icemilkcoffee 

I tried using plumbing silicone tape as finishing tape. It works well but it’s not really clear. It’s kind of milky looking:



I know they also sell bike specific silicone finishing tape that is more expensive. But is it really clear or is it still milky like this? I want clear tape.

tFUnK

I use silicone tape but in black. It works well but since it's so stretchy, I found it impossible to get the edges to overlap neatly while pulling (hope that made sense).

Camilo

I like that. I'll have to get a roll and try it. You know, you don't have to overlap the finishing tape over the handlebar. You can wrap it so it just barely goes over the edge of the bar tape, or even just even with the edge, and holds just fine, and (IMHO of course) just looks tidier.

icemilkcoffee 

Agreed. When you stretch it it becomes narrow, so it's impossible for it to overlap exactly.

You have a point. Maybe I'll try to cut the excess portion over the exposed handlebar off just slightly beyond the bar tape.

Troul 

this is what I'd try if I wanted to have it 'clear"
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40066725/

mstateglfr 

Do 2 wraps with it pulled tight that are as wide as the tape is naturally wide. Then ease off the pressure and wrap half a turn with the tape lacking tension. The untensioned tape will be the same width and it will lay flat.

icemilkcoffee 

Isn't the door edge protector a U-channel thing?

urbanknight

I have been using black silicone tape for years now and love it. It comes in other colors as well (red, white, yellow, blue). I make the overlap wide enough that the end fits over it all, and I cut it so it finishes on the bottom and out of view anyway.

Troul 

I'm not sure what you're referring to, but based on what I've used for automotive purposes, the aforementioned film is like a vinyl wrap.. that's a poor way of explaining it, but I didnt want to make it sound like it's a packing tape b/c it doesnt leave behind a glue when removed.

cyccommute 

Colorless, please. I suspect that the colorless tape is never really going to go on clear (see what I did there?). It’s not really clear to begin with. It always has a bit of cloudy aspect to it. You might be able to find some colorless adhesive tape that is clear but then you’ll have to deal with the adhesive softening. But self fusing silicon tape is used to avoid that problem in the first place.

Toadmeister

Link to a good Black silicone tape that works for you?

Aardwolf

If you want colourless then try shrink wrap.
Here's the one I used: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Ran a heat gun over it and it finished perfectly, still clear after 2 years.

Probably easier if you wrap top to bottom like I do,
but in theory you could put a bit of shrink wrap on the tubes before wrapping bottom to top.

Wrapping top to bottom it really holds the ends well and shrinks round the ends so the plug fits in evenly.

icemilkcoffee 

Very interesting. Do you have a picture of the finished product? Is it really clear or still a bit cloudy?

bboy314

https://esigrips.com/collections/silicone-tape

urbanknight

I haven't found one that doesn't work. The plumbers repair tape at two different hardware stores, and 3 different brands from the rain forest. They all seem to work about the same with the thickness being the main difference, and that might be personal preference. Super thin is a little tricky to make sure it doesn't fold over on itself.

Aardwolf

It goes totally clear, here's one I did 2 months back (Velox Tressosrex 90 Cloth Tape).
The shrink wrap covers the last half inch of bar.

Reynolds 531 

Thank you for that idea. Which size did you buy?

Aardwolf

I got the 50mm - that's 50mm when flat, so 100mm circumference.
So that's 31.8mm diameter.

43mm => 86mm circumference => 27.4mm diameter