BikingViking793 

I just wrestled for way too long wrapping just one side of my bars. I have Campy Veloce shifters and for whatever reason it took a long time to get it to cover properly. Seemed to always have a little triangle where I could see the bars through. I kinda think maybe it has something to do with the thumb shifter, but I can't put my finger on it. Even now I have it done, but feels like just good enough. I have had no similar issues wrapping bars with Shimano or Microshift shifters. Are Campy difficult, or was it just me? I was using Calvin Jones preferred method.

chaadster

I have 3 Campagnolo equipped drop-bar bikes and have not noticed any peculiarities in wrapping them. That would be a weird situation for Campy to be in, seeing as how they are *the* classic road group brand.

Maybe you were using a new brand of tape which behaved differently to what you were used to?

Sy Reene

I think Calvin does the wrap using an extra piece of cut tape -- so even with that you'd get the bars peeking through?

DaveSSS 

Always coverage band clamp with a short piece of tape. The trick is to have the turn at the base of the shifter body located so the upper edge just overlaps the body. Then it goes up over the top and around the other side of the clamp. Really no different than what other shifters require. NO figure eight wrapping.

BikingViking793 

ok, I better go back and watch the video a few more times. I was using the short piece over clamp.

Road Fan

I have a few bikes with Ergopower levers. I was using a softish tape like Cinelli (yes, I'm a little older), but lately have changed to Jantex and Newbaum's cotton twill. Both require unifirm careful overlapping. I sometimes use figure -8 to get past the levers. If you overlap by too much (ie 50% versus 25%) you'll use up the roll of tape without finishing. It is hard to eliminate all tape gaps going around the levers. If you want to use two short pieces behind each lever to try to cover more gaps, that's not wrong, even if perhaps Calvin doesn't tell you to do that.

Overall, if the tape has a narrow gum strip on the back, control the overlaps to place the gum strip in contact with the bar, at least where it's not highly curved. This should help keep it from slipping as you ride. There is some skill involved here - it's not all technique you can get from a video. After you watch the video a few times, you still have to practice to train you hands and learn how much you can tension the tape while, for example, keeping the bars from flailing back and forth.

AndyK 

It's a fact that Campy Ergo levers are harder to get tape to cover vs. Shimano and SRAM. You not only have to use the short strip over the clamp, but also angle it correctly to get both sides of the clamp covered without spaces.
I've used Cinelli Gel Cork (with light adhesive strip) for years. Switched to some Zipp synthetic tape, just to try it. Very grippy and durable - but it didn't come with an extra strip, so I gave up and just left a triangle!

Another tip - I use flat black Testors model paint on the edges of the bar clamps, to make them harder to spot.

primov8

With the exception of my new Helix with Rival AXS, just about every build I've done for the last 10 years have been with Campy 11, 11 EPS and H11. I never had to use those short strips over the clamps but there are some bar tapes that can make it a bit difficult.

Russ Roth

In my experience you don't need to use the extra strip around the clamp but that Campy shifters are a slightly harder job than shimano or sram and if you don't get it right the hood will rub against the thumb shifter slowing its return. Still isn't really difficult though, just taking the time to get it right. Part of what I've done is let the tape, when doing the cross pattern, slightly overlap the hood at the bottom and then used a small flat screw driver to push the bit of tape into the space with the tab in the hood that helps hold it in place at the bottom. It helps to wedge that tab into the space better, and keeps the hood out of the thump shifter mechanism. Whenever I've noticed slow shifting on a campy shifter it was that tab not being in its spot in the shifter body allowing the rubber to slide on the tape and body into the thumb mechanism.