The latter also provides a kit for shellacking the tape and includes twine and cork bar ends to finish off the job in a classic manner. Velox’s Tressostar tape is available in 18 colours while there is a choice of 25 colours for Newbaum’s tape. Twine was typically used to secure the end of the tape at the stem, though there was an art to doing this well so that it wouldn’t come undone, just like taping the bars.Ĭotton may have fallen out of favour with contemporary road cyclists, but there are at least two manufacturers - Velox and Newbaum’s - that are still creating cotton tape, in a stunning range of colours, no less.
The application of shellac also served to add some colour to the tape, resulting in some attractive honey and deep brown hues. Note how twine has been used to secure the end of the tape near the stem. A few coats of shellac is often the hallmark of vintage handlebars, but usually on old-fashioned cotton tape, and not the more modern material shown here. The material was cheap, easy to use, and with a few coats of shellac, it could withstand years of regular use. Cotton tape started appearing on road bikes perhaps as early as the 1920s and was in widespread use from the ‘30s until the mid-‘70s. The earliest road bikes often featured simple rubber grips for the drops, so a decade or two passed before handlebars were ever wrapped. That may extinguish some of the romance associated with vintage bar tape, but by taking a look at it, and the other kinds of materials that have been used through the years, it is easy to appreciate how much this humble product has evolved. Compared to other parts of the bike, bar tape has evolved slowly, yet none of it has ever really disappeared from the market.īy contrast, the earliest bar tape was dull and pragmatic, and probably re-purposed from elsewhere during a moment of resourceful thinking. What has changed, though, is that there are now more colours, patterns, materials, and finishes to choose from than ever before, which is perfect for personalising any bike or applying the final touch for a custom road bike build. While the last 20 years have seen a few new materials emerge, there is no indication that the rate of evolution is accelerating. Cotton was the material of choice for at least three decades before it was supplanted by plastic, which, in turn, enjoyed at least 10 years of favour before cork and foam tapes took its place.
The demands that bar tape must satisfy are few and simple: first, it must provide sure grip under all conditions, regardless of whether the rider’s hands are slick with sweat or numb with cold second, the tape should make the handlebars more comfortable to hold third, it needs to withstand regular use in a wide range of conditions and fourth, provide an amount of decoration to suit the rider’s taste.Įvery material that has served bar tape has managed to satisfy each of these demands, more or less, but it’s interesting to note that the rate of evolution has been very slow when compared to other parts of the bike. It’s a classic product that no road cyclist can do without, and in many ways, it embodies the traits of a great cyclist: tough, robust, and resilient with an amount of class. The handlebars of road bikes have long been wrapped with some kind of tape, but aside from an evolution in materials, it has remain unchanged for many decades. In this post, Australian tech editor Matt Wikstrom takes a look at the range of bar tape available and offers a few tips for wrapping your bars like a pro. Fresh bar tape will always make a make a bike look (and feel) new again, and with an extensive range of tapes to choose from, there is enormous scope for personalisation. Too often, riders are prepared to put up with worn and tattered tape despite the fact that is relatively inexpensive to replace. Handlebar tape serves as the interface for a critical contact point on the bike, yet it is often overlooked.
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