Hey team! Alex here and today I share all my secret tips & tricks to wrap your own handlebar tape and make it look and feel great! Keep practicing and let us know how you go!
Perfect demo🎉 I am mechanic for 20+ years only reason I didn’t pass and delete is because you are good 👍🏽 normally I like watching people do terrible job with no thought ❤ yes reverse wrap looks great but this is actually proper job no glue. Those extra bits can come in use with cable 10 and below speed Campy group sets. Love your style.
Fantastic video . I have been taking my bike to Cycle Fixation since they started and Alex is the very best bike mechanic in Australia he is so comprehensive every bike is looked after like if it’s his own pride and joy and customer service is 100% . and he is all ways happy to share his knowledge .l highly recommended taking your bike for a service or even purchasing a brand new bike as you will be very happy .cheers max👏🚴
Just had to drop a comment, because I did my first bar wrap last week. I watched tons of bar wrap videos do help. Wish I had seen this first, your video is to the point simple and the figure of 8 was clearly filmed and explained! Awesome.
@@CycleFixation I'm subscribing and will be checking through all of your videos. Wrenching on things is something I really enjoy, and so I appreciate your kind of content 🙏 building a bike currently and have connected with so many good people and LBS's
Thank you very, very much Alex. I couldn't find any decent tape, here Super CAZ was unobtanium, I bought some hideously expensive Brooks rubbish, (never again) took the bike to my local pro shop, to get a nice wrap, hahahaaa, where the local pro wound up both sides in the same direction, missing completely on some of the outside radiuses. A complete cock up artist, I stripped it all off again & threw it away a few days later after I had found some Super CAZ & hopefully re do it myself this weekend using your method.
Good luck ! Super caz is great, but challenging, It’s not overly stretchy and the brand advise not to stretch when applying, So follow the method and don’t be afraid to unwrap and rewrap multiple times, You will have to practice and really make sure as your wrapping that you are pulling the tape on the right angle where the tape wraps tight and flat on the handlebar and doesn’t leave a tight and loose edge of the tape, Will make sense once you start Good luck
I do it exactly like you, one difference though, the start is from outside to inside and so I wrap from front to back at the top. Fits my hand movements on the drops and on the top better
I have always wrapped from the top down with never a problem. Back then we used Velox self-adhesive cloth tape. It is by far the best. Why? Eddy used it, of course! After a while we switched to twill tape. It was about $0.60 compared to triple that for the Velox. My daily rider just turned fifty. It’s mostly Record, and Nuovo Record, but somewhere in the past someone snuck in a set of Super Record pedals. If I do a rebuild this winter it will include a frame alignment and hand stitched leather bar wrap. Of course I’ll stitch from the top down. 😉
Sounds awesome!! I had cloth tape on one of my old track bikes which I tried something different again, I wrapped bottom to top like I normally do for modern bikes but instead of using tape on top I used twine and did a series of neat, consecutive wraps and a fancy knot to keep is hidden The bike had a vibe although the tape didn’t last long because it was very hard and uncomfortable even for a short scratch race, Maybe I need a bike suitable to try the craft of leather 🤔 Thanks for the comment
Just watched your video. 50 years ago when I was riding Schwinn 10speed bikes and even the Schwinn Sting Rays that we put Ram's horn handlebars on we would wrap the bars STARTING where YOU ended your tape-we would go from there and then poking about an inch of the tape inside the end of the handlebar then pop the cap in and it would hold just fine. I must admit that here 50 years later that you are using electric tape to end your wrapping is shocking. Just today I wrapped the bars on a mobility scooter that are solid with no exposed ends to push an inch of tape into so I was forced to use the "Finishing tape" strips that they sent.
Haha I knew when I made the video there would be plenty of different ways to get the job done, Over my life working with bikes I have found a large amount of mechanics do the same method as I suggest, A lot of people do wrap bars and end up going the opposite way on top, I think it’s harder to make it look good while having good coverage. Hard to explain but Doing the other way above the hoods the angle of the wraps will go from facing 45 degrees one way and then transition to 45 degree the other way meaning around the corner the inside has lots of overlap just to have the outer edge not leave any gaps. Starting the way I have suggested for me is easier and looks better But hey ultimately anything goes 😂
Former “pro” bike shop mechanic, road racer, and frame builder. Gave you a “thumbs-down” for mm and not inches, and for wrapping from the bar-end towards the stem.
Next video idea- how to wrap bartape the old worldly way! The video will be black and white, we can use a candle for lighting, Steel bikes only Of course imperial measurements Step 1- light up your cigarette…. Haha Thanks for the comment
Thanks for the comment, Starting at the top can look great but with some compromise, I uploaded a short explaining the difference Check it out if you want
Each rider or customer for us has a different relationship between form and function, Most people are in the function category and want it to look good but primarily feel good and last long
Good question! Wrapping from the top down can look super clean and neat, We will sometimes do this on vintage bikes and track bikes for aesthetic purposes When we hang onto the bars while riding we are holding ourselves up and pushing against the bars and tape, When we wrap top to bottom we end up with the exposed edge of the tape facing up and we can both feel the edges as we hold on, This can often end up looking tattered and can move the wraps down in some situations, Try both see what you like
@@CycleFixation That's a great explanation of the difference - thanks! Perhaps I've wrapped tightly enough in the past that the tape migrating downward hasn't been an issue personally, but I now understand the potential.
Nice vid, mate! Very clean wrap, especially finishing parts. This is an excellent demo for those learning how to wrap bar tape. But, def prefer wrapping the tops toward the rider.
