smd4

Great advice.

mschwett 

OMG.

went for a ride. realized that i did the same thing as you - only one side of the tape has the little oil-slick stars on my tape…. and i wrapped it so it’s only visible on the right. 😂😂😂😂

sweeks

We should start a club!
I wonder if there's a "standard" side of the tape for the graphics to be on. Yours are on the right side, while mine are on the left. I started wrapping at the grip, and you started yours at the stem. Hmmm...

Sy Reene

I suppose starting from the top, there'd still be a choice of clockwise or counterclockwise

fishboat

Rather than use electrical tape to finish, self-sealing silicone tape yields a better looking and wearing end-wrap-finish.

sweeks

That's the stuff I used; the blue is a nice match for the Easton tape.

mschwett 

redid the left side to get the stars out and match the proportions of the right, which of course now is backwards. but getting better - still a bit of a bulge right at the starting transition but two passes before starting at an angle with this thick tape is way too much. much tighter edges though. thanks to all who pointed out that you can redo it once or twice. i didn't think the adhesive would stay tacky.

mikeoverly

Doesn't look terrible. Ride it until in unravels or until the first time you get shade from someone on bikeforums.

mschwett 

too late ! shade happened a while back in this post.

cxwrench

While I hate taping bars in that direction you did a pretty dang good job. I would NEVER leave tape on for more than a few months w/ an alloy bar, especially if you sweat a bunch. You need to check for corrosion under the tape regularly. I know this sounds extreme but if you ignore it it can kill you. Lost a good friend/customer years ago for this exact reason.

mschwett 

yes, i have a major fear or headset/fork/bar failure. i don’t know **** about it so i have the shop give it a look regularly. it’s a carbon bar/cockpit, but still ….

cxwrench

Not nearly as much of a worry w/ a carbon bar. I change mine often just because I get bored and can't stand when it starts smelling funky. I've always looked at bar tape as a consumable, especially because my background is being a team mechanic. We changed that stuff all the time just to keep it fresh. I also HATE when people leave it on too long and it takes me 30mins to get it completely removed before putting new tape on.

SoSmellyAir

I think mschwett did OK for the first time.

My first time was slightly more even and in the correct direction, but I left a gap behind the STI lever band and could not get the end plugs in. I tolerated that first wrap for about a month before redoing it with new bar tape. I am not a mechanic and thus don't replace the bar tape often enough to become proficient at it. So every time I replace my bar tape I am pretty much starting from square 2. In hindsight I should have started with cheaper tape, at least for the first 3 or 4 jobs.

Just go slow, take deep breaths, and have a system for tracking whether things are even. My OCD tips include: maintaining the same slight tension throughout, counting the number of loops to reach the STI levers, more tension on the figure 8 around the STI levers, keeping the overlapping distance constant at the top of each loop, and not cutting the first side until you have also finished wrapping the second side and see that the two remaining lengths are about the same. It takes me an hour, with multiple partial unwrapping and re-wrapping per side, to install bar tape.

Depending on whether you are right or left handed and how your brain works, you may get better results from first doing the left side or the right side, then doing the other side to match. For example, I do the left side first because it is harder for me as a right hander, but once it is done, I can do the easier right side and better match it to the left side.

Yes, this is certifiable OCD.

ThermionicScott 

Just out of curiosity: for those customers that are known to be heavier sweaters, do you do anything to coat the bars before taping them? Like paint or electrical tape? Or just plan on cleaning the bars and changing their tape more often than others?

SoSmellyAir

Like this guy: Cable-Knit Cotton-Cashmere Cardigan (ralphlauren.com)? Heh heh.

mschwett 

redid the right side. pretty happy actually, other than the bit of a thicker part where it starts. not sure there's any way around that with this method and this tape - the square half a wrap doubles up the thicker part of the tape when you start going diagonal.

but stars out on both sides, relatively symmetrical, angled the "right" way. great advice on redoing it with the same tape.

Sy Reene

I feel a new SNL skit coming soon.. Schwetty Bars...

mschwett 

i've heard worse

SurferRosa

Agree. I prefer Fizik, which is now about $30 (shipped+tax) on eBay.

NoWhammies

Looks better than my first attempt. I'd say job well done.

Koyote

mschwett : It looks like you did a decent job, but your method is fundamentally flawed: you should roll from the drops on up to the tops, because then the tape edges will be facing downward; wrapping in the opposite direction, as you have done, means that your hands will be pushing against the edges, and causing them to roll back on themselves and just generally look ragged far sooner.

I'll also opine that you started it too far from the stem, but that might be a matter of personal preference.

curbtender

Not bad. Next time you wrap, leave the spacing on the outside of the curve the same and shorten the inside. I've seen some people use a gauge to keep the wrap even.

SoSmellyAir

How? I just eyeball, but I would not mind if there was a tool for this.

mschwett 

that would work if the pitch/spacing was a little larger in general, i just barely had enough this way! next time.

raceboy

I'll live with this...

Both sides started and wrapped the same way, but the brand imprint is covered on the right side.

When I raced cars and did something like this I’d tell everyone it was the hot setup because it was more aerodynamic or some other bs. If I had a good run in the next race, other guys would start showing up with the same “modification.”