gugie 

Alright, I made you look. You're cheap, right? This tape is not really leather, but you can take 3/4" twill tape, wrap it on your bars, and apply a few layers of shellac to make it look like leather from 5 feet away. I didn't have any bars to wrap for this thread, so I took a piece of tubing to demonstrate.

You can find 3/4" twill tape online for $0.07-0.08/ foot in at least 16 colors. I just buy the beige, or "natural white" in 50' rolls.



And yes, it doesn't have adhesive backing. No problem, once you apply the shellac it'll be locked in place and will almost assuredly never unroll. If you want to impress people, call it a matrix material.

I've had to apply several layers of shellac to get it to the dark brown color I sometimes shoot for. One morning over my morning cup of joe I looked at what was left in the french press, not enough for another cup, but plenty to do an experiment with. I cut off a piece of my herringbone twill and soaked it in the coffee, then laid it out to dry to get the tape starting off light brown - less shellac needed to get it nice and dark. You can put down a line of rubber cement on the handlebars and let it set up to compensate for the lack of adhesive on the back of the tape. It won't hold for a long time that way, this is just to tack it in place so it doesn't easily unroll if you lose tension while wrapping the bars. The shellac will lock it in place at the end of the process. I use a short piece of adhesive tape to start and wrap from the bottom up. Many people start at the bottom so your hands don't roll the edges of the tape off over time, but with shellac, it really doesn't matter which way you start. For about 40 years I've been pre-wrapping my bars with a slit down the length piece of old inner tube, as I have big paws and standard bar diameter kinda hurts in the way that a too narrow saddle does for my wide behind.

I grabbed some scrap tubing laying around in the Atelier for this experiment, wrapped and twined in the manner of this video. Here's what two coats of shellac looks like on top of the coffee prepped tape.


At this point the surface is a bit rough, the wet shellac raises cotton fibers. If you like your tape "grippy" and the color works for you, try this.

The first coat of shellac soaks into the tape, and will take longer to dry. Subsequent coats will be just on the surface. Adding coats will make it darker and smoother. Here's what it looks like with about 8 coats.



One trick I learned when I was doing a lot of woodworking was to prep hardwoods for water based finishes with a wet cloth, which would raise whatever tiny wood fibers to the surface, knock them down with a fine grit, then apply the water based finish. I'm wondering if one could do that after a couple of coats of shellac on handlebars if you wanted a lighter color with fewer coats to keep the tape tackier vs smoother.

You're probably thinking that it costs more than $0.07 a foot if you add in the shellac and twine. You can find Zinsser shellac in 0.5 pint cans for under $15, or buy shellac flakes in amber or "clear" and make your own with denatured alcohol. I know that you Californian's can't purchase denatured alcohol anymore, but I'm guessing that rubbing alcohol (70% alcohol) would work as well, it'll just take longer to dry in between coats. A roll of twine from the Savings and Loan will set you back $6, enough for a hundred bars or so. Amortize those costs over a couple of bars and you're still saving $$ vs Newbaum's.

You can experiment with the base tape color. Yellow, for example can give you a more golden color with just a few coats of amber shellac. Dark brown, blue, and of course black will be black in just a few coats. Switch to "clear" shellac for lighter colors. Clear shellac actually adds some brown to the tape. If you really want white, Zinsser makes a white primer/sealer. It's too thick for handlebar tape, so cut it with clear shellac about 1 part white, 4 parts clear. The white pigment will wear off on your hands, so add 1-2 coats of clear shellac to seal it in. It'll still look very white.

For those that don't want to go through the fuss of shellac, or prefer the look of raw cotton tape, I'm guessing you could paint rubber cement on the entire length of handlebars that you're applying tape to and finish it off in the manner you normally do. Here's the 16 colors of twill tape I've found online.

tgot 

Does the shellac'd wrap have any give to it with the tube underneath? Or is it completely rigid at that point?

TiHabanero

My hands and wrists ache just looking at any bar tape with shellac over it. Padded cork with gel pads underneath is just about right.

imabeliever1

This is like what you have done. I first wrapped with some old used foam tape. Then wrapped with the same type of cloth. Finished it with twine.
Bought a small can of shellack from big box building supply in amber. Several coats later, here you are. I wear lightly padded gloves and find this to be comfortable. Had a similar setup on a vintage fixed gear of mine and rode it for years.

tiger1964 

Looks less like leather and more like satay to me... oh, great, now I'm hungry.

gugie 

It really doesn't make it give at all, it's pretty rigid. I use the tube as a cheap way to increase the bar diameter.

gugie 

It's kinda like the old saw about what the best shoe is. It's the one that fits, which will be different from one person to the next. You've found what works for you, why change? On the other hand, how much does padded cork + gel pads cost you? My post is just a how to for those wanting a cheap, robust tape solution. For me, I've found that comfort comes with a thicker handlebar and a decent set of gloves with just a bit of padding. I did the Clunker Challenge on a 100km ride with a bike that came with foam grips. It was about as comfortable on my hands as my Big Red; I built up the handlebar diameter on it except in the drops.


Clunker Challenge bike


Big Red with built up bar tape + shellac

The shellac doesn't add to the stiffness vs raw cotton tape.

gugie 

Another plus! If you're out in the middle of nowhere, you can eat your bar tape. Of course it'll be better if you bring some spicy peanut sauce with you, so add that to your kit.

ehcoplex 

Aesthetically I love shellacked cotton bar tape (along with the whip tie'd twine), I just wish my aging hands did too....

Schweinhund

We can still get HEET, that's methanol, add it to some ethanol, isn't that what denatured alcohol mostly is?

gugie 

Red HEET contains methanol, yellow is mostly Isopropyl alcohol. The red stuff burns with a sooty flame, for camping I use the yellow.

I imagine shellac flakes will dissolve in most any hydrocarbon liquid. A quick lookup on the interwebs tells me that it'll dissolve in water if you add an alkaline agent in it. Anything with water in it will take longer to dry out, but if you're shellacing your bars on a warm day, it probably won't add that much extra time to the process.

Schweinhund

Yellow is nearly 100% Methanol
The red is isopropyl
I know this because of the backpacking discussions for camp fuel because it was another thing California eliminated.

Korina

I've long toyed with the idea of braiding or weaving bar tape with wool yarn. Maybe I should experiment.

Just as soon as the cat wakes up and gets off my thigh.

Atlas Shrugged

Or you can buy the real thing!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568...2usa4itemAdapt

​​​​​​​Well almost, but heck only $2

52telecaster

Now I need to start looking at linen ribbon. Seems like it would be fun to try.

gugie 

Yeah, like I said.


So I suppose one can get the HEET available and try it. I'm guessing either will dissolve shellac flakes.

I do know that when I was working in semiconductors in the Bay Area we had to keep track of every drop of isopropyl we used and tried not to use it whenever possible, even though it was the best way to clean the insides of our tools. I should contact the people I still know at that company and see what they're using now.

gugie 

Just to be clear for those watching at home: "This luxurious faux leather handlebar strap will make your favorite bike unique."

And it's a bit over $7 with shipping. Delivery from China "promised" by June 15 (3 weeks).

But hey, order some, try it out, and post a thread like I did. I'm sure it's most high quality stuff.

squirtdad

go for it and take them to the Arcata Farmers Market

unworthy1

never heard of any fiber arts folk dying cotton (or other natural fiber) with coffee, but dying with black tea is very common.
Wonder what the color difference might be, not to mention the caffeine level!
Also most dyers will use a mordant to "fix" the dye, but might not be required for something you don't ever launder.

daviddavieboy

I have been using twill tape for decades. It holds up very well with occasional touch up. On one bike I used some shellac that I tinted white and it still looks great after 5 or 6 years but I do wear gloves when riding.

gugie 

Yeah, I was just about to dump out the remains of a french press and thought to use it. The coffee didn't tint the twill as much as I thought it would, but it did make a small difference in the color, and it didn't take as much shellac to make it darker.

Wildwood 

Leather is overrated - for bicycles!

Velo Mule

Woodworkers have used coffee as a stain. It is cheap, like free, and you usually won't have to run out to the store for it. One downside to any DIY stain is consistency. But for handlebar tape, that is not a concern. Tea may work better in fibers.

Velo Mule

You got the bait, put it on the hook and I bit it. You got me. I'm cheap.

52telecaster

I was out today and looked for linen ribbon. It's not as common as I might have thought.