lostarchitect 

The Park instructions are awful. Look at the finished product! It looks terrible.



I do exactly what you do, except with cloth tape. That will get shellacked and doesn't look good with tape, so I wrap top down. But I always go inside to outside.

eschlwc

when i first started overhauling rear derailleurs, the park site instructions led me astray in that regard as well. for hours i was lost and left with great anxiety and bloodied hands... until i came here to c&v.

^ btw, what's that a photo of? looks like he's choking a lizard in a medieval surgical procedure.

cobrabyte

I'm guessing he's using a lighter to heat a peice of steel in order to fuse the seam on the finishing tape...not a bad idea, actually I may try doing that

ColonelJLloyd 

It's best to sterilize sharp objects before sticking them in your eye. Safety first at Park.

I wrap in the direction shown in the Park instructions. Somehow, my results look great; must be me.

sotramk

Here's Calvin at Park Tool doing a "flip flop" wrap. By changing directions at the brake he keeps the tape self tightening both below and on top.

lostarchitect 

I assume not wearing rubber gloves helps.

old's'cool

I'm glad to see we've arrived at a consensus on tape wrapping, as usual!

jimmuller 

Wow, I've never seen so much confusion, obfuscation, and general disagreement since Congress first convened.

I had to go check my bikes to see how I've done it. Always from stem to bar end. Always symmetric left to right, which is to say the helix on one side has the opposite handedness from the helix on the other. Other than that, I've never felt a strong reason to run the helix forward and out or backwards and out. By chance both bars on the tandem, the bars on my sweetie's solo bike, and all my bars except the Peugeot (and not counting the Bianchi which is out in the car so I didn't check it) run one way. The Pug runs the other. I ain't saying which way. Someone might say I did it wrong.

Michael Angelo 

I've taped like this since I was a kid.

RobbieTunes

I didn't think there'd be a consensus. The LBS here wraps from stem to bar end, and doesn't tuck anything in, cuts it clean and tapes it. I generally tuck in 1/2", enough to make the plug stay, but not enough that it's so thick the plug cuts it. I've also, on occasion, started "clean" at the bar end, by request. Some plugs look better that way (Bontrager).

I wrap from the drops up, outside over the top, switch around at the brake/ergo/STI lever. I try to keep them even, and try to have the same number of turns on each side. It's surprisingly easy and people think I know what I'm doing, because it looks good. I ride the drops and have yet to have an issue with curling.

For cushioning on Nittos and aluminum frames, I either use some leftover padded wrap, or cut some Dr. Scholl's gel strips. I don't like a thickish bar, but if it means no numbness, I can live with it. When I wrap for other people, most of them want padding up near the hoods, on top, because that's how they ride. That's very easy with the Dr. Scholl's. Cut, stick, wrap.

Italuminium

Hm. From top to bottom. I'm pretty anal
about having the same number of turns on either side, especially on the tops. I try to get the angle symetrical too. Mind you, I've only wrapped with cork tape thus far, and that old Iscaselle stuff which is rather fat too ( and sticky! But comfortable IMHO. I do hate the stupid, waaaaay too short and waaaay too non-sticky excuses for finishing tapes manufacturers supply.

SJX426 

Your waaaaay remarks resemble Cinelli finish tapes!

this thread confirms there is no right way, only your way.

Italuminium

And Velox, and off brand, and Pelten, and BBB, and specialized. None of the brands I tried came with adequate finishing tapes.

RobbieTunes

+1 on the poor finishing tapes. Even the ones that go on well can betray you later.
Lizardskin, which is my favorite wrap to use and apply, has the best and only sensible finishing tapes I've seen. It's just thinner Lizardskin.

jimmuller 

Tressostar, generally black though in a few cases not black. Ends tucked into the bar. We don't need no stinkin' finishing tape. That's how I learned to do it from one or more bike books back in the 70's. It has worked well. YMMV.

mainstreetexile 

Finishing tape? What's that? I always just use black electrical tape to finish my wraps near the bars, but I guess I'm just a philistine.

Wrapping from top to bottom and finishing with tape there wouldn't work for me since my hands rest there a lot to use my bar end shifters. On the tops, right near the stem/sleeve on the bars, not so much. Maybe authentic finishing tape (tm) fares better, but electrical tape tends to slip or unravel if you move your hands around on it too much, especially as it gets older. The nice thing about black electrical tape is that I have an unlimited supply so it's no problem to top it off with an extra wrap, or replace the old electrical tape with fresh if it loses its stickiness.

Ed in Toronto

Let me throw in my 2 cents. The way I like to do it, which is probably wrong, but what the heck, I'm the one who's gonna' ride the bike.

luker

doesn't matter much how you wrap the bar if you never touch it. Or if you must, only with the fingertips (like when you just have to avoid that bus). Won't unravel, and it keeps much cleaner that way, too.

gaucho777 

Next up, how do you glue your tubulars? Followed by how do you finish your cable ends? Then, once those have been settled, should you grease your tapers?

auchencrow

You forgot to ask, "What's the best chain lube?"

mainstreetexile 

Ooh, good ones! I actually just flip-flopped on my taper grease stance, but I won't get into that here.

kc0yef 

wrap it so that when your hands grip the tape it tightens not loosens top down

jimmuller 

Shaken, not stirred. Or is it mistaken, not erred. I can't quite remember. The problem is, when I see descriptions like
I really don't know what it means. Top down. Over across. Over and up. Over and down. Clockwise. Inside-out. Yeah, but from what perspective? I dunno'. I just ride. Never had bar tape come loose. I've had it wear to the point of becoming tattered. That means it's time to do it again. A few thousand miles maybe.

mainstreetexile 

Reminds me of this.. topwise!

eschlwc

that far, huh? i retape mine after each ride.