Has anyone tried the new Brooks Leather Handlebar Wrap. It looks ultra cool. My only question is how does it stand up to wet weather. Even though the price seems a bit steep, it would sure look great on a bike with a brooks saddle. https://harriscyclery.net/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1877

Too damn expensive. Cloth tape coated with shellac (4 coats of amber shellac and a couple coats of clear over yellow Tressostar cloth tape matches a Brooks honey really well) costs a lot less and looks really good.

Y'know, I was just wondering when someone would get around to making leather handlebar tape... I just redid the tape on both my cyclocross/touring bike and my fixed gear bike and already the cork tape is damaged. That stuff is so weak. Considering that cork tape usually costs around $10-15, if the leather version lasts more than 4 times as long it just might be worth it.

Cloth tape is about $4.00 a roll, you need two. Amber Bullseye shellac in the small can is about $5.00. It'll outlast cork by 20:1, at least.

I just put some honey colored Brook's tape on a bike I built up with mustache bars and honey colored team professional Brook's saddle. It looks great! I can't say how it will hold up to wet weather yet.

Let me tell you about the leather tape. It comes just like any other tape: two long rolls, center-line sticky back, two shim pieces for the shifters, and a set of end plugs. The long rolls are actually made of several shorter peices that are stitched together. It's a nice look. It's pretty easy to put on, BUT it has almost no strech, which makes sense if you remember it's leather, but it does make wrapping the corners and around the brakes / shifters a pain. I'll try and get some pics of the bike on-line tomorrow. Trust me, it looks and feels great.

This sounds like nice stuff, I've used cotton tape in the past, but I'll look at this for my next wrap

Thanks, but no thanks, as I have the habit of changing bar tape color as often as my wife changes her hair color.

I am intrested in this style, any instructions and or pictures?

Here's a nice tutorial:

https://www.mindspring.com/~d.g1/shellac.html

You can also shellac cork tape if you want something cushier...like murrylove's LHT. Nashbar sells "natural" colored cork tape, which is a good match for the honey Brooks when using the amber shellac:

https://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/murraylove/my_photos

michaelnel,

But how does the shellac feel?

Personally I love the way cork tape feels, but I hate that it gets gouged up so quickly and easily.

Leather sure sounds like an excellent option to me.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think cotton offers any cusioning at all. I like a little cusioning. Shellac'd cotton may look good but does it serve a non asthetic purpose?

Leather sounds really nice and the only thing holding me back is the water question. I've done a few searches and haven't found any answers on how it holds up.

I always wear leather cycling gloves for any length of trip, so I have enough cushioning regardless of the tape. My cork tape lasted 100 miles, and looks like new. But it did start to slip on one side. I was able to poke it back in place, and it didn't move out of the way for a while. It was installed at the bike shop, and there may be a better way than the way they did it. For one thing, whipping the ends rather than taping would be a lot stornger.

What does the Brooks tape cost? It can't be that special, there are lots of sources of leather out there. I got several rolls lof the leather they put on rackets, it is real nice. But basically any leather with the edges skived should work just fine.

Another option might be finding some leather stearing wheel covers that sews on. another example of leather that is easily home made if the lengths are unusual.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Brooks tape on my latest build up.

- brilliant! i owe you one!

(off to find tennis racket wrap)

- tks!

The next to the last paragraph in this ride report mentions the Brooks leather bar tape.

https://www.serotta.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12258

I don't know if racket wrap is cheaper. I know, mine was because I picked it up when a store when TU.

They're actually Record areo brake levers. I'll probably turn this into my tri / tt bike in the spring.