Retroman69

I miss the old cheap plastic handlebar tape. It was thin and stretchy, and molded well to the curvy drop bars.
I dont like the feel of thick spongy tape and want a classic look on my current project.
I tried the Brooks cloth based tape, but it was a disaster. It had zero stretch and did nothing but wrinkle, slip, and bunch up, and the plug ends didn’t come close to fitting in the bars.
Tossed the mess out.
Are there any suggestions? What have you used that you love and that wrapped well?
open to all suggestions, thank you!
I wish I could find a blue that halfway matched the bike, but will probably just go with black.

KerryP

The Hunt-Wilde Schwinn tape is usually pretty easy to find. Nothing says Schwinn like translucent tape that matched their candy paint colors.

Salamandrine 

Agreed. Nothing says Schwinn like translucent plastic tape. Yeah, more often than not there's some NOS Hunt-Wilde Schwinn tape on ebay. I don't have a Schwinn and I have a roll, just cuz I always thought was cool. In fact I should stash a couple more rolls before it becomes unobtainable.

Alternatively you could simply use traditional cotton tape - not whatever Brooks is selling. Newbaums is pretty nice, and comes in many colors.

Happy Feet

I just ordered some Newbaums for my Gitane build. Blue and white for a crack at Harlequin wrapping.

Retroman69

Thank you guys!
I’ll start looking for available original tape. It’s definitely the way I would love to go, if I can find it in the blue.
I've been looking at the Newbaum tape as well, can anyone that has used it tell me if it is pliable enough to mold into the contours of the bars?
thanks again!

Retroman69

PS: wow, you’re right, NOS tape is all over eBay.
Now on the search for my color!

terrymorse 

Might not be what you want exactly, but I use the Fizik Classic tape on my bike.

Its pretty old school, and a bit stretchy.

cinco

Even though NOS stuff is still available I feel like I should mention that Sunlite currently makes a similar plastic waffle-pattern wrap, though I can only find it in black. Someone may find that useful someday.

Bianchi84

I finally got my Velox white cotton tape; now I can see how dirty my old white tape got! I'll probably wrap the bars this weekend.

Retroman69

I really like the look of it with the perforations, definitely old school. I bookmarked it, thanks for the link!

Retroman69

Nice! It’s just like the old stock stuff. At only $6 I went ahead and ordered it in case I can’t find color matching NOS wrap by the time I finish the bike.
thanknyiu for the heads-up!

Retroman69

Ive seen that too. Please let us know how the installation goes!

Happy Feet

It is very pliable.

I just ordered 4 roles of newbaums from amazon.ca and got the following message. The white is on it's way in 4 days and the blue is out of stock, we'll email when it's shipped. No idea what that means or how long I'll wait?

randyjawa 

Cloth tape is difficult to wrap. So, too, are some of the modern offerings of today. That said...

I learned that it is best to position the brake levers where you want them, then secure the clamps in place with duct tape or whatever (I use electrician's tape). Being careful, remove the brake handles and mounts from the bar clamps. Now tape away - no more trying to get the stuff to conform to the figure eight wrap or whatever it is called. The result is rewarding...

terrymorse 

Hate to tell you this, but you wrapped the tape in the wrong direction.

You're supposed to start at the bar ends and finish near the stem.

The way you have wrapped it has the exposed edge of the tape facing your hands on the bends, so you hands will gradually peel back the edge.

Last ride 76 

Very stretchy/bendy for cloth...
Eric

The_Joe

I use Newbaums tape or the old Benotto style ribbon on my bikes. I did just stumble upon this cloth tape that I'm looking for a reason to use.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F113598730101

Wildwood 

Please do a thread on your harlequin wrap. I've wanted to do it - tried, frustrated, quit. But then i'm quick to give-up on failed first attempts.

Wildwood 

Really.
I thought the proper way was to start near the stem and wrap forward if right-handed, wrap aft if left-handed. The left over bit is tucked into barends.
Learn someone else's new rule every day.


Randy, hope you haven't been doing it wrong all these decades!

Salamandrine 

Wrapping top down was the standard method when this bike was new.

terrymorse 

And that "factory" top down method with plastic bar tape led quickly to tape creep, and big ugly gaps between the tape.

Top down was never the standard method when using cloth tape. Not since the 1960s, at least.

randyjawa 

Sorry that you hate telling me about my apparent mistake, however: I do appreciate the opportunity to learn. That said...

I have been doing both methods for many years. I strive to restore my older bikes as accurately as I can. For my older bikes, I use cloth tape and wrap center to bar end, as seemed to be the case in days long gone bye. The last thing I wanted, when I built the PX10, was to have PVC tape cluttering up the appearance of my handlebar...

I strive for original, when I build my bikes. And, for what it is worth, I have never had a problem with tape edges peeling up.

Happy Feet

I will. Hopefully the blue tape will arrive or I will have to go black and white I guess.

It will be part of a 1969 Gitane project thread I'm starting soon. I'll link to it when it's up.

Happy Feet

Good tip!

True the con to center out wrapping is tape curl but the pro is being able to secure without finishing tape. 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other depending on the build. Some tweedy bikes will finish with shellac'd cordage but others would look out of place with that type of finish.

Salamandrine 

Yes it was, through the 70s. Bottom up became popular at the same time that Bike Ribbon started catching on, roughly the very early 80s.
I suspect we will have to agree to disagree on this.

It's kind of six of one, half dozen of the other for me. Yeah, it's less prone to creep if you tape bottom up, but if it does separate, it makes a bigger mess. With sticky backed tapes it's IME not much of an issue either way.