How do YOU wrap?
 

So, enough about what bar tape brand is the best. How do you wrap your tape? Go for the tight multi overlaps or spread them apart graciously?

Personally, I use cushy tape with very little overlap, it feels amazing; like it's shaped for your fingers. I tried using the thin cloth tape wrapped tightly and it doesn't do it for me.

Also, as a side question, if you do the same with thin tape (e.g. Fizik Microtex w/ low overlap), will it still form the "ridges" that happens with the cork/gel ones?

Use duct tape.

1. Very little overlap (about 25%)....more importantly...
2. Wrap from the BOTTOM

I tried MAD overlaps this time and I think it may have made it less comfortable.

From the bottom, little overlap, wrap towards the outside, figure 8 around the hoods.

Keep it stretched and check for gaps as you go.

Thanks.

I have fi'zik and I wrap super tight, little overlap (we're talkin' like 10% here) BUT I also use the bar gel beneath it.

I love the bar gel as I can't stand how skinny bars are and it really does make it a bit cusher. No ridges with it after 1K miles on my last wrap.

Boo.. I was going to try those ultrathin wraps, but I do like having my ridges. The only reason is because I hear the microtex ones stay extra clean...

But does having the thin tape + the bar gel feel as good as regular cork/gel tape?

Split down the middle, fill, thumb and forefinger, lick, and light:D

I thought you were supposed to wrap it inwards and towards the frame...

Or does wrapping towards the outside make it self tightening?

Yes.

Anyone ever wrap the flat part of their bars?

Microtex is great.

Hm. I think I've heard that before, but I've never tried it, perhaps I'll give it a shot when I wrap my bars soon.

I wrap the whole thing... if I can I try to stop within an inch or two of the stem. I like that full coverage look.

I follow these instructions: http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...ebar-tape.html

I like going for not too much overlap in the drops, and a little more on the tops. This is because when I'm in the drops I want a firm grip, up top I want squishiness for cruising :)

My favourite tape is the Easton cork stuff. Cinelli is okay too.

No. Not in the drops at least. I was wrapping to the outside until recently, and after every race, the bar tape would be slouched under the brake levers and showing metal between the wraps (and I was stretching the tape tight). I changed to wrapping toward the inside and it's all better, no loosening wraps when I am racing hard in the drops.

Think of it this way: when you are in the drops and pulling hard on the bars, the hand is going to twist to the inside because the wrist isn't directly in line with the bar but rather positioned to the outside of the bar. You want to wrap in this same direction so the wraps are tightened as you pull on the bar.

EDIT: I should say that if you use good bar tape with adhesive (like Cinelli bar tape), you can wrap either way. This last iteration I was using cheap cork tape from Performance with no adhesive. Without the adhesive, it is plainly obvious that you need to wrap the drop portion of the bar to the inside (tape going over the bar points towards the frame). At one point I was re-wrapping the bar after every race (when I was wrapping to the outside). I finally stripped the old tape off and switched sides (right side bar tape went on left side and vice verse), wrapping the opposite direction towards the frame. I haven't had the tape move since.

I've been wrapping the way you describe without any problems, but parktool says that wrapping the other way is self tightening.

How does it work on the tops for self tightening, is it over the bars towards the frame, or over the bars away from the frame?

If parktool says to wrap to the outside, and that way is self tightening, experiment says they are wrong. If you are leaning on your bars at tempo pace, then wrapping to the outside is self tightening. I've never had tape come loose from mere tempo riding. If you are sprinting and pulling on the bars a lot, then you need to wrap to the inside. Anyway, that's what the result of half a dozen races (and re-taping the bars after every other race) tells me.

Incorrect. From Parktool:

http://www.parktool.com/images_inc/r...help/bar01.jpg

Good. Parktool has it right. Wrap to the inside so it self tightens.

depends on how you grip. if you put double sided tape or the bar tape has adhesive backing it won't unwind.

I've never had the wraps on the tops of the bars loosen. I don't think it matters. When I am pulling hard on the bars, say, during a climb (not from the drops), I'm not on the bar tops but on the hoods.

I think if the tape has adhesive, it doesn't matter. Many brands of bar tape are skipping the adhesive nowadays, it seems. Bontrager uses a semi-tacky backside, and I know that that loosens on a sprint if you wrap it wrong. I've never raced using Cinelli tape, so I don't know how it responds. Judging by sprinterdellacasa's experience, I'd say that the Cinelli tape just doesn't move. He's a pretty good sprinter and wraps his bars to the outside.

Incorrect yourself. Do you even know how to read text without just looking at the pretty pictures? If so, scroll down to the 'Advanced' section for this nugget of text:

"When riding on the drop section of the bars, it is the tendency to rotate the hands outward. It is possible to reverse wrap direction from start to finish in order to match this tendency. Note the image below has the tape beginning opposite of the taping first described. Wrap each side so the tape rotates outward from the top. In other words, wrap the right bar clockwise and the left bar counter-clockwise."

and accompanying pretty picture:

http://www.parktool.com/images_inc/r...help/bar43.jpg

and following text:

"If you wrap as the image above, you must then reverse the direction of the wrap at the brake levers. Do not cross the back of lever from outside to inside, as is commonly done. Stay on the inside of the lever and continue to the above the lever. See image below. Notice the optional piece of brake lever bar tape is in place. The tape will now be in a self-tightening direction on the top and the bottom of the bars."