, 12:26 PM
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Deda is good, perforated or otherwise, and comes in a variety of colors.
$6.99 at Chain Reaction.

Plugs don't suck.
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Old 03-17-16, 12:30 PM
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That tape is the stuff nightmares are made of. There's a reason it's less than $7.00.
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Old 03-17-16, 12:48 PM
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Yeah, that's the one.

Originally Posted by TimothyH
Deda is good, perforated or otherwise, and comes in a variety of colors. $6.99 at Chain Reaction.

Plugs don't suck.
Why, what's wrong with it? Only had it on for a little over a month but so far so good. Their Mistral fake leather tape though - that stuff was the stuff of nightmares for sure. Trying to put it on was anyway, never got as far as riding with it.

Originally Posted by KBentley57
That tape is the stuff nightmares are made of. There's a reason it's less than $7.00.
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Old 03-17-16, 12:51 PM
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Originally Posted by therhodeo
PRO brand stuff is pretty nice. Has silicone backing so you can pull it off and put it back on too.
I love that stuff.

The texturised stuff is great both in the dry and in the wet. It actually gets more grippy when wet.
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Old 03-17-16, 12:56 PM
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dr_lha
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This stuff is almost exactly the same as Cinelli (I can't tell the difference), except the bar plugs don't suck:

Amazon.com : Ritchey Cork road bar tape, black : Bike Handlebar Tape : Sports & Outdoors
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Old 03-17-16, 01:27 PM
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Fizik Microtex...wears like iron, cleans up nicely.

have 10K miles on some white tape and it looks new.
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Old 03-17-16, 01:37 PM
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Serfas stitched has been good for me.
https://www.serfas.com/products/view...ies%7Cbar-tape

Last edited by Sy Reene; 03-17-16 at 02:38 PM.
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Old 03-17-16, 03:48 PM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by TimothyH
Deda is good, perforated or otherwise, and comes in a variety of colors.
$6.99 at Chain Reaction.

Plugs don't suck.
the white tape also cleans easily with dish soap and water.
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Old 03-17-16, 06:12 PM
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Cotton Bar Tape from Newbaum's
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