New Old Bike Project: Wrapping Bars

Putting together the New/Old Expedition has been taking longer than I'd expected - no problems really, other than a shortage of that most valuable commodity: time. But it's nearly done, and the other day I had a chance to wrap the bars.

I'm using Nitto mod. 176 bars and a Technomic stem. The 176 bars are sometimes called "Dream Bars" because that was what Rivendell called the bars when they offered them (they don't seem to sell them anymore) -- deep drop, but not too deep -- long reach, but not too long, etc. In my view, they're a very good all-around road bar, and have a great look, too (I particularly like the coat-of-arms crest which reminds me of the old Cinelli logo). I have an old set of SunTour power ratchet bar-con shifters, and some spring-loaded Dia Compe AGC brake levers which I like for their size, shape, and feel. Yes, the "aero" cable routing means I won't be able to ride this at Eroica.

Here's a little step-by-step:

Using some electrical tape, I've got the cables secured to the bars prior to wrapping. The red tape is just what I happened to have on hand. Some people use little strips of silver duct tape. Just about anything works, though. I've never noticed tape of any color to show through cotton bar wrap.

I'll be using classic, traditional cotton bar tape from Tressostar. Newbaum's cotton bar tape is also really nice stuff. I already had a couple of rolls of the Tressostar on hand. Not only that, but any time I wrap bars, if there's a little bit of tape left -- if it's more than a couple of inches -- I save it for future wrappings.

I roll the brake lever hoods up and out of the way. Then I use some small pieces of bar tape around the base of the levers to make sure I'll have good coverage when wrapping around that difficult area -- I hate having little glimpses of silver peeking through the tape. This is why I always save those little bits of leftover tape. Because I've got cables running under the bar wrap, I also put a couple of small pieces of bar tape at the points where the brake and shifter cables will "emerge" from under the tape. Again, I don't want any gaps in the coverage.

Not that it matters, but I wrap from the "inside" to the "outside." Over-to-the-right on the right side, over-to-the-left on the left side, so the overlapping lines have a mirror-image symmetry. As you can see, I start wrapping at the bar end and finish up near the stem, where I'll finish up the loose tape ends with some twine. Some people start at the top/center and work their way to the ends. I've also seen where people start at both the bar end and the top/center and work their way to the brake levers. The tape ends then get tucked in under the brake lever hoods, requiring no final finishing step. Personally, I don't like the way the overlapping works when starting at the top of the bar -- it seems to me that edges of the tape can get pushed apart or rolled by the constant pressure of hands on the bars. That's not as much of an issue when the tape gets shellacked (as this tape will) but I have seen that happen. When wrapping with the cotton tape, it helps a lot to pull and stretch the tape tightly while wrapping so that it stays flat, overlaps well, and doesn't ripple in the bends.

Here, the bars are fully wrapped, and the tape ends finished with a bit of natural hemp twine. Once the brake hoods are rolled back into place, the coverage is complete and gap-free.

Just a stylistic touch. I like when the cables appear to emerge from between layers of wrapping.

Next, I'll be using some natural shellac on the cotton tape. I've mixed up my own using denatured alcohol and amber shellac flakes that I purchased some time back from Velo-Orange. I tend to mix it on the thin side, and the first coats really soak into the tape.

That's one coat of shellac on the right side of the bar, contrasting with the un-coated yellow tape on the left side. When coating with shellac, I once again keep the brake hoods rolled out of the way so I can fully coat the tape, even where it won't be seen.

Another contrast photo: Two coats of shellac on one side, with one coat on the other. Each coat of shellac darkens the yellow tape to more and more of a honey leather color -- eventually to match the honey leather of the Brooks saddle. Because my shellac is mixed fairly thin, it will take more coats to get the color right.

That's two coats. I'll let it dry and will still need a couple more coats to get the color right. If you're not after a particular shade of color, 2 or 3 thin coats like this can be really nice in terms of grip - it's more of a matte-look, and has a slightly rougher texture. Having said that, I've got bars that are shellacked to a glossy finish, and I don't really notice any problems with the grip.

That's all for now. Stay tuned. . .