I’ve heard that a pro mechanic’s best way to lift the spirits of riders before a difficult stage is fresh white bar tape. It’s a confidence booster. Fresh white tape just looks clean and fresh, and can make your legs feel the same.





Bar tape is one of those things—one of those mystical things on a bike that go just a bit beyond their utilitarian purpose. There is a touch of magic in that ribbon that is wrapped around your bars. Some people might just look at it like something to cover your cables, but I believe it is an essential point of style and soul for a bicycle. Whether authentic leather, soft cork, old-school fabric, or a cutting edge synthetic material, your tape speaks about you as a cyclist and your axe. Take pride.













So how exactly do you make sure that your tape looks as pro as your shaved legs and tall socks? Here’s how:

Now, I’m not one to quell someone’s individual creativity, but I do think you should thoughtfully consider whether you really want that glo-green tape on your orange and red bike. The classic rule in cycling is white, but a modern classy approach would be to match your bartape to your saddle.





Once you have picked out your chartreuse and pink striped tape, how exactly do you wrap this stuff so that it looks as good as it can? Practice. Though it looks simple, wrapping tape can be deceivingly difficult to make look really great. It all boils down to a couple factors. Keep the tape tight, and keep the wraps evenly spaced—then you just have to master the tricky figure 8 around your brake hood.





Here is my step by step how-to:



Start by opening the box. There should be two rolls of tape, two short strips of tape, and bar ends. Throw the short strips of tape right into the garbage, or use them for some kind of folksy arts and crafts project. They won't be needed here. Fold back your brake hoods and you are ready to begin...







The first step is simply taking any backing off of the adhesive side of the tape, if there is any. I find it is easiest to take all of it off right at the beginning, but some people prefer to take it off as they go. (I feel like there is a joke or two somewhere in that sentence, but I'll leave it...)







Start at the bottom of the drop in the handlebar. Wrap with a bit of overhang in the tape that you can tuck in later. I always wrap towards the outside of the bar. This is so as a rider's hands rotate around the side of the drops, it works to keep the tape tight, rather than loosening the wind. I don't actually think it makes a huge difference, if you are using an adhesive backed tape, which direction you wrap in, this is just how I have always done it.







