Gel bar tape or specialized phat tape?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Elmer Fudd

Miserable Old Bar Steward
i'd say specialized, but wot do i know about bar tapes when i ride a flat bar bike.
 
OP
OP
D

Daniel B

New Member
Eat MY Dust said:
I'm waiting for some of the Cinelli tape to show up today (hopefully) I would have prefered the Spec stuff, but it doesn't come in yellow!!

p.s. I'll let you know what it's like.

LOL, well I had to get the order in this mornng ot have a chance of having it this weekend, and spookily I also opted for the Cinelli for the exact same reason as your goodself xx(

Having never taped a bike before, do I re-use the bar end plugs from the origininal setup, or will the tape come with some, and also does it come with 'finishing' tape to seal it either side of the stem?

Cheers

Dan
 
I wouldn't imagine that the tape will come with plugs, just use the ones you've got. With regards to 'finishing' tape, usually this will be included, but in my experience it's never enough, better of using bog standard electrical tape (which you can also get in various colours).
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
The tape I used for my first wrap had plugs included. As EMD found, my finishing tape wasn't very good - I'd say finish using electrical tape, and lay the supplied finishing tape on top of that (if you still want to use it).

If you've not already seen it, have a look at the Park Tools Guide for wrapping bars too.
 

SamNichols

New Member
Location
Colne, Lancs
From experience, tape does normally come with end plugs. Keep the others just in case, but normally it has the whole lot: plugs, tape and finishing tape.
It is a fairly easy procedure, you just have to make sure that you don't leave any gaps - there's a bit of complication around the hoods (some recommend a figure of eight, I didn't bother). Electrical insulation tape is best for the finishing tape, as it's a little thicker and you can for any colour combo that you want. I went for yellow tape, with a black finishing tape (on the old Eddie Mercx. The giant currently has black, which is being changed to blue when I can be bothered).
 
Well my tape arrived a day later than I hoped!! and it did come with bar ends (I didn't think it would)

What's people's thoughts of putting new tape over the old tape??
 

bianco

New Member
Eat MY Dust said:
Well my tape arrived a day later than I hoped!! and it did come with bar ends (I didn't think it would)

What's people's thoughts of putting new tape over the old tape??


I think I can sum up peoples thoughts - NO WAY

Its not much of a job removing the old tape anyway, the bars don't have to be immaculate.

Take your time because it can only be done once!!
 
bianco said:
I think I can sum up peoples thoughts - NO WAY

Its not much of a job removing the old tape anyway, the bars don't have to be immaculate.

Take your time because it can only be done once!!

I've put on new tape before so I'm not worried about that. It was more to give the bars a 'chunkier' look, and to add more comfort.
 

kyuss

Veteran
Location
Edinburgh
Nothing wrong at all with putting the new tape over the old stuff. I do this on my commuter. In fact my bars have the 2.5mm gel pads from the Bar Phat then a layer of cheap bar tape with the Bar Phat tape on top of the lot.

Loads of folk used to do double up tape for extra comfort back in the days before gel pads/tape.
 
Top Bottom