cqlink 

Using Newbaums cloth to wrap bars on my old road bike.

Wrap first with friction tape or electrical tape to get some cushion? I'm not riding long distance and don't like look of gel pads.

Use old tubing first before applying cloth tape?

Will the underlayer of tape or tube show through the Newbaums? Newbaums is thin. I'd like to avoid multiple overlap ridges.

RJ Bike Guy says it's fine to have small gap showing metal at the levers. I don't like that look.

Any good links, posts or pics to some of the better tips and tricks?

Thanks!

due ruote 

I recently wrapped some bars with Newbaums and went over the previous cloth layer. The bottom layer wrap lines are barely visible, at least to me.
I generally cut a strip or two to go around the levers and wrap over that. Another way is to remove the levers but leave the bands on the bar, wrap, put the levers back on. If you do that, it's a good idea to position the levers with a piece of electrical tape so they don't move during the process.
I guess a lot of people do the figure 8 thing around the levers - yet another option.

thook

spenco used to make bomber foam grip for drop handlebars. i have some on my univega GT i believe to be original to the bike given the overall condition. disappointingly, i've looked for availability and can't see it's made, anymore. there's this, though.....


i've got some cloth tape i want to put on my univega and likely will just wrap over the spenco grips. i love cotton tape....unshellaced, but it's suffers from no shock absorption, of course. i recently acquire a late 90's scott mtb with scott at3 handlebars. i'd like to wrap them with cloth, also....and likely the grip in the video underneath that. i realize there's a size difference between road and mtb bars, but maybe the grip is flexible/malleable enough to make it work.

i wouldn't use old tubing. i've never seen it look very good even with the best of talent for wrapping, imo. plus, i've done it for someone and it really doesn't offer good padding

3alarmer 

...if you want cushioning, you can just wrap Newbaums over an already installed wrapped layer of corked bar tape, like Cinelli (or equivalent). If you want lots of cushioning, you can wrap Newbaums over a layer of gel corked bar tape....available in many bands. This often turns out to be easier than cutting and taping some kind of custom padding from styrofoam pipe insulation, or the gel padding that's sold. If, like most people, you only require cushioning above the levers, just wrap that part with the underlayment.


Just make sure the cushioned stuff you wrap first is secure. So first wrap the bar with 3M double sided tape.

noobinsf 

I recently wrapped my Univega bars with some Fizik tape, which is irrelevant, but before wrapping, I cut some cheap Chinese foam bar tape into similar shapes as those gel pads to cover the drops, ramps, and tops. The foam tape has no adhesive, so I taped it in a few places with electrical tape to hold it in place, and it gives some extra padding while keeping a low profile. (Unfortunately, I neglected to take pics prior to wrapping over the improvised pads..)

I just did this, so time will tell if it endures many miles, but it has worked fine for a couple of rides so far. Of course, the Fizik tape offers some padding as well, so I'm not sure if this is something that would work in your case.

noobinsf 

Also, Newbaums just started selling padded cotton tape...

Reynolds 531 

Nitto Banana

TenGrainBread 

I tried some Velo Orange padded cotton tape out recently and like it. Recently did a 70 mile ride, half crushed limestone, with no gloves and had no hand issues. It is also wider than Newbaums or Velox which makes wrapping somewhat easier.

non-fixie 

You don't have to add any padding if you don't want to. I have a single layer of Tressostar on quite a few bikes, and I rather like both the look and the feel. I think I actually prefer the thin tape and gloves combination over thick padded tape.

Single layer:



Double layer:



Mrs non-fixie likes the look, but prefers not to wear gloves. So, Tressostar over cheap plastic padded tape:

SurferRosa

Wear some vintage looking, padded half-finger gloves.

And I use two cut-off pieces of Newbaums behind each lever clamp before starting the wrap, one slightly overlapping the other, both just long enough to hide their ends under the hood.

Mad Honk 

Back in the early 1980's I started wrapping a cork base tape layer and then the finish layer of white Bennotto tape over it on all of the endurance race bikes. I suspect that the cloth over the cork layer will work well also. You might try the new comfort tape from the Silca folks for the under layer. I haven't gotten any yet but am leaning that way for few of my bikes. Smiles, MH

Happy Feet

I just finished wrapping mine. Two layers of Newbaums in opposite directions. I wanted some ridges underneath to give some texture for grip.

cqlink 

Great feedback. Thanks!

smontanaro 

I'll add one comment from the peanut gallery. If you find you need padding to ride comfortably (assuming no physical limitations due to age or injury), it probably makes sense to consider if you need to tweak your bike fit.

bikemig 

I like the planet bike century gel. You can stretch it out so it's pretty thin and it really lasts. It is now on my 2d bike. I recently reused it for a vintage MTB build on a set of trekking bars.

Personally I like the Velox Tressostar tape a bit better than the Newbaums. The Newbaums is likely higher quality and it certainly is stiffer. I find it easier to get a good wrap with the thinner Velox. YMMV.

To get a good wrap, I like cutting a piece to put on the brake clamp and doing the figure 8 thing. I don't lose sleep if a bit of metal is showing there.

ryansu

Just used Newbaums to wrap the bars on a Trek 420 and used the RJ video on the Trek method of wrapping to do it. I didn't mind the small triangle left but you could probably cut a strip to go over the lever clamp and avoid the gap I used two rolls -one per side - and with the stock narrowish bars I think I had plenty of extra tape to do that.

Key Takeaway - I found the backing very Sticky and the tape wanted to stick to itself and get wrinkled, so with the second roll I made sure only a very short stretch of adhesive was exposed while wrapping. YMMV. This was for a bike I was selling but I would do it again on one of the fleet I liked the look and feel enough to see how it would do on longer rides without the cushion of cork tape.



Newbaums on an 85 Trek 520


the gap

steelbikeguy

That looks very good!
I was thinking about doing the same thing on an upcoming wrap, which will use orange and black tape. I was worried about getting the orange tape dirty quickly, so figured I'd run just black tape near the levers.
Nice to know I'm not the only one with this idea.

Regarding the OP's question: I've skipped padding on my of my bikes. I tend to think that if a person is having trouble with pressure on the hands, it might just mean that the body needs to get a few more miles on the bike and adapt, or maybe the seat needs to move back a bit and get some weight off of the hands.

Steve in Peoria

Kabuki12

My first attempt at Harlequin Wrap on my Raleigh
I did this a couple of years ago and now it is time to do it again. I hope I can do better this time. I am having trouble getting red Tresostar . They want me to buy a whole box of it.Also I bought some padded cloth tape from Wally's bikes at the last Eroica California that was in Paso Robles. and I love it . It is on my ItalVega. Joe joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress

polymorphself 

Interesting! Would like to give this a shot.

Reynolds 531 

I bought some, and it was wrapped with a rubber band.
After undoing the rubber band, and preparing to wrap my bars, the tape is creased all the way around. The marks are still on the tape after a week, so I am returning it.

polymorphself 

Ouch! I hope they learn from that...

Chombi1 

I see some recommendations about using electrical tape as a sort of underlayment for cloth tape.
Don't do it cause the adhesive on most electrical tapes tend to turn into a slippery, greasy mess, if exposed to enough sun/heat. Hard to clean up, and your bar tape on top of it will eventually slip and move on you. I only use electrical tape very sparingly just to hold brake cables in place before I cover them with bar tape on aero bar/brake cable setups.