Bar tape needs redoing?

uad782
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Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby uad782 » Wed Mar 15, 2017 7:52 pm

Hi,

Sorry for such a simple question but have only ridden flat bar bikes for the last 25 years with my new Salsa Fargo being my first foray into drop bars.

I went for a ride in the rain the other day and noticed my bar tape unravelling from the end of the bar. It got up to about the middle of the drops. I was surprised this happened but do note that I tend to twist my hands on the tape a bit. The rain was torrential and the bar tape got soaked.

I have tried quickly tightening from the drops down without success. It seems I have to put the tape under the bit above it - as ifI am going backwards.

Is there any trick to doing this? Do I need to wait until the tape is dry? I have had a quick look at some youtube vids but they all start at the top.

Thanks
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Duck!
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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby Duck! » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:08 pm

If it hasn't popped out too badly you might be able to tuck the unravelled bit back in; use a flat screwdriver or something similar to lift the overlapping layer at the top of the unravelling, then slide it along to lift what needs to be the over layer back down to the end of the bar, rather like unhooking a tyre bead with a tyre lever when fixing a puncture.

If the wrap has loosened too badly you may need to fully unwind it & redo from the start.

PS: That's one hell of a bar angle you have! :shock: Can you even reach the brake levers from the drops?
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby Dodgy-Knee » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:38 pm

I agree with Duck ... your bar angle looks very steep ... as a rule of thumb, the bottom flat part of the drops should be parallel to the road so you should rotate the bars forward ... if you're in the drops as they are now, you might not be able to reach for the brakes in an emergency.

As for your bar tape - the underside of new bar tape has a sticky strip that stops the tape from coming loose ... it basically sticks to itself as you wind it on... getting it soaked may have reduced the stickiness. I cant quite make out where the tape started unwinding... did it unwind from the end of the bars? If it did, check to see if you still have the bar tape plug that holds the free end inside the hollow bar ... you'll need this part to keep it from coming out. If it started unwinding from the middle of the bar or from where your hand grabs the tape, this might be due to my earlier point (no sticky backing).

The best solution is to unwind the tape completely and re-wrap the bar starting from the bar end and working your way up to the stem... bar tape is something that gets changed reasonably often (depending on how fussy you are) so it would be good to know how to do it.

If you just unwind the tape to where it has started unwinding and then re-wrap it back down to the end of the bar, you'll be working backwards and you'll have to tuck the new wrap under the old wrap ... hard to explain but you'll know what I mean if you try it ... better to start at the end and work towards the top in one go.

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby Mulger bill » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:50 pm

Top down or bottom up is a choice thing. Top down is more "pro" as a good wrap won't need finishing tape.

Three tricks I've learnt:

Wrap so that the natural action of your hands on the bars acts to tighten the tape, this means that the tape wraps outward from the bottom of the bar to the lever and then reverses as it passes the lever to wrap front to back.

Do a dry run first without exposing the adhesive strip to help you get a feel for the tension and overlaps.

Pull the tape tight constantly as you go and don't let it slack off.

This is probably the best video I've found.
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uad782
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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby uad782 » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:39 pm

Thanks everyone, I will let you know how I go

With regards the bar angle it is the way it is meant to be. These are not standard drops but " wood chipper" bars made by Salsa. If you look at the Salsa Fargo pictures on the Salsa website you will get a better idea. Having said that they could be rotated a very small amount.

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby ironhanglider » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:57 pm

There's even a How I set up my bars blog post. The splayed shape of the bars may make the angle appear steeper in the photo rather than in real life, because it does seem more than the 20degree recommendation. Bar angle has changed a bit over the years. My memories only go back to the 80's when the 'correct' angle was to have the drops either pointing at the rear dropout or to be perpendicular to the head tube. Horizontal drops seems to be a more recent fashion. Of course there are some really odd angles that were used way before my time.

Also back in the 80's the correct place to put brake levers was to have the tip of them in line with the underside of the drops as measured by strapping a ruler to the bottom of the bars. This went out the window with STI (with longer levers) in the 90's.

Cheers,

Cameron

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby P!N20 » Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:54 am

Do you have bar plugs? I can't see from your pic.

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby Duck! » Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:56 pm

Mulger bill wrote:Top down or bottom up is a choice thing. Top down is more "pro" as a good wrap won't need finishing tape.
Slick though it looks with no finishing tape, the problem with top-down wrapping is that your hands are pushing against the overlapping edges, so the tape is more prone to curling, tearing or being generally roughed up. Bottom-up wrapping has the overlapped edges running the same way as hand pressure, so it stays in place a lot better unless it's crap tape with poor stickiness, which allows it to creep.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby hamishm » Thu Mar 16, 2017 5:41 pm

Mulger bill wrote:This is probably the best video I've found.
I followed that and found that the tape on the drops unwound pretty quick, and my mechanic re-did it in the opposite direction. Either the video is wrong or I'm an idiot (but they don't actually make it terribly clear which direction to wrap the drops...).

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby Mulger bill » Thu Mar 16, 2017 6:43 pm

Duck! wrote:
Mulger bill wrote:Top down or bottom up is a choice thing. Top down is more "pro" as a good wrap won't need finishing tape.
Slick though it looks with no finishing tape, the problem with top-down wrapping is that your hands are pushing against the overlapping edges, so the tape is more prone to curling, tearing or being generally roughed up. Bottom-up wrapping has the overlapped edges running the same way as hand pressure, so it stays in place a lot better unless it's crap tape with poor stickiness, which allows it to creep.
Agreed, I've never wrapped top down. The better the tape, the longer it lasts. I only recently redid my commuter after about 6 years (DiPell leather) and it's still good enough to go on the pursuit bars on my beater FG.
...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.
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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby Mulger bill » Thu Mar 16, 2017 6:49 pm

hamishm wrote:
Mulger bill wrote:This is probably the best video I've found.
I followed that and found that the tape on the drops unwound pretty quick, and my mechanic re-did it in the opposite direction. Either the video is wrong or I'm an idiot (but they don't actually make it terribly clear which direction to wrap the drops...).
Below the lever, wrap outward. Above, wrap inward. Most importantly, keep it tight. Plenty of tension as you apply and don't let it go until you're done.
...whatever the road rules, self-preservation is the absolute priority for a cyclist when mixing it with motorised traffic.
London Boy 29/12/2011

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby Duck! » Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:33 pm

Wrap inward all the way. I start with the end of the tape at the underside of the bar, roll in hand outboard, and a half tape width overhang. Wrap a full turn with the overhang, then angle up to start the spiral up the bar. When you get to one turn below the shifter hood, wrap the next layer up over the clamp, around the top of the hood, back down behind the bar, under the hood to cover the space on the previous turn, then back over & overlap the previous turn above the hood (figure-8 wrapping) - do NOT wrap a layer of tape around the hood body, because it will cover the cable ports - and continue to the end, finishing at the taper of the bar. Trim the end at an angle across the tape, and square to the bar, and wrap a couple of turns of leckie tape to finish - the supplied stuff usually doesn't stick!
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby uad782 » Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:27 pm

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated.

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby Thoglette » Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:18 am

Duck! wrote:and wrap a couple of turns of leckie tape to finish - the supplied stuff usually doesn't stick!
Duck is right, once again.
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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby hamishm » Fri Mar 17, 2017 11:24 am

Mulger bill wrote:
hamishm wrote:
Mulger bill wrote:This is probably the best video I've found.
I followed that and found that the tape on the drops unwound pretty quick, and my mechanic re-did it in the opposite direction. Either the video is wrong or I'm an idiot (but they don't actually make it terribly clear which direction to wrap the drops...).
Below the lever, wrap outward. Above, wrap inward. Most importantly, keep it tight. Plenty of tension as you apply and don't let it go until you're done.
Ah, so I did follow the video correctly. It turned out rubbish though and came unwound quickly. The mechanic at my LBS rewrapped it all inwards, which incidentally is how I wrapped my other bike a couple of years back and it's held up well.

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby uad782 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 7:44 pm

Time to rewrap the Fargo bars. Thanks to Ronk I have watched the Parktool video. Parktool say when sitting on the bike to wrap the lhs anti clockwise and rhs clockwise. Reading above a lot of people disagree.

People often talk of wrapping towards or away from the centre of the bike. I am not really sure what this means as at some point either direction is wrapping toward to centre of the bike.

Like Parktool says I tend to rotate my hands outwards when riding.

Any comments appreciated.

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Re: Bar tape needs redoing?

Postby P!N20 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:43 pm

I like the Eleven Velo bar tape guide: https://www.eleven.cc/wrapping-bar-tape-a-guide/

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