flyfisherbob

It seems that the fit of the shifters into the end of the handlebars is so tight that you can't tape them as you would with other shifters and finish with plugs. How do I tape the bars? Do I start at the ends like normal and tape both ends of the bar tape? Any assistance would be appreciated.

JAG410

I start at the bottom and wrap to the top. Just like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO8DcaOJzrA

tmh657 

I start the bar tape at the top of the bars and use tape at the end near the shifters. I don't know if that is the correct way or most visually pleasing but it works for me and it's easy.

I don't especially like having tape up on top of the bars where my hands may rest once in a while so I do this on most bars.

Velognome 

Like this.....I'm not too keen on tmh657's approach

Lamplight

I do it the way tmh657, but then I tuck the end into the end of the handlebar with the shifter. But...I use thin, cloth tape so there's just enough room.

wahoonc

Cloth tape from the centers out, there is room even with the bar ends to tuck the tape in. Been doing that since 1976 or so...

Aaron

wrk101

Bottom up, I use self fusing tape to seal the ends (clear tape on the bar con end).

auchencrow

I think that's ^ a good way to go if you're doing barcons.

On the other hand, if you don't want to do twine, you can just use Tressostar cloth tape, which is thin enough so that you can wind top-down and still tuck the ends, obviating the need for electrical tape as well.

mtree 

Speaking of clean. Start from BarCons and wrap to brake band; start at top and wrap to brake band; at the brake band end wraps under the hood.

Anyone remember the Rhode Gear Leather Wrap Kit? It was stitched so that you could end cleanly at the both ends end. The cabling could come out anywhere you wanted along the stitch seam.

LesterOfPuppets

I never stuff bar tape even when not using barend shifters. I just start at the end, end of tape on bottom of bar, wrapping right side of bar clockwise 'til the brake levers, then switch to counter-clockwise 'til I get to the center bulge. Trim at an angle with scissors and finish with a nice electrical tape. Reverse directions for left side.

Even with stickyless tape if you start out tight and right you won't need electrical tape at the beginning. There's sometimes a slight bulge as you have to kinda overlap quite a bit on the first round.

FrenchFit 

The reason you start the at bar end and work toward the middle is so the tape ridge is exposed on the away/outer side. The reason your wrap counterclockwise left and clockwise right is cause hand pressure to tighten, not loosen the bar wrap. How you finish is purely cosmetic, and a light line app of superglue and handvice for two minutes, with an exacto cut-off will give you a clean finish without taping.

Or, simply do this:

3alarmer 

...I use the cushiest gel corked bar tape i can buy, so for all practical purposes it's
impossible to stuff it in the bar end. I start at the bottom, securing the end with a
piece of vinyl electrical tape from 3M, either super 88 or super 33 (enhanced adhesive
strength). I always wrap first with an underlayer of two sided poster tape..

The direction goes clockwise on the lower right bar end, then reverses at the lever.
The direction starts counter-clockwise on the lower left bar end, then reverses at the lever.

I use the same 3M vinyl tape (super 88) to finish at the bar near the stem.

This way, when I screw something up, it's relatively easy to untape the bar and retape
using the same tape. Also, the direction seems to suit my riding style, so that my pulling
on the bar works to tighten, rather than loosen the wraps on both the tops and the drops.

Anyway, this works well for me, personally.

3alarmer 

....^^^^what he said^^^

onespeedbiker

Start at the bottom, work to the top just like always, I just don't tuck in the ends. I like to use cork but I always remove the 2 sided tape as I find it unnecessary and harder to wrap with..

flangehead

A few years back I bought a new touring bike with bar end shifters as my daily commuter. When it came time to re-wrap the bars I didn't think it through enough; I cut the tape on a diagonal like I would if I could tuck it into the bar, which I couldn't. Next time I'll run one turn then start twisting. (I start on bottom and wrap up.)

Since my hands are on the end of the bar a lot for shifting, the tape is under stress and it failed:


Failed wrap. My hands are on this position a lot.

I didn't want to use electrical tape since previous experience is that the adhesive gets on my hands. I was away from home when it came loose so I used an inner tube rubber band I had on a light to hold it enough to get home. I imagined I might use a heat-shrink sleeve but the fit of the rubber band was good enough I just made sleeves from 1.5"/1.75" inner tube:


Source for sleeve.

I think I've got my problem solved for now, and I've got material for probably 5 more sets of sleeves if it doesn't hold up.

Installed sleeve, with inside of inner tube facing out.

I've learned I need to set a better anchor when I wrap next time. Hopefully this kludge will hold up for a couple of years so I don't have to re-wrap prematurely.

oneclick 

I wrap from the ends up (or top-down and then back up for double-layer) and to finish the top I have a short bit of innertube slipped on to the bars waiting:



There are wine-cork shrink-wrap things, and you can get them in loads of colours. They would work the same way as the innertube bits if you cut the flat tops off. I got a few and shrunk them onto a bar and it sort-of worked; they are made with a seam and that does not shrink or stay together consistently. They are REALLY cheap - pennies per, I got some more to see I can get them to work.

I also investigated clear shrink tubing, a length of dia big enough was not cheap, something like $35 I think, but it'd do a dozen bikes.

But I do like the rubber, it is easy to do and re-usable.

John Nolan 

I wrap from the bottom and finish the top with a bit of silicone tape.

Germany_chris

bottom to top and twine it up

BoltBreaker

And then finish with shellac for a long-lasting waterproof coating that has better grip.

Germany_chris

It’s shellacked

Murray Missile 

I just did a set of bars with shrink tubing. I need a bit more practice with it and getting it to shrink evenly can be a trick since I had to use 40mm with a 2 to 1 shrink ratio so I could get the Salsa tape fed through once I got to the top. If you were using thinner tape 30mm "might" work and would be easier to shrink evenly. I'm fairly happy with the outcome although I wish now I had cut it a little shorter but like I said, I need more practice. It could probably be trimmed with a razor blade on the bar end but not the tape end, at least not by me. The big drawback is that you have to have the brake levers off to put the shrink tubing on for a bottom up wrap so if you screw it up it ALL has to come back off. I did a couple practice runs on an old set of bars but they weren't mounted on a bike and didn't have levers. This was my first attempt on an actual bike, it's functional and not hideous so I left well enough alone. I'll probably reserve this for ones that will see a lot of riding where aesthetics isn't all that crucial.

steelbikeguy

I don't think I've seen anyone else mention it recently, but there is the option of starting at both the top and bottom, and finishing under the brake hoods. Not sure how much this is affected by differences in brake hoods, but it seemed to be okay with my Shimano levers....



For this harlequin wrap, I didn't see any other good way to finish things.
This is partly because I wanted to transition to all-black tape near the levers (to hide the dirt), and because I refuse to use either twine or plastic tape when finishing cloth tape.
My harlequin wrapping technique could use improvement, but I think that finishing the tape under the hoods worked fine!

Steve in Peoria

Classtime 

I need to wrap down to the bar ends to get the tape to lie nice under the point where the shift cable exits from under the tape. I also need to wrap up to the stem so that the tape doesn't roll back on itself as my hands slide down the bend toward the hoods. Accomplishing this requires I start at the brake lever and wrap up and down.

ThermionicScott 

I just posted about starting at the levers in my other thread! It's the way to go.

bikingshearer 

I've started doing this, too. It works best with cloth tape and you do need full hoods to make this work (Mafac top o' the lever only hoods need not apply). I also wrap the hood area first and separately and let the main wraps just end naturally along the sides of the brake lever. Unroll the hoods back over the tape, and Bob's your uncle. Not electriciam's tape or twine needed.