WRAPPING THE HANDLEBAR TOPS

Wrapping the top portions of the handlebars is pretty much straight forward.  There is only one more bend to deal with, however; the bar tape must be neatly finished off if everything is to look good and remain in place.

Finishing off the inside ends is not all that difficult.  The two concerns for inside ends are, equal distances from the centerline of the bicycle and functional neatness.  To that, add the already mentioned ingredient - tight.

Determining the equal distance thing is simply a matter of measuring, marking and then meeting the mark with the last wrap.  The last wrap on each side needs to taper into itself without changing the angle of the wrap.  This is best achieved by cutting the end of the tape at an angle.

The angle cut will allow the tape to finish off, squarely, to the handlebars.  Take your time and be careful with that skinny and fragile tapered end, that you just cut.  By now you will have realized that you can pull the tape quite hard, without fear of failure.  Such is NOT the case with the tapered end, so take it easy with the stretch.  The last wrap need not be quite as tight anyway, since a good tight wrap of electrician's tape will keep the end in place, surprisingly well.

When the task is complete, fold the hood down and insert the supplied end caps.  Shoving the end caps into place can be a bit of a trick but patience and care will serve you well, once again.  Work slowly, taking time to fiddle and fit every loose edge into the handlebar.  You might have to give this a few tries to get it just right, but just right it will get if you insist on it.

A freshly taped set of handlebars greatly improves the look of any vintage road bicycle.  Not only do the cosmetics benefit, so does the bicycle's performance.  No, you will not necessarily go any faster.  Your bicycle will not respond any better.  But the feel will be vastly improved, not just from a real world point of view, but also from a psychological one.  And any coach will tell you, that if your head is in the right place, so too will be the bicycle at the end of the race.