I almost skipped this video, thinking it would be boring. What a surprise! I'm so glad I watched it! Ian is both hilarious and pragmatic in the same breath! Great vid, Jon. Please do more videos with Ian!!!
Yeah you are right...you would think that he would have discovered that "best of two worlds" method after 10974 bars....but...for me it just took a quick search and watching Calvin for a couple of minutes..👍
I’ve been wrapping bars exactly the same way he does and for the same reasons since the 1980’s! Nice to see that I’m not alone on this one. Great interview, Jon!
I also wanted to see how much overlap there should be for each rotation, how to do the figure 8 in practice and how to properly finish. Talking heads was still fun but we need a follow-up hands-on video.
@@lechprotean I thought the figure 8 was a bit outdated, from a time when tape was super thin. I've tried to do some with modern thicker tapes and they're just too bulky. I'm personally a fan of the method used in the Park Tools videos. Great instructional for first time wrappers.
I can't stand gooey electrical tape! Silicone tape comes in an array of colors from clear to black. Yeah, it's more expensive but when I am riding on a hot day the Silicone tape does not start sliding around and undoing and getting sticky gooey like electrical tape. It should be banned even from electrical work!
I saw this straight after the Park Tools vid. There’s no “right” way to do it, it’s personal taste and what works for you. I think the Park Tools vid is more useful because it’s a practical demonstration. All said and done, I still watched this all the way through. 😊
My first bike with drops had engraving and I did not want to hide that years later I gave into bar tape and wished I had used it before. I have wrapped it both ways and both worked ? loved the video
Hi john You guys think you two are bar tape geeks. I not only measure my cut distance from the stem but I measure my start placement (inside-out) but I count the number of wraps and let my electrical relax for 5 minutes after cutting it to a rough length and then giving it a final measured cut before setting the ends of the tape down. It must be perfect!! Btw great show, I don’t miss any of the tech shows
Rapping about wrapping with Jon and demonstrating the proper technique to surgically snip the end bit tips properly for lifelong handling. Great clinic, Jon.
The scissor length tip was brilliant. It also ensures you make the start of the cut at the right point so the end tip of the tape will wrap correctly under the bar to hide the end point for a smooth tape off. Love it.
I love wrapping handlebars. Great zen moment with my bike. I wrap from top to bottom, starting with a rearward turn, using figure of 8. Top to bottom because I think electrical tape looks horrible. Never had a problem with unravelling or upcurling tape. Never thought of using reflective tape though. Sounds cool, might give that a try next time.
I wrap mine like Ian because I have found the tops unravelling on long rides when done the other way Also have a handy pair of wallpaper shears for trimming the ends. My figure-of-eights are still poor though and I use the small bits if provided
I always wrap bottom to top, inside to outside with figure of 8 around the levers, then make sure the electrical tape is wrapped once just inside the edge then tight just outside the edge and you get a nice little shrunk effect and no electrical tape on the bars. But each to their own as long as the tape stays in place.
Your friend from Park Tools (Calvin Jones) wraps from the inside out on the bottom then uses the figure 8 around the leavers to change direction and wrap outside in (over the top towards the front) on the top.
Calvin Jones does not use the figure 8, he uses the "up, over and around" technique, unless he's changed his mind since this video (January 2016): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5MzIiv7pewE.html (The figure 8 is 'method 2' in the video, quote: "I don't like this technique so much")
to avoid that sound issue in the future, may i suggest recording the two mics on seperate tracks, left and right, and invert the polarity on one. when you mix the video, mix it to summed mono. of course you could have the guest clap for syncing the two mics in mixdown, easy peasy. hope it helps and thanks for another great video !
I liked the comment about the snips at the end should be equal length, never happens for me, but I've wrapped less than 50 bars :) I am getting better at the figure 8 though. Also, I wrap bottoms from inside to out.
Great video, it would be good to have some more interviews with that mechanic. One question I have is, how often do the pro mechanics change the pro riders bar tape? Thanks for sharing.
Thousands of km on a top-down bar tape, no unraveling, no twisting. It does take a bit more time to do because you have to pay a bit more attention to what you're doing, so maybe that's why they don't do it. But it looks a hell of a lot better. And no lose bit of end of tape under the thumb when on the tops. #teamtopdown !!
I thought you guys did a video about this, but... I'd you do the figure eight around the brifter clamp you can wrap in the direction of tightening take when throttling on both the drops and the tops.
Being from another generation I remember wrapping from the top down and never a issue , although I was never a pro rider obviously but pedalled many miles . I think it comes down to the type of tape you use . I find tape like Lizard Skin , not every riders cup of tea , that's real tacky almost has fused edges when wrapping but cork tape needs bottom to top wrapping . But that is just my experience . Plus if you want a nice finished edge use fusing tape instead of black tape for the finished look . Fusing tape has no adhesive but sticks to itself permanently and can be bought on Amazon .
I think I'll use a Velobitz Vintage Black Leather Handlebar Cover, Wax Thread & Needles kit to wrap some Cinelli 64 bars rather than bar tape, then there would be no arguments which direction the tape is wrapped. Should look nice and complement the black leather Brooks B15 saddle.
I have no idea why I enjoyed this, aside from my next scissor acquisition. (May be it was therapeutic hearing the tape rotation direction.....yada yada )
naturally the direction of hand grip is over the bar and away from bike when below the lever and over the bar and toward the rear when hands are on the top of the bar. what i do is changing direction of the tape wrap when doing the 8 figure at the lever so tape wrap direction will follow your hand grip no matter if it's at the bottom or top of the bar.
Excellent vid! So happy that I do it the same way and even +1 on the long scissors. I want to know more about how many wraps of electrical tape, moving inwards to overlap the bar metal and back out again? Reducing electrical tape tension before cutting? End of elec tape underneath the bars, right?
During the last decade or so, I've gotten too old to be in the drops . So, now I wrap (starting at bottom), outside- in as I tend to throttle on the tops. Only time I'm in the drops, is to hold on, going down hill, fast !
Question: I am pretty ocd about keeping my bike clean. Do I need to ever worry about living or greasing brake parts? Rim brake Sram or Dura ace direct mount 9100 ? Thanks
Well once you've covered every single aspect of cycling from aero to erectile dysfunction and then bang the lot in Espagnol what is there really left to do? lol
HARSH!!! It's a business it's content, it pays the bills offers free and FUN insights. GCN need to be left alone unless they start charging and then that is different
Figure of eight for me... and wrap just as described in the video. Oh, don't throw away the short bit of wrap that comes in the box... instead you could use it on the drops under the wrap, to give some extra padding when riding in the drops.
So Correct me if I'm incorrect but wasn't wrapping from the top the standard in the early days? Was there a switch at some point? or has this always been a debate?
I started racing in 1970, and yes, back then I ALWAYS started at the top and wrapped to the ends. BUT, we were using Velox, or Tressostar thin CLOTH tape with a FULL adhesive covering on the back way back then, so no worries about rolling the edges at all because of direction. With the advent of the thicker cork/cork gel tapes and then the more rubberized, cushy silicone/gel padded type tapes of today, the direction does matter more. Interesting point (albeit not related to actually wrapping the bars); In the USA back in that era above ('60s to at least the '80s), EVERYONE used black bar tape, whilst the pro peloton, and even the great international amateur elites (when there was still such an animal!) used white tape exclusively. Nowadays, the Pro Tour riders ALL use black tape unless trying to be fancy and show off/complement their race classification leader's jersey, or a current national championship status, etc. ;) Maybe all of the Pro Tour mechanics got sick and tired of changing out dirty bar tape on 8 to 10 bikes every single night?? (Think of the extra time wasted on THAT chore, every day!)
How many times did your mother tell you to wash your hands before eating? It’s the same reason they do multiple videos of wrapping bar tape. Takes a while to sink in for some. Great vid and still different than the others. Thanx!
Watch park tool bar tape wrapping video. The final method shown is the best which reverses the wrap direction above the shifters. Search "How to wrap handlebars for road bikes"
wrapping your own bars is as complex as putting air in your tyres, good video, I like the explanation, I really don't need a demo, I think I've got it thanks.
2 layers. First layer is 3mm 'pro sport control' something, second layer is 3mm silicone bar tape(don't remember brand or name). I'm wrapping throttling on drops way, with figure 8. At beginning, I use more overlap, then smoothly lessen it, because I want to get kind of droplet like look.. bar will get thicker at bar end and then a round finish perfected with a belling end cap(the one that expand inside bar while screw on obviously). It's difficult to achieve what I want, and so that both ends would look same.. I got only one nice. The first layer I did cut pretty short in angle like they usually do.. cut it short because second layer tape would be too short to wrap 2 layers everywhere.. Second layer(silicone tape) I did not cut at all.. Leaved square end like it was, (can't waste it, it's expensive). Stretched it just so while wrapping, that it ends just below handlebar, flush with brake shifter cables. I finish with thin tesa textile tape(5125) and then usual electrical tape on top of that. That textile tape is good non stretchable and it has different clue that won't leave sticky clue to bar tape. It won't stick too hard, but.. clue is pretty easy to remove from surface also.. Kinda becomes rubber like, like the clue you use to fix your inner tube I think. And then the electrical tape on top of that, because textile tape tends to start curl on edges. And hot wire to little melt the finishing tape, so that it won't get undone. Melting works also with that tesa textile tape too.. I have used just only textile tape for finishing too. It blends well with that black "sport control tape" from pro. In that case I put one single lap of tape so that it would be slightly over edge. And then stick that edge under the bar tape. (May need to use some protective layer between bar, and tape, not to scratch the bar. The waxed paper, that was on the sticky side of bar tape may work.) And then some wrap(not over edge) more tesa textile tape to finish. Will look a bit different like that.. You get pored of same electrical tape look right? ^_^
Hello John! Great Show! Wanted to ask if you can do a show about monstercross, the do and don't about riding and building a monstercross bike. I am both a roadie and a mountain biker and I realized that for my local terrain that sort of bike would be the best of both worlds as the forest trails are too close for a car ride but too far to push on a mtb without going on the drops and gaining some roadie speed instead of limping at 15 km/h on a mtb. #askgcntech
The advantage of wrapping your own bar tape is that you know exactly how you want it to be and how to do it.. I double wrap my handlebar. The direction doesn't change throughout the bar, because i tend to twist it inward on the tops and the drops..
also, if you wrap the tape so that the adhesive strip partly overlaps onto the bar and half onto the last loop of bar tape, it stops the tape from slipping.
Bottom to top, to the inside on the drops :-) Need some more opinions here: Do you overlap the electrical tape with the bars or keep it fully on the handlebartape?
I wrap the electrical tape just inlined with the bar tape but never with the bars. Just looks cool that way. I use some double sided tape on the end of my bar tape to prevent is from sliding lose, since it doesn't have those adhesives with it..
Bottom to top - inside to out on the drops, half loop at the hoods, and front-to-back on the tops. Tape overlap on the bar otherwise the exposed end trips my OCD (and the lighter colour tape looks grubby there quickly, which doesn't help the twitching) :)
When I can, I like to use Diamondback factory tape because its stupidly stretchy, so i can really crank the tension on. Most bar tape won't come loose from not overlapping anyways but its nice to be sure. I might drive Tim crazy here because I not only don't overlap but ill cut the finish short with a razor so my finish line is nice and short. I must've seen that in an old GCN video when I was younger, but every client that gets their bars wrapped really seems to like the touch. It's just a little different!
I don’t wrap mine... the guy at the schwinn shop did it years ago... he clearly started at the top and there’s no electric tape involved... I’ve put on thousands of miles training and many races... other than a little dirt the tape has held up just fine...
