Wrapping cotton twill bar tape.

In article
,
landotter wrote:

On Oct 1, 1:55 am, Michael Press wrote:
Some people say that when cotton twill bar tape is wrapped
from the stem to the bar ends the hands on the top bend
constantly abrade against the exposed edge of the bar
tape making it fray and degenerate more rapidly than if
the wrap job is done from the bar end to the stem. Have
any of you seen this kind of fraying?

I wrapped my last set of Tresso from the stem down. Looks great and
it's cheap enough that who cares if it only lasts a season, but it
will probably last much longer. I wash it with the rest of the bike
if it gets grimy with some dish soap and let it dry in the sun. The
stuff in the pictures is just nasty with hand grease. Blurgh! That
can't be good for it.

Acid in the perspiration is a minus.
Grease is a preservative.
Laundering fabric is hard on the fabric.
Path of least resistance. Soon I will have
a fresh bar wrap. Zoooom!

--
Michael Press

In article ,
wrote:

Michael Press wrote:

Some people say that when cotton twill bar tape is wrapped from the
stem to the bar ends the hands on the top bend constantly abrade
against the exposed edge of the bar tape making it fray and
degenerate more rapidly than if the wrap job is done from the bar
end to the stem. Have any of you seen this kind of fraying? I have
not.

I think you asked the wrong people, ones more interested in applying
the tape than using the bicycle. As you noticed, bar tape is like
roofing shingles, it must overlap in the direction of the deflected
medium, Because one rides drop bars on the tops and skids forward
onto the brake hods now and then, that's the way the rain falls.

That is the theory. I was asking about practice.

Therefore, like a roof, start at the bottom (bar ends) and work up to
the top remembering that your fists grip the bar and rotate in the
direction of the grasping thumb. Therefore, that it the direction of
wrap. Lest that not be obvious, start at the bar end wrapping the
tape in the direction your thumb points when you grasp the bars.

Yes.

For a while I wrapped from bar end to stem, but hated the necessary
sticky tape wrap at the stem because it was bulky and not as pretty
as a tucked bar tape start, so I went back to wrapping from the stem
out. I have never had the tape fray at the edge. The tape
eventually deteriorates but the edge remains fine. The tape
typically fails where it wraps over the underneath edge as in these
photographs.

As I said, are you taping for the guy applying the tape or the rider.
If you don't do as described and have insufficient tension while
taping, it will all unravel in time.

Yes. Mine do not ravel.

http://gallery.me.com/spress#100093

You might observe that these bars are typically ridden without
gloves.

I see gap-ossis that is caused by starting at the wrong end.

How so? I see a rupture where the top layer is pushed up
in a ridge forced by the underlying tape edge.

The rupture in the tape is underneath the lateral, proximal area of
my palm when on the hoods. The area is designated by Luna mount in
palmistry and chirognomy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirognomy

I do not know how others wrap bar tape. Differences in technique
may account for different results.

Understatement!

--
Michael Press

In article ,
Mark wrote:

Michael Press wrote:
Some people say that when cotton twill bar tape is wrapped
from the stem to the bar ends the hands on the top bend
constantly abrade against the exposed edge of the bar
tape making it fray and degenerate more rapidly than if
the wrap job is done from the bar end to the stem. Have
any of you seen this kind of fraying?

Yes.

I have not.
For a while I wrapped from bar end to stem, but hated the
necessary sticky tape wrap at the stem because it was
bulky and not as pretty as a tucked bar tape start, so I
went back to wrapping from the stem out. I have never had
the tape fray at the edge. The tape eventually deteriorates
but the edge remains fine. The tape typically fails where
it wraps over the underneath edge as in these photographs.

It may depend on the tape itself. IIRC, the Velox or Tressostar was
pretty stiff, so the edges didn't "roll over."

Cateye, on the other hand, is thin and soft and flexible, and the edges
"roll up" when the hands put pressure on it. That is, you grip the bars
and pressure from your arms tends to make your hands slide along the
bar, e.g. from near the bar tops toward the brake hoods. As your hands
slide, the edges roll up and or abrade away. So you want to make sure
that any likely sliding of your hands along the bar will lay the tape
back down rather than roll it up. Hence, bottom-to-top wrapping.

Is Tressostar or the like still in production? You can get old rolls on
Ebay, but I wonder if the adhesive is still functional.

I get new rolls of good cotton twill tape from the LBS.
No label. How about this? Wrapping stem to end puts the
tape edges in a place where they resist hand slippage?

--
Michael Press

_ wrote:

It depends on the tape - but there is a neat, simple, cheap solution.

Put short sections of inner tube on the bars next the stem. When wrapping,
you start at the end and wrap towards the stem. At the stem, fold the tube
back towrds the stem, finish wrapping, and unfold the tube over the ends of
the wrap.

Well, I've spent a few years working in a bike shop, wrapped a few
handlebars and now work where my job is(supposed to be) to have good
ideas, but I've got to say..
"I wish that I'd thought of that."

Michael Press wrote:

Some people say that when cotton twill bar tape is wrapped
from the stem to the bar ends the hands on the top bend
constantly abrade against the exposed edge of the bar
tape making it fray and degenerate more rapidly than if
the wrap job is done from the bar end to the stem. Have
any of you seen this kind of fraying?

Yes.

I have not.

For a while I wrapped from bar end to stem, but hated the
necessary sticky tape wrap at the stem because it was bulky and
not as pretty as a tucked bar tape start, so I went back to
wrapping from the stem out. I have never had the tape fray at the
edge. The tape eventually deteriorates but the edge remains fine.
The tape typically fails where it wraps over the underneath edge
as in these photographs.

It may depend on the tape itself. IIRC, the Velox or Tressostar
was pretty stiff, so the edges didn't "roll over."

Cateye, on the other hand, is thin and soft and flexible, and the
edges "roll up" when the hands put pressure on it. That is, you
grip the bars and pressure from your arms tends to make your hands
slide along the bar, e.g. from near the bar tops toward the brake
hoods. As your hands slide, the edges roll up and or abrade away.
So you want to make sure that any likely sliding of your hands
along the bar will lay the tape back down rather than roll it up.
Hence, bottom-to-top wrapping.

Is Tressostar or the like still in production? You can get old
rolls on Ebay, but I wonder if the adhesive is still functional.

I get new rolls of good cotton twill tape from the LBS. No label.
How about this? Wrapping stem to end puts the tape edges in a place
where they resist hand slippage?

That is similar to putting up a shingle roof starting at the top.
Years ago when all there was was Tressostar, it became apparent that
if the exposed edges of the tape are facing upward (against hand
motion) they would curl. The technique went so far as to tape from
the brake hoods to the to top as well as from there to the bar end
with the effect of hands on the hooks to slide forward.

I have found that the lower bar end is less sensitive to hand motion
while the upper part is, because it undergoes strong hand forces when
climbing. In any event, I believe from bar end, past the brake hoods
to the stem is the most stable configuration, noting that the wrap
should go in the direction that the rider's gripping thumb points.

Jobst Brandt

In article ,
wrote:

Michael Press wrote:

Some people say that when cotton twill bar tape is wrapped
from the stem to the bar ends the hands on the top bend
constantly abrade against the exposed edge of the bar
tape making it fray and degenerate more rapidly than if
the wrap job is done from the bar end to the stem. Have
any of you seen this kind of fraying?

Yes.

I have not.

For a while I wrapped from bar end to stem, but hated the
necessary sticky tape wrap at the stem because it was bulky and
not as pretty as a tucked bar tape start, so I went back to
wrapping from the stem out. I have never had the tape fray at the
edge. The tape eventually deteriorates but the edge remains fine.
The tape typically fails where it wraps over the underneath edge
as in these photographs.

It may depend on the tape itself. IIRC, the Velox or Tressostar
was pretty stiff, so the edges didn't "roll over."

Cateye, on the other hand, is thin and soft and flexible, and the
edges "roll up" when the hands put pressure on it. That is, you
grip the bars and pressure from your arms tends to make your hands
slide along the bar, e.g. from near the bar tops toward the brake
hoods. As your hands slide, the edges roll up and or abrade away.
So you want to make sure that any likely sliding of your hands
along the bar will lay the tape back down rather than roll it up.
Hence, bottom-to-top wrapping.

Is Tressostar or the like still in production? You can get old
rolls on Ebay, but I wonder if the adhesive is still functional.

I get new rolls of good cotton twill tape from the LBS. No label.
How about this? Wrapping stem to end puts the tape edges in a place
where they resist hand slippage?

That is similar to putting up a shingle roof starting at the top.
Years ago when all there was was Tressostar, it became apparent that
if the exposed edges of the tape are facing upward (against hand
motion) they would curl. The technique went so far as to tape from
the brake hoods to the to top as well as from there to the bar end
with the effect of hands on the hooks to slide forward.

Then you have seen it curl. It does not curl up under me,
as you see in the pictures. Why is that?

I have found that the lower bar end is less sensitive to hand motion
while the upper part is, because it undergoes strong hand forces when
climbing. In any event, I believe from bar end, past the brake hoods
to the stem is the most stable configuration, noting that the wrap
should go in the direction that the rider's gripping thumb points.

--
Michael Press

On Oct 1, 10:01*am, Roger Thorpe
wrote:
_ wrote:
It depends on the tape - but there is a neat, simple, cheap solution.

Put short sections of inner tube on the bars next the stem. *When wrapping,
you start at the end and wrap towards the stem. *At the stem, fold the tube
back towrds the stem, finish wrapping, and unfold the tube over the ends of
the wrap.

Well, I've spent a few years working in a bike shop, wrapped a few
handlebars and now work where my job is(supposed to be) to have good
ideas, but I've got to say..
"I wish that I'd thought of that."

Keep in mind that putting short sections of inner tube on the bars
near the stem means that you have to remove the brake levers and
untape the cables -- unless you have split-center bars (usually
considered a factory defect). I think a couple inches of black
electrical tape is more simple. -- Jay Beattie.

On Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:01:26 +0100, Roger Thorpe wrote:

_ wrote:

It depends on the tape - but there is a neat, simple, cheap solution.

Put short sections of inner tube on the bars next the stem. When wrapping,
you start at the end and wrap towards the stem. At the stem, fold the tube
back towrds the stem, finish wrapping, and unfold the tube over the ends of
the wrap.

Well, I've spent a few years working in a bike shop, wrapped a few
handlebars and now work where my job is(supposed to be) to have good
ideas, but I've got to say..
"I wish that I'd thought of that."

That's ok. It was probably the umptieth time that I did a set of bars that
the idea popped into my head - had been thinking about heat-shrink tubing
but that would have been a every-use bother; inner tube is fit and
forget...

Michael Press wrote:

Some people say that when cotton twill bar tape is wrapped
from the stem to the bar ends the hands on the top bend
constantly abrade against the exposed edge of the bar
tape making it fray and degenerate more rapidly than if
the wrap job is done from the bar end to the stem. Have
any of you seen this kind of fraying?

Yes.

I have not.

For a while I wrapped from bar end to stem, but hated the
necessary sticky tape wrap at the stem because it was bulky and
not as pretty as a tucked bar tape start, so I went back to
wrapping from the stem out. I have never had the tape fray at the
edge. The tape eventually deteriorates but the edge remains fine.
The tape typically fails where it wraps over the underneath edge
as in these photographs.

It may depend on the tape itself. IIRC, the Velox or Tressostar
was pretty stiff, so the edges didn't "roll over."

Cateye, on the other hand, is thin and soft and flexible, and the
edges "roll up" when the hands put pressure on it. That is, you
grip the bars and pressure from your arms tends to make your hands
slide along the bar, e.g. from near the bar tops toward the brake
hoods. As your hands slide, the edges roll up and or abrade away.
So you want to make sure that any likely sliding of your hands
along the bar will lay the tape back down rather than roll it up.
Hence, bottom-to-top wrapping.

Is Tressostar or the like still in production? You can get old
rolls on Ebay, but I wonder if the adhesive is still functional.

I get new rolls of good cotton twill tape from the LBS. No label.
How about this? Wrapping stem to end puts the tape edges in a place
where they resist hand slippage?

That is similar to putting up a shingle roof starting at the top.
Years ago when all there was was Tressostar, it became apparent that
if the exposed edges of the tape are facing upward (against hand
motion) they would curl. The technique went so far as to tape from
the brake hoods to the to top as well as from there to the bar end
with the effect of hands on the hooks to slide forward.

http://gallery.me.com/spress#100093

Then you have seen it curl. It does not curl up under me, as you
see in the pictures. Why is that?

Because the tape is wrapped toward the stem from what is visible.
That is apparent from the part where there is a gap opening between
wraps.

I have found that the lower bar end is less sensitive to hand motion
while the upper part is, because it undergoes strong hand forces when
climbing. In any event, I believe from bar end, past the brake hoods
to the stem is the most stable configuration, noting that the wrap
should go in the direction that the rider's gripping thumb points.

I don't know what the problem is you are trying to solve. I just
outlined the reasons for taping in one direction over taping the
other way.

Jobst Brandt

Jay Beattie wrote:

It depends on the tape - but there is a neat, simple, cheap
solution.

Put short sections of inner tube on the bars next the stem. Â*When
wrapping, you start at the end and wrap toward the stem. Â*At the
stem, fold the tube back toward the stem, finish wrapping, and
unfold the tube over the ends of the wrap.

Well, I've spent a few years working in a bike shop, wrapped a few
handlebars and now work where my job is(supposed to be) to have
good ideas, but I've got to say... "I wish that I'd thought of
that."

Keep in mind that putting short sections of inner tube on the bars
near the stem means that you have to remove the brake levers and
untape the cables -- unless you have split-center bars (usually
considered a factory defect). I think a couple inches of black
electrical tape is more simple.

That is a reasonable way of doing it in my estimation and it is less
arcane so it isn't a conversation piece. When Cinelli cork tape first
came along, we wondered why they used such stiff (non stretch) black
tape to secure the end of wrap. I stayed with plastic tape.

Jobst Brandt