PRO Sport Comfort Tape, Black

Product Information

If you prioritise style over everything, then the best bar tape for you might be cotton or leather, since it offers a retro aesthetic. It’s not madly expensive either. There are cheaper tapes, but for the performance, the high grip factor and nice cushioning, this is a very good choice.”

Finance is subject to application, financial circumstances and borrowing history. Performance Cycling Limited FRN: 720557 trading as Tredz are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are a credit broker not a lender – credit is subject to status and affordability and is provided by Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC. Terms & Conditions Apply. Watch the gap: As you wrap, always stay alert for any gaps in the tape. Not only is this unsightly and unprofessional it could also lead to a less than secure finish. He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.To do its job well, handlebar tape has to be comfortable, hard-wearing and grippy, and it doesn't hurt if it looks good. We've wrapped scores of handlebars and ridden thousands of miles or Tarmac and gravel to bring you the best bar tapes you can buy. No bar tape guide is complete without a traditional cork offering. If you’re of a certain age there’s a good chance that cork tape is all you knew for many years, after it superseded cotton and vinyl in both performance and comfort after its invention in 1983. In this instance we’ve gone for SRAM’s Supercork. Bar tapes are made from a fairly wide range of materials, with lots of variation in the details; it's the materials and how they're used that determines how the tape will feel under your hands. Bar tape can be made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), poly(ethylene-vinyl acetate) foam (EVA), polyurethane (PU), polyester microfibre, silicone, or leather, often blended and bonded to get the feel the designers are aiming for. Brooks Cambium Rubber Tape, for example, has a polyurethane coating over a polyester and EVA mixture, while cork tape combines tiny bits of cork with an EVA matrix (an idea claimed by Antonio Colombo of Cinelli). You might also run across the abbreviation TNT which stands for the Italian Tessuto Non Tessuto. That indicates there's a nonwoven fabric somewhere in the mix and not that your handlebar tape is in any danger of exploding. John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work. Brooks Leather bar tape caters perfectly for those seeking a retro feel or a bar tape that matches their faithful Brooks saddle.

If you're a serial tinkerer when it comes to your bike setup, you might find that you need to unwrap your bar tape to move your shifters or replace brake and gear cables. New handlebar tape is a sure-fire way to give your bike a new lease of life. Dave Caudery/Immediate Media This is an easy to apply tape that won't break the bank and well worth considering for longer rides. If you’re inordinately fond of cleaning your bike, you can get Power Touch tape in white for just 12 quid from Chain Reaction. When it comes to wrapping, some synthetic bar tapes are high-stretch, making it easier to wrap the tape around brake levers and hoods. High quality fabric bar tape can add cushioning and improve your grip as you cycle. Padded handlebar tape and gel padding is also a great option as it guarantees cushioning and provides the protection your hands need. Cyclists who ride long distance in particular will be all too familiar with callouses and blisters forming, and the pain they can cause.

Brooks Cambium Ergonomic Grips

Always start from the bottom: It might seem obvious but you always wrap tape from the bottom of the drops, finishing on the tops. Tester David writes: “Prologo is best known for its large range of saddles but also produces a range of bar tape, so if you're using a Prologo seat you can match the bar tape on your bike. There's nothing better than matched saddle and bar tape if you care about the appearance of your bicycle, and the grip and cushioning this tape provides makes it a good choice even if you’re not going for looks. Tester Steph writes: “Made from a synthetic and natural cork mix with 2.8mm of padding and gel on the inner side, it is very comfortable and easy on the hands. I noticed the grip immediately without gloves on, and felt that even in wet conditions it would work extremely well. I usually ride with gloves, but went without just to give it a fair chance to shine. The grip was beyond excellent, even in damper weather. The gel underlay seemed to absorb any bumps I may have felt otherwise, and if coupled with gloves your hands would barely suffer. Kinesis’s 4 Seasons tape may look pretty ordinary but there’s plenty of detail here that make it worthy of this best handlebar tape guide.

Most of the options I've included in this list are smooth. The option from PNW does have a texture but it's not uniform. There's also the Brooks Cambium, my favourite on the list, but not everyone is going to love the price of that one. That leaves a bit of a hole in the lineup for something that has texture for those that prefer it but also comes with a more reasonable price. It’s made from what Kinesis describe as an ‘anti-slip’ rubber. The small micro-diamond pattern is designed to offer grip in all conditions, hence the ‘4 Seasons’ name. Having ridden this tape in fair weather and foul we can attest to its grippy properties; even during serious downpours we found that it still offered up a decent level of grip, certainly when compared to cork tapes. It’s also plenty durable too; we’ve used this tape for well over a year in the past without it showing much sign of wear.Bar tape material has come a long way since the early days, but none of the early materials have been made entirely redundant. Over the years, we've seen cotton, cork, leather, vinyl, foam, and more. Cork and leather have been popular for decades for their levels of grip, comfort and for a classic look, but they do have limitations. The most commonly found bar tapes nowadays are made using synthetic materials which can be combined with foam or gel for padding. Bike Ribbon uses pretty much all the materials and finishes mentioned above and makes bar tape for a lot of other brands. It's a good bet that many of the tapes above started life in Carate Brianza. Like many other tape makers they've also recently introduced silicone tapes.

While its price is comparable to some of the most expensive tapes, so it the performance and for those of you who are happy to pay for it then it is a good investment.” If you're old school, you can still buy Velox cloth rim tape for just two quid per side and there's still some uncushioned Benotto tape out there too. I love adding some silicone padding to my bars. If you have a Campagnolo Ekar bike, or any Campy bike for that matter, it’s perfect for smoothing the transition between the hoods and the actual bars. It’s also great to just add wherever you tend to rest your hands the most. There's plenty of stretch too so you can get round the corners on a set of drops without a problem, and it isn't one of those tapes that feels like it might snap if you pull too hard. Once installed the silicone does a great job of keeping it in place - I never noticed any movement.The length of bar tape can also impact wrapping. If you are wrapping particularly wide bars, say on a gravel bike, then you will have less material to play with. If you're commuting all-year-round, and want a basic bar tape that will stand the test of time, you might want to look to leather tape for its durability.