am0n

Looking to foray into tuning up my bike a bit and part of that will be to replace the tape/cables (first time both). Right now my bike is black on black on black, so I was thinking about adding some color. My shoes have some blue in them, so was thinking blue tape/cable housings.

I searched the forums for handlebar tape recommendations and I noticed Deda Elementi, Zipp Service Course CX, Cinelli Cork and Lizard Skins 2.5 mm. In my case, I don't ride with gloves and I think (first time changing this, so no clue really) I'd like a little bit of cushion for road vibration. Hands don't sweat a lot (unless I do wear gloves), but obviously "grip" is important. I am looking to find something in Blue, though, which I notice is not an option for the Zipp Service Course CX. Looking at the Deda and Cinelli cork products, they already look "pitted" brand new, which I don't care for (aesthetics, shrug). I did notice the Specialized S-Wrap Roubaix tape comes in blue as well and is noticeably cheaper than the Lizard Skins in blue ($23 vs. $40). Anyone have experience with the Specialized tape? Any other recommendations, given what I said I may be looking for, that could be a good fit?

For cables, it looks like Shimano makes the Optislik in blue as well as Jagwire Pros come in blue. Seems like both are good? I've seen a lot of recommendations for Jagwire, but also some that say they aren't as good as Shimano. That said, I realize that might just be something subtle and both are comparable for all intents and purposes. Also looks like both are 4 mm housings, so that should be compatible with a bike from 2011? Anything else that should be on my radar? Or is picking one of those two going to be good enough?

Less aesthetics and more mechanic bits: Is there any good way, besides putting on a chain and "feeling" for slipping/skipping to tell if a cassette or chainrings are ready for replacing? Bike is used, when I bought it the things "looked" good from my entirely untrained eye. I put a new chain on when I put it on the trainer with a new cassette, but as part of this tune up I want to make sure the cassette on the wheel is also acceptable and consider the chainrings if needed (those may be harder to replace as it's 105 5700 and finding those rings right now seems really difficult... I think that was the last year of a 5 star vs. 4 pattern?). Can I just try to "pull" on the chain and see if it moves when under tension of the cassette or chainrings? Maybe if things are good it doesn't move much, but if worn it'll slide back and forth some (to show that the chain doesn't sit nicely in a 1/2 spaced null, but that the null has now elongated due to wear)?

Andrew R Stewart 

One issue with trying to add color accents is how close to matching the colors on the various bits are. Back when Bianchi was a leading Euro brand many companies offered their versions of celeste. Even on the new bikes there was a lot of "almost but not quite matching colors". To my eyes a near miss is more distracting then attractive. I suggest a color accent plan that doesn't require matching colors that can't be in hand and compared side by side before buying. A purposeful contrast of colors looks, IMO, better then a collection of shades of the same color.

Many consider bar tape to be a wear item and not a "look at me" item. Many consider bar tape color with real life use and grime in mind. Just about any color, other then black, will discolor with grease, grime, dirt and such. Many will not want a tape color that changes over time.

As to the texture, grip, padding and ability for the tape to stretch and form about the levers I'll leave that for you to decide on. I would be aware of the length of the tape WRT the amount of bar that will be covered. Wider and/or deeper drop bars can see the tape run out before the bars are completely wrapped. (An example is the Bontrager bar tape. The basic Gel tape is longer then the double thick gel version. We sometimes get 3/4 of the way wrapping a set of bars and find out the tape will be too short and have to unwrap, lessen the overlaps between adjacent wraps and try to "grow" the on bar length. If we see a bike with "big" bars we usually suggest the basic stuff as the better fit).

Buying bar tape without in person/in hand ability to check this stuff out is much like buying shoes on line. Fine once you already know what works best for your feet but full of return/exchange "costs" potentials if you haven't already confirmed your choice before. Andy

Retro Grouch 

There's "perfect color match" and there's "not exactly". "Not exactly" usually looks like it doesn't belong.

am0n

Those are good points. I did think about them, but was hopeful to add some color (my kits are "close enough" blue and yellow and it's never bothered me). I think my shoes are far enough away from the bars/cables that a perfect match with that isn't important, but maybe only pick one of the two if I wanted to add some color just in case it's not a good enough match. Given that the tape will get dirtier (was thinking blue not only for match, but because dirt on blue wouldn't be as bad as dirt on say white or yellow), maybe just the cables and leave the tape black (would also open up more options since black tape is very common and even the pitted cork tape won't be as bad when it's black pits on black tape).

As for the padding of the tape, riding is mostly road, so it doesn't need to be double gel padded or similar. Was just looking at the middle-ground types (which is why I mentioned the 2.5 mm Lizard Skins vs the 3.2 mm). The bars are compact/shallow drop (75 each 125 or 130 drop). Sounds like it's going to be more of a *shrug* and try one and see how it works for a while. Maybe a better question might be, for someone doing this the first time, are any of those tapes a little more forgiving when it comes to wrapping?

ClydeClydeson

There used to be a tool (Park?) that claimed to be able to measure cog wear. I never tried it.
The gold standard for checking for cog wear is a test ride with a new chain. If a new chain skips the cogs are worn. On the rings, it might not And, no, simply pulling on the chain is very unlikely to give you any data on the cogs. You can do a 'pull' test on the chain as it contacts the chainrings, though - when the chain is wrapped around the chainring, if you can pull the chain clear of the teeth in the middle of the segment of the ring where it contacts the chain, the CHAIN is worn. There is not AFAIK a similar test to determine if cogs or rings are worn. For cases of advanced or severe wear on the chainrings, you sometimes can see a 'sharktooth' profile that might be a good indicator that a new chain will not play well.

dsbrantjr

I like to use self-fusing silicone tape to finish off bar wraps. It is available in many colors to match(ish) or contrast your color scheme, or in clear which would work with any color.

HillRider

Yes, your shoes are far enough away but the proximity of the bar tape and the cable housings are going to make a "not quite a match" pretty obvious. As Andy noted, any color of bar tape except black is going to look pretty grimy in a short time and the lighter the color the worse it looks. Consider black tape and blue cable housing if you want to add a dash of color (that frankly, only you will notice).

Geepig

Another option is to avoid going multi-colour or lots of matchy-matchy, but instead just to change the cables to blue.

In that way you avoid having a huge blob of colour up front - it will be just one pair of items on you and one set of items on the bike, linking you both together by one colour.

On my bikes I use colour in ways that link, such as the frame mostly in one colour, all the working parts in black and frame close to them in black as well, with some chrome on the linking parts (steering/seat stems and maybe wheel rims if the tires are chunky). Colour mismatches become more obvious when the only reason the colour is there is to match with other items available in that kind of colour. On the other hand, when you see a good looking bike then there is usually somebody behind it who has designed the look, partly based on considerations of purpose and partly on some in-fashion design theme.

am0n

Thanks. I think I decided I'll stick to black tape (just need to get to a nearby LBS and see what the various ones feel like... seems like quite a few recommendations, but I am only familiar with the one I have on my bike and I'm not even sure what that is). I already have some black shifter cables I bought from an LBS a while back, so for now I'll just replace all the cables with black as well. In the future I'll do something to add a little color, but by then I may have just bought a new bike and this one will just become my permanent trainer bike, in which case I don't need fancy.

Thanks for everyone's feedback.

am0n

So I went to an LBS and checked out some wraps. I think what I have on my bike is probably cork, or maybe something similar to the suede finish of the Roubaix s-wrap. I haven't had any issues, but I haven't ridden in the rain to see how slick it gets when wet. I've read the s-wrap gets very slick. What I have doesn't have the pits you see in most of the cork options, either (not a fan of the pits).

I did get to feel the Service Course CX and it felt nice. Most reports suggest it also has good grip when wet. I'm leaning towards giving that a go (although I've read it's a short roll and can be problematic), but I did see some mention of Arundel in other forum posts. Anyone know how the Service Course CX compares to the Arundel Gecko or Rubber Gecko? Both are mid-20s on Amazon.

icemilkcoffee 

I use silicone bar tape myself. No adhesive backing and no glue residue. You can unwrap and re-wrap as many times as you want.

Oh yeah- on a cassette you really can't tell visually when it's worn. You only know it's worn when you slap a new chain on there and it starts skipping.