There are a couple of things not mentioned in this post...If you look it up on Rivendell Bicycle's how to section there is an excellent primer on twining. this is where in lieu of electrical tape you find a nice twine and finish it in such a way as to have no knots when done. Then you apply shellac to the twining which makes it stay clean and never unravel. Shellacking can also be done on cloth tape or even the psuedo cork stuff. I do have numbness in my hands after riding for a while so I sometimes use a layer of cheap psuedo cork and then a layer of cloth. Shellac is only soluble in alcohol so skin oil , rain and sweat don't affect it. Mostly I use thin cord but paracord cna work well on bar ends as it too cushions the grip. Twining makes for a good grip in terms of slickness and can be applied to many things... brake levers, steel water bottles so they don't rattle in the bottle cage, wrenches etc.