Handle Bar Wrap
 

Good morning. I am cleaning up and getting up an running a curb find 86 Miyata One Thousand. I’d be interested in recommendations folks might have for a good durable Bar wrap. Looking at going with black.

Thanks!

Depends on your price point and whether you are thinking of keeping it or selling it.

Bar tape is one of those options that many people have a personal preference for, like saddles and pedals. So, if you ask 10 people you'll probably get 10 different answers. If you were just fixing to sell, you might want to keep it clean but not too expensive as the next person will likely want to change it. That's why manufacturers put generic saddles, tape and pedals even on expensive bikes (plus it keeps the production price down). If it's a keeper you may want to splurge.

Another thing is the amount of padding. Some prefer a thin wrap, others like me (who have some nerve issues) prefer added padding. For a touring bike I usually double wrap the bars, first with foam or cork, then with a nicer top layer.

Probably the cheapest option that is suitable for touring (some padding) is synthetic foam or cork tape. The down side is it tends to tear if dropped or scuffed.
https://masibikes.com/products/masi-cork-tape

Then there are some synthetic tapes that stand up to wear a little better
https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5049-2...Handlebar-Tape
https://www.brooksengland.com/en_row...-bar-tape.html

A little pricier, but I have found the Brooks Cambium rubber tape to be durable and reusable on different bars
https://www.brooksengland.com/en_row...tape-1237.html

Thanks for the feedback. I like the Brooks wrap. Looks pretty durable and being able to reuse is a plus.

Thanks again.

Specialized S-Wrap Roubaix tape. Very comfortable, looks good, lasts longer than anything else I've ever used.

Thanks for the response. I’ll check it out.

Old Guy, I Like the surface feel of cotton twill bar tape and have applied it over a rubber foam tape,...

Now with the production of Gel under tape pads , I'd put them down on the bare bar first.. then apply the others over it,,

I like LizardSkins 2.5, wraps fairly easily, a bit of cushion, but OTOH not very cheap. Black cotton tape is low-priced, easiest to wrap & pretty durable.

I kinda like Bontrager's Gel Cork tape, durable enough and adds a nice bit of cushion if well overlapped. Now if they would just bring back the color that matches my well worn Brooks Honey saddles.

Never realized the selection was so big. Types of material, colors etc. A bit overwhelming. Didn’t get too fancy back in the day. Got basic tape from the LBS.

I like Brooks leather tape for the sweat absorption and the color matched my saddle

I'll give a tentative second on the Specialized S-Wrap Roubaix tape. The cushion is great, very durable, and the surface feel is nice on bare hands... until it gets wet. I've found that this and other synthetic tapes don't do a good job of absorbing sweat or rain and just become slimy slippery monsters once they get wet through. Wearing gloves solves this problem for the most part though.

My go to for inexpensive cloth handlebar tape is Renfrew Brand Hockey Tape. It looks just like old school cloth tape and lasts a long time.

I see black, blue, green, red, white, bright yellow, clear, various hockey team logos, batman, and some other patterns available at Canadian Tire. Sport Check also sells it. Canadian Tire has 8 rolls of 15 metres by 25mm wide black tape for $12.99 CDN or one roll 12 metres by 36mm for $3.49 CDN.

Description says it doesn't leave any adhesive on your stick upon removal.

Cheers

Leather tape is another option for durable tape but it’s not cheap. Brooks has leather tape but it isn’t a single piece. Adarga is a US company that makes a single piece (no splices) leather tape. Both are tough.

I have been using Brooks bar wrap on my LHT since 2011, and it has been removed and rewrapped multiple times. I just recently removed it to replace the bars, then removed it again to try out a different pair of levers, then removed it and put the old levers back on. I do apply Proofide to it once in a while, maybe once a year.

I like the looks of the leather tape. The durability and reuse is a plus.

What do you mean? The Brooks is one piece per side. No splices. I've never wrapped a drop bar all the way across, I have always wrapped each side individually, and that is how I have seen every drop bar wrapped.

Look at the end of post 18 here: https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1...s-touring.html

This was just last week. I emailed Brooks, who were very good about a replacement, but they did confirm that their tape is made of splices now. Apparently the set I received was from a poor batch and had 4 splices in total. You have two pieces of tape to a set, one for each side. But each side potentially has splices in the length of leather.

Okay, I see what you are saying. I don't recall any splices in mine, but they are old. They may be, but they look good and function well. That is all I ask.

Here is a shot of my curb find. It’s cleaning up well. Getting close!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...727a7ad92.jpeg

Brooks has been splicing their tape for quite a while now...at least for 5 to 10 years. That was one of the draws for the Adarga tape for me. It’s cut from a single piece of leather.

Leather tape is tough but I’m not sure it’s as tough as F.U.B.A.R. tape. The shiny orange tape in this picture is F.U.B.A.R. and it’s about 10 years old with 10,000 to 15,000 miles on it. I don’t know if I can destroy it

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f6e7120b_k.jpgUntitled by Stuart Black, on Flickr

Unfortunately, F.U.B.A.R. went out of business and you can’t get it anymore. That may have something to do with everlasting tape:rolleyes:

My Brooks tape is nine years old at the moment. I am not as concerned as much as the ultimate durability, as I am the comfort of leather. I like the way it feels, and like the way it soaks up sweat. I don't really care who makes the leather bar tape, as log as it is leather. Mine though had the added benefit of matching my seat.

For appearance I love thin, thin, thin. Two of my bikes have cloth. I love the look of top down wrapping and I've never had an issue with it rolling or unwrapping. All the road bikes I own have bars with a sleeve in the center. The tightly wrapped black cloth looks almost like an ebony inlay against that polished sleeve <3 . I somewhat recently picked up a bike with synthetic leather. I love the feel of that. More plush than cloth, but not chunky like synthetic cork. It was somewhat worn when I acquired the bike so tonight I rewrapped with new fizik synthetic tape (tempo - classic). Was really nice to work with, about the same as what I removed in thickness. Will need to see how it wears. It was a little pricey, but it was the most generous lengths I've bought in some time. I had a good 6-8" left without trying to be spot on perfect in spacing. Because of thickness and hood type I felt I needed to wrap bottom up. It came out ok, but I really dislike tape at the top. Maybe someday I'll try twine, but my preference is the super clean look of top down. My least favorite are the synthetic corks. They're way too chunky and never seem to finish clean. They also seem to be the worst for feeling sticky and grimy in humid heat.

Matching a saddle is easy. Matching an orange frame is tricky.

As I said, I go for function and comfort, matching was simply an added benefit.

I feel the same. I actually prefer an older "lived in" look over pristine as an aesthetic and see patina and slight asymmetry as a bonus. I don't have a problem with the splices, as long as they hold, but splitting before use is too much of a no go. If the second set looks to have similar issues I may try the other brand mentioned in the future.

I will admit to having something of a latent British fetish at the moment, with one of my dream builds being a modern Raleigh carbon Clubman using a Sturmey Archer IGH, Brooks Cambium saddle and tape and Carradice bags. Kooky, but it keeps me up at nights ;)