Wrapping bars - When did we switch techniques?

[Clancy]

I seem to remember when I first got into cycling in the early 70’s we would wrap our handlebars starting at the top, doing a figure 8 at the hoods, then finish off at the bottom using a barend plug to secure the tape. No tape at the top.

Now we start at the bottom, maybe figure 8 at the hoods but usually a small strip of wrap is used, then finish off at the top and secure with tape of some kind, usually electrical tape.

Why the switch?

A younger rider, mid 20’s, asked me and I told him I couldn’t remember.

[bpm]

I've always found that if you start at the top, if you ride with your hands on the tops the tape will have a tendency to roll at the edges a bit. Doesn't happen if you start the tape in the drops.

[Lewis Moon]

I seem to remember when I first got into cycling in the early 70’s we would wrap our handlebars starting at the top, doing a figure 8 at the hoods, then finish off at the bottom using a barend plug to secure the tape. No tape at the top.

Now we start at the bottom, maybe figure 8 at the hoods but usually a small strip of wrap is used, then finish off at the top and secure with tape of some kind, usually electrical tape.

Why the switch?

A younger rider, mid 20’s, asked me and I told him I couldn’t remember.

If you start at the top, the "grain" is the wrong direction and you'll start rolling and separating the tape when you grip the bars.

[HTupolev]

Handlebar wrap is more of an art than a science, and there's no single way that it's been done over the years. And sometimes not all methods are practical; for instance, bar-end shifters make it problematic to plug the tape at the bar end. Some bikes built by Alex Singer back in the day have tape wrapped both bottom-up and top-down: one piece of tape would start at the top, one at the bar-end, and they'd both end at the brake hood.

Anyway, the primary reason that modern tape is almost never wrapped top-end is that it reverses the direction that the "edges" of the tape are facing. In places like the ramps behind the hoods, the result is that the hand is more likely to catch on the tape edges and curl them up.
This isn't much of a problem with cotton cloth tape because it's very thin and stiff, so the edge is small and won't budge. But modern tapes are much thicker and usually more stretchy.

[Mark McM]

Doing a figure eight at the hoods worked when brake levers had narrow bases and we wrapped our bars in thin flexible fabric tape:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6223/6216026314_6fd96a1e7c_b.jpg


With the wider, contoured bases on modern dual control levers and thicker less flexible tape, it's often no longer possible to do the figure eight wrapping:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7166/6407469215_efbb44f97d_z.jpg

[BdaGhisallo]

I agree that figure 8 wrapping around the shifters is quite tough with today's tapes. These days I don't even bother to put a small piece of tape in there to cover over the shifter clamp. I find that the tape tucked under the hood makes it bulge a bit and I don't like that. With some careful wrapping with a wider tape (like Zevlin Big 40) I can wrap around the shifters and only leave a very tiny bit of the shifter clamp exposed. Good enough for me!

[old_fat_and_slow]

...Now we start at the bottom, maybe figure 8 at the hoods but usually a small strip of wrap is used, then finish off at the top and secure with tape of some kind, usually electrical tape.


Been riding since the early eighties. We always started at the bottom, did the figure 8 thingey at the brake levers, and then finished at the top with electrical tape.

Wrapping your way causes the tape to unwrap and show sections of bare bar.

So the switch must have been sometime between early 70's and early 80's.

[muz]

With cloth tape, I start at the top and wrap over the brake clamp before the lever is mounted, then tuck the ends into the bar and use bar end plugs. With modern tape, I start at the ends and wrap up, finishing with tape at the top.

You can't finish cloth tape with electrical tape, and I got no time for twine. I find either method works for me, never had a problem with tape not staying put.

[OtayBW]

Been riding since the early eighties. We always started at the bottom, did the figure 8 thingey at the brake levers, and then finished at the top with electrical tape.
Mee too exactamundo. Never saw, heard of, or tried wrapping top down. :no: :)

[OldCrank]

70s. And late 60s.
Plastic tape.
Sometimes w/ metalflake.
Very low cost.
Brake lever extenders, shifters on your quill, plastic saddles.
It was another era.
Don't get bent out of shape.

[93KgBike]

Is there an old "How To" cycling book that you are referring to that instructs middle to end?

[steamer]

Mee too exactamundo. Never saw, heard of, or tried wrapping top down. :no: :)

Ditto.

[ultraman6970]

Top down?? ???

[kingpin75s]

Top down? What the? Old enough I should remember but do not.

I thought this thread was going to be on tape out or tape in.

I am a tape out guy.

Right side clockwise, Left side counter.

[pasadena]

There are some pros that wrap top down, so there is no electrical tape on the bars.
But I don't have a mechanic to change it every ride, so I go bottom to top.

[Peter P.]

With the padded tapes which dominate the market now, finishing at the bar end is not possible because it's too difficult to tuck the overlapping last wrap into the bar, and secure it with the plug.

It was possible with cloth tape and Benotto "ribbon" tape.

[GOTHBROOKS]

the real faux pas is using the finishing tape thats included in the box.

[Joe Remi]

I tried top down last week on a Sycip JJ Bar, which I guess is "in to out". Yeah, trying to tuck the ends in the bar and plug it (thick fake-cork) was a no go.

[pasadena]

cut at an angle and fold in only half the width of the tape. It will plug.

[false_Aest]

back in the day people also put shellac on their bars and there was asbestos in brake pads. oh yeah, smoking to open up the lungs.


the asbestos counter acts the fire you started by smoking while re-wrapping + coating your bars.

[arthurlo]

Wrapping from the bottom up also allows for an easier change of the brake and shifter housings without having to unwrap the entire bar. Perhaps the change in wrapping techniques also shifted when brake levers transitioned from having the cables come out the top to cables being routed underneath the bar wrap?

[Gummee]

Wrapping from the bottom up also allows for an easier change of the brake and shifter housings without having to unwrap the entire bar. Perhaps the change in wrapping techniques also shifted when brake levers transitioned from having the cables come out the top to cables being routed underneath the bar wrap?

If you're changing out cables and housing, it's probably a good time to do the bar tape too.

Especially if you're a sweaty person. That stuff gets NASTY if you don't change it regularly

N

[jmoore]

This thread made me go buy some new bar tape. I will wrap from bottom up and finish with some hockey tape. Electrical tape gets very gummy when it gets hot.

[MaraudingWalrus]

This thread made me go buy some new bar tape. I will wrap from bottom up and finish with some hockey tape. Electrical tape gets very gummy when it gets hot.



The grade of electrical tape you have in your tool box in your garage gets gummy. If you use higher grade stuff, like fancier stuff from 3M (Super 33+, but it's like $8 a roll...) it doesn't do that in any kind of normal timeframe.


I also like ESI's silicone tape (https://www.amazon.com/ESI-Silicone-Tape-Consumers-Black/dp/B00PGP3Y2K) - I prefer it to any other finishing tape. It is non-adhesive, only sticking to itself. And it's mad stretchy. Leaves no residue when you go to remove it, and doesn't get gummy at all, ever. Looks clean when installed.

[Seramount]

when I got my first 'real' bike (ca. 1975), used cloth tape, always did top-down. stuff didn't last very long, so wasn't a big deal to change it often.

the Specialized Allez Epic I bought in 1992 came from the shop with some kind of high-gloss bar tape wrapped from the top-down. whatever it was, it lasted a looooong time...like a decade or more.

now that I use Fizik tape, always go bottom-to-top and finish with the self-fusing stuff...it's really nice.

[thirdgenbird]

the real faux pas is using the finishing tape thats included in the box.

Does anyone use that?

The grade of electrical tape you have in your tool box in your garage gets gummy. If you use higher grade stuff, like fancier stuff from 3M (Super 33+, but it's like $8 a roll...) it doesn't do that in any kind of normal timeframe.

I was probably in elementary school when my dad taught me that Super 33+ was the only option. He was right. Cheap electrical tape is useless.

[Joxster]

I’m a top down wrapper, never been an issue with wrinkles. It’s always looked neater.

[martl]

I've always found that if you start at the top, if you ride with your hands on the tops the tape will have a tendency to roll at the edges a bit. Doesn't happen if you start the tape in the drops.

Exactly. And that started being obvious with the first "cork" style handlebar wraps, which only are supported by a glue strip in the middle, as opposed to the Tressostar type cotton tapes. Therefore:

Thin tape, fully glued: top-bottom
thick tape, middle stripe glue: bottom-top

[Nomadmax]

Benotto Cello tape wrapped from the top down very nicely.

[Davist]

Does anyone use that?



I was probably in elementary school when my dad taught me that Super 33+ was the only option. He was right. Cheap electrical tape is useless.

+2 if it's not UL labeled it's not electrical tape 33+ well worth it.. (and you can use it for... electrical stuff!)

I worked in a shop in the mid 80s and the cheapo bikes (Royce Union? I forgot, we bought a container or 2 of them) we sold had ribbon tape (like benotto but CN version) top down, the Peugeots (our main brand) had bottom up. I do kinda miss the harlequin patterns and all the stuff you could do with benotto, but it was always like a recipe: 2 layers of cloth, start with 2 colors of benotto going opposite ways, etc..

Of course I spent a day with a chain tool (the plier type one, don't know if they still make it) and 3 chains making a red white and blue chain for my bmx bike so time wasn't the issue it seems to be now..

[Clancy]

when I got my first 'real' bike (ca. 1975), used cloth tape, always did top-down. stuff didn't last very long, so wasn't a big deal to change it often.

the Specialized Allez Epic I bought in 1992 came from the shop with some kind of high-gloss bar tape wrapped from the top-down. whatever it was, it lasted a looooong time...like a decade or more.

now that I use Fizik tape, always go bottom-to-top and finish with the self-fusing stuff...it's really nice.

this Is exactly as I remember! For awhile there, based on comments, I thought I was losing my mind.

As to comments about wrapping bars this way or that way and having hand pressure push or roll the tape - I’ve always found that is caused by a poor fit, not necessarily the way the tape is wrapped.