smontanaro 

Getting to the point where I should start thinking about handlebar tape options for the Univega Super Speciale. Unfortunately, I'm not enamored of any of the options currently in my bag-o-tape. I'm looking for opinions on these options or suggestions for other options. (Refer to the above Flickr link for "better" pix of the bike.)

Grey... This is some Fizik tape I bought for Ellen's Specialized Roubaix, but it's my only grey option, and kind of matches the Shimano grey housing, which was chosen because I have it in copious amounts (happy to sell a few feet to people in need):



Baby blue... Again, this particular roll is destined for another bike, my Frejus Tour de France:



White... I have a few rolls of this white cork Guidoline tape. I bought it with the idea that maybe I could dye it. That hasn't happened yet. If you've got some tape that floats my boat and want white, I'd be willing to trade:



Yellow... Normally, blue/yellow is perfect for me, as I went to college at UCLA. The Univega doesn't have any yellow contrast colors though. Maybe I can fill in the lug cutouts:



Finally, I suppose I could go for red, as that's the color of the graphics on the Regina group. Still, I don't see myself being thrilled with that much red on a blue frame:



Inputs welcome. Ping me if you have something you think I might want.

bikingshearer 

As a fellow Bruin, I get pull for yellow tape. It would be okay, but it would not be my first or even second or third choice.

I'll add another possibility - black. Black bar tape is never wrong. Ever.

White is another good option for your bike, but white shows dirt pretty much two seconds after you put it on. Silver or grey would okay for this one also as it would pick up the color of the Univega decal.

Blue would not be a good idea. If you match the frame color exactly, it looks too machy-matchy. If you can't match the frame color exactly, it just looks bad.

Those are my thoughts and, as usual, my opinion is worth exactly what you are paying for it. :-)

SurferRosa

I like blue bar tape with a blue frame.



For that Univega, I would go blue, black, grey or brown Newbaums cotton. Switch it up every few years. And definitely gumwall sidewalls.

genejockey 

Yellow or black. White as 3rd choice. I concur with bikingshearer on the mistake of trying to do blue on a blue bike. White's problematic for the reasons stated, but I've had good luck with Fizik white tape. Of course, I also bought white gloves for that bike, because the black ones I normally wear were staining the tape.

Arnolfini

What colour is your saddle? I’d match that.

seedsbelize 

Black. Always black.

due ruote 

I'd go with either the gray or black. Fizik silver might also be worth looking at.

chainwhip

I have a blue-framed Shogun with white Fizik classic bartape(and gray cabling) that I'm quite fond of and post too much.
But hey.

Some other ideas that sound good to me:

Match your saddle.
Silver (I'd probably hunt down a Fizik silver ...the texture , durability and clean-ability tick all the boxes for me).
Celeste...I've thought several times of trying it out...a sideways take on your baby-blue.

jdawginsc 

Red! Needed one advocate at least...

tkamd73 

I’d go red too, pulls the red out of the crank arm, FD, and shift levers.
Tim

acm

Gray or baby blue - nice classic look.

repechage

White Hunt-Wilde
will stay clean

or Black due to the black wall tires...

C9H13N 

I vote yellow, white, or any other color that isn’t black.

nlerner

Baby blue with one coat of clear shellac (assuming it’s cotton).

Jmpierce

Orange? Gulf Racing colors...and orange is blue's complimentary color.

Charles Wahl

That's "complementary" for the color. I like orange and blue, but only in the indigo-creamsicle range. Well, there's the Holdsworth orange-teal too. But I voted red, and so did a few other folks; so I'm wondering why the poll shows only "1" for red. Are some votes being thrown away? Investigation!

niliraga 

+1 on a *good* orange, ie. a ochre-ish burnt or molteni almost-eggyolk-yellow orange. alas orange options seem to be all the loud hi-viz style.

failing that, i would go for the grey, and maybe red bar plugs as a nod to the red detailing.

John E

This fellow Bruin (I got three degrees and met my wife there) concurs. Whenever I consider other colors, I always circle back to basic black, because it does not show the inevitable buildup of dirt and grime. I grew up with white or red tape, but that was washable -- and slippery -- plastic, but I have long preferred cloth tape.

BFisher

Blue could work, but grey beats it for me. If not grey then black. Oh, and definitely cotton tape.

Krazyistkarl

Don't want to thread jack, it does anyone have recommendation on a bar tape that matches the brown selle italia turbo 1980 reissue?

smontanaro 

Reviving this dormant poll/thread. In the end, I ignored all the advice and let the bike sit. Eventually, the solution revealed itself. I purchased a Motobecane Grand Jubilé from Kansas City Craigslist and have been divesting myself of many of the parts (let me know if you'd like the frame). Among the parts were more than a bike's worth of unlined red housing and two pairs of red Tressostar tape. So red it is.

The unlined housing presented a bit of a problem which Greg Reiche on internet-BOB solved for me: spaghetti tubing. I bought some of this stuff from eBay which seems to work pretty well. I've yet to take the bike out for another shakedown ride but will try to take care of that in the next couple days. Will tape the bars once I'm happy with the brake lever position and take a couple more pictures then.

Thanks for the inputs.

1simplexnut

How about this ? tressostar i think ?

smontanaro 

With the new bar tape and housing...

jdawginsc 

Red toe straps and it would be perfect!

smontanaro 

Your wish is my command...