Bar Tape
 

I have been having problems with it staying tight on my handle bars. I have a set of 3T bars, and it comes un done right at the top of the bar next to where the stem meets the bar (Where my hands would be if I was in my most upright position). The circumference of the bars are thicker than most other bars I've seen, so I'm wondering if thats whats causing them to come undone?

I'm wondering if there is a trick I can do to keep my bar tape on there? I was thinking of wraping some electrical tape sticky side up around my bars, then wrapping my bar tape over them? Would that be a bad idea?

pix?

also, how come you're wrapping all the way to the stem? no matter, i suppose.

if it's unraveling, it seems like your wraps are loose and ******^W^W *whistle*

if wraps survive the bend, i don't see how a little more circumference should make any difference.

I don't wrap them all the way to my stem. I stop about an inch from it. I was just explaining it was that area of the bars that it comes undone. Right now it looks normal, and tight. But I know it's a matter of time before it loosens up on me again and I have to re-wrap them. It's new bar tape too, it's only been on there a few months.

Park tools has a good description of wrapping method.
If it is just coming loose at the very end, then add a bit (more?) of tape to hold in place. The double sided tape at the end is a good idea if nothing else works. I'd still tape the end even if 2 sided tape is used.

Which way is is wrapped? Is it wrapped where one would pull the tape around the bar in same direction as the wheel would roll while underway? That method is more prone to loosening than the other direction.

Are you wrapping it in the right direction? The electrical tape isn't a bad idea.... I do it.... though it's probably kinda overkill if you're good at wrapping bars (which I am not).

Wrap the electrical tape around the bars several times or use a different type of tape and just put electrical over for cosmetics

Everybody listen carefully - because you're all starting at the 'wrong' end of the bar... ;)

Ignore convention and START wrapping the bar tape a couple of inches FROM THE STEM - and start it tight. Then work out and down to the bar ends, also keeping it tight all the way. Tuck the left-overs inside the bar and plug to finish.

Eddy Merckx did it this way and it avoids having to use electrical tape near the stem - which is both unsightly and sometimes causes the problems you're having. It also comes undone in very hot weather, leaving a sticky mess behind it.

The wraps will now lie - on the ramps - with the 'open' edge towards you and potentially exposed to pressure from your hands... this is NOT a problem if you wrap it tight.

It was good enough for Eddy and it works for me. :D

I bet this really depends on the type of tape that is used. I use the semi-foam comfort stuff, which has edges that taper out fairly thin. In my experience, this type of tape usually has issues when wrapped that way, regardless of how tight it is wrapped.

YMMV.

You're not pulling it tight enough then. I use 3t or Zipp 'comfort' tapes - they're pretty stretchy... you just have to be aggressive with the stuff, especially on the bends.

My tape used to come undone at the stem too. It was fixed by wrapping the electrical tape many turns. If you have been sufficiently aggressive in pulling the bar tape tight as you wrappped, it will be under some tension and a good dose of electrical tape is necessary to prevent it pulling apart.

I don't see what the problem is....

Pull your tape tight, finish with electrical tape.

People who start taping from top to bottom. Are you the same people as the "steel is real" people?

Pretty much.

In Eddy's day, wrapping from the stem WAS the "convention".

The Park tools instruction is excellent.

Wrap from the bar ends, making sure to wrap in the direction where your grip will tighten it. You have to reverse the direction of the wrap under the hoods.

Also, if you finish with electrical tape, wrap it one or two turns under tension, then ease up on the tension and wrap once or twice more. It will not creep or expose the gooey tape residue that way.

There was a cool video of a pro mechanic wrapping bars recently- can't find it right now, but it's a great tutorial also.

Quite the opposite; I have Bianchi Infinito Athena. Like I tried to explain - top to bottom just makes more sense. If that raises philosophical problems for you then just carry on doing what you believe is 'right'. :innocent:

I'm so glad we got that sorted out. I'm waiting for breakfast to settle before the sunday ride and i wouldnt want to be obsessing about bar tape all ride.

When you are ready to tape off your bar tape at the top of the bar,
wrap the electrical tape at the end "away" from you (facing the front of the bike).

While riding, hands are always "pulling" in on the bar tape.
Wrapping the electrical tape away from you counters this.

Agreed.
Back then I was riding a Schwinn Varsity, and wrapping the bars with Schwinn's thin translucent plastic tape.
When you got to the end of the bar, the tape was thin enough to stuff into the end of the bar, and secure with the end plug.

These days, I wrap with Cinelli gel-cork, which is too thick to handle that way, so I start at the end, and finish near the stem, and cover it with Bike Ribbon Lock Rings.
(Actually, I still need to wrap the end with a narrow piece of electrical tape before slipping the Lock Ring over it.)

There are different grades of electrical tape. Buy the good stuff, not the cheap stuff. It's thicker and works in a wider range of temperatures. It can cost $7-8/roll instead of $1-2.

For bar tape tips, although I tend to agree with what Park recommends, I think the site isn't complete, nor is it professionally done. I ranted about it a couple years ago. But the best way to fix something is not to rant about it, it's to do it right.

http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...ebar-tape.html

What's interesting to me is that the bar tape post is the most often viewed post in the whole blog, by a large margin.

cdr

I'm self-taught so feel free not to listen to me. I've had best luck when I start at the bar end, starting on the underside from outside to inside. I used to be afraid to pull too hard on the tape for fear it would break. Now I pull hard. The harder I pull, the tighter the wrap and the less likely it is to come loose. I've never broken it yet. I use electrical tape to hold down the ends a couple inches away from the stem. The narrow little strips of black tape that come with the bar tape aren't enough.

That is a great post cdr, but I've learned to do it without using a "cheater strip" around the brifter and I really prefer that method. It seems simpler and easier to me. Here is a video:

When I wrapped my bars with Arundel Gecko Grip, it actually said on the box to stick the strips they included onto your workbench and use electrical. Now though I have Fizik Microtex (which I love by the way) and just used the fizik finishing strip.

Fizik Microtex...all the way.

2nd place?
Bontrager Grippy Tape

I put together this picture to remind myself of the way I prefer to wrap the bars...

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...arwrapping.jpg