Toadmeister

I feel like I must have missed this subject in Handelbars 101.

my Salsa handlebar tape just don’t want to stick to the bar wrap and steel bar as shown near the shifter and brake levers. What’s the trick here? Use a better tape? Gorilla tape? Don’t breathe on it? Does Salsa just include some weak-adhesive tape?





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icemilkcoffee 

At the expense of asking the obvious- is this silicone tape? Silicone tape only sticks to itself. It doesn't stick to metal or any other non-silicone material.

natescriven

The tape you purchased is for drop bars. Those don't look like drop bars. But you could wrap electrical tape around the end where it's coming loose.

Iride01 

Or get some heat shrinkable tubing in the diameter you need. It comes in all different colors and sizes if you know where to look.

dsbrantjr

I prefer self-fusing silicone tape to electrical tape, which tends to creep and bleed adhesive. The silicone tape only sticks to itself and comes off clean, and it comes in many colors to match or contrast your color scheme.

Toadmeister

The tan bar tape has a silicone strip for adhesive so yes sticks to itself. The black finishing tape is just Salsas adhesive tape.

Toadmeister

Curious why drop-bar vs flat bar tape would make a difference?

Yes on the electrical tape, might do that.

Toadmeister

Thanks will look into the silicone tape.

tyrion

+1 for self-fusing silicone tape. I use electrical tape to lock it down, then cover that with the self-fusing tape.

Badger6

Link? I am in Europe and get some really fantastic German stuff from brand Tesa (I assume derived from the word Tesafilm which is the German word for what Americans call "Scotch Tape"). Anyhow...I won't always live here, and at some point my supplies will run out.

Crankycrank

As mentioned, self-fusing silicone tape or electrical tape. Common problem with bar tape and the supplied adhesive finishing tape. It usually sucks.

ClydeClydeson

I am not familiar with those bars. Is the opposite end of the segment where the brake/shift levers are mounted open so it can accept a plug? If so, the best way to wrap may be to start at the brake/shift levers, do one completely overlapping wrap so the tape holds itself down, then begin spiralling towards the end. When you reach the end, do one complete wrap with the tape half or more overlapping the end of the bar, and you can tuck the excess into the bar and use some sort of plug to hold it in. Or wrap so you are perfectly flush with the end and use a few inches of electrical tape to seal it up.

veganbikes

I gave up trying to tape my Moloko bars! Your's actually came out good because you didn't try and tape more of the bar, I should do that. I would always go inward instead of towards levers and shifters because I wanted tape there but maybe I should rethink that idea.

Going back to the question most finishing tapes are terrible, electrical tape is my go to but the silicone tape does make a lot more sense so I will probably switch to that on my next wrap job.

tyrion

Here's one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think a search for "self-fusing silicone tape" will find it in your region.

Badger6

Excellent! I get US mail, I'm going to get some and give it a shot on my next wrap, which will be sooner than I expected due to a less than perfect job (by my exacting standard) from the local shop on my new "wing" bar.

aggiegrads

One trick for using electrical tape for finishing is to make sure that the last wrap isn’t under tension. If you stretch the tape and try to stick it down in the “stretched” state, it will eventually peel itself up. It is ok to stretch initially to get a nice tight finish, but remove tension before sticking down the last turn of the bars. It will last much longer.

urbanknight

Another fan of silicone tape here. It doesn't leave a sticky residue since it doesn't have adhesive, yet it stays in place better than any adhesive tape because it fuses to itself. It's also known around here as "plumbers repair tape". I have indeed used it for small water leaks, temporary wind instrument repairs, wrapping old case handles, and of course finishing handlebar tape.

Toadmeister

Thanks for all the responses. Yeah electrical tape has been my go-too so I did a quick wrap tonight. Long term I’m going to get some silicone tape.

Toadmeister

Surly Moloko bars. Yes the bar wrap tape is tucked into the plugs on one end, No problems there.

it’s the other end by the shift and brake levers that must be taped. Apparently the salsa finishing tape sucks.

ClydeClydeson

Only one end of handlebar tape ever needs to be held down - the 'finishing' end. The beginning of the wrap should be held down by a wrap and a half or so of the handlebar tape overlapped on itself.

On traditional drop bars the tape is generally started at the end of the bar, either overlapped or held in place with a plug, and wrapped up to near where the bar is clamped in the stem, and held in place with tape. Often plain ol' electrical tape is used. I find the tape included with a package of handlebar tape to be crap - often rigid when it should be stretchy to follow the shape of the wrap. The reason the tape is done from end-top is so the edges don't peel up when sliding your hands backwards. On your bars, wrapping from the controls toward the end of the bar would be the direction to prevent this, and in that case you don't need tape to hold down the wrap - just a wrap or wrap and a half overlapping itself, then hold in the other end with a plug.

mitchmellow62

Some folks wrap drop bars from the top down to eliminate the need for any tape at all. The wrap is started by wrapping over itself enough to secure it. If I understand the moloko bars correctly, it should be relatively easy to wrap the section you have imaged from the brake handles to the forward end without using any additional tape by starting at the brake handles. Of course, I've been horribly wrong in the past.

jceastbay

I never had this problem till I recently put silicone tape on a friend's bike. The better bar end plugs from nitto sound like they will solve the issue.