Hi

Can anyone please post a link or explain the neatest way to start wrapping bar tape and then finishing with the plug.

I do a first turn overlapping the end of the bars (on the drops). I can wrap around the levers and trim the loose end by the stem no problem.

But then I make a mess by trying to force the plug into the bar end with the overlapping tape. Some times it looks ok but sometimes the plug falls out and the tape starts to unravel. Even if I use glue I often have a big bulge of tape by the plug.

Should I try to jam the tape in the end of the bars or trim it off and simply glue the plug straight onto naked alloy?

Thanks in advance

Alan

I started going with Faustino Muñoz' technique of putting the tape end inside the bar, and then bending the tape round and up the outside of the bar from there.
About 7m into the video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFY-J9FVo9s

^^^this

stick end of tape in bar, then wrap it around the edge, so that the tape is 'folded' ll the way around the edge of the hole, that way the plug is nice and snug, and the end is neat

works with fizik microtex ok

some plugs are looser than others, i've got some cinelli ones that fit really well

i just started using canondale bar plugs that seat with an expander bolt, and don't put the tape into the bar end. I cut a taper onto the end of the tape, and just start wrapping from the bottom. The cdale plugs have a bit of overlap, so the edge of the plug is larger than the bar diameter, and covers up the side of the tape nicely.

Thanks. Great photos psm, but mine never looks as neat. I need four hands to jam all the tape in. I will keep trying.

Alan

Carlos, just seen the Munoz video. Excellent tip, I will try it. It is a pleasure to watch a really slick mechanic at work even if he puts the brake cables on the wrong levers.

Alan

Are you by any chance related to Shetland's other famous Carlos, Mr Riise, the time triallist extraordinaire?

Just remember to ALWAYS start at the bottom and wrap inward NOT outward...this will yield a smooth edge after you pass the lever and keep wrapping to the end point (avoid wrapping outward...the technique illustrated in post from PSM above is incorrect).

See another video of the Munoz wrapping bars here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4HsZZes ... KA&index=4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EM3

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My 2011 Cervelo R5

Up n out is NOT incorrect. It is the "other" way, or in my case and in many cases, the "preferred" way. I find the up n out direction to leave a smoother transition at the hoods. I never, ever, figure-8 at the hoods (well, only if I was wrapping a beater bike bar that had brake levers with no rubber hoods).
Although I would really like to drill home the benefits of my preferred way and slam any who oppose me, in the interest of diplomacy, I will say there are a few options for how to do it.
Shown is my bar, with the campy hood pulled up to show. Don't mind the bell mounted on the other shifter.

Actually....your picture (thisisatest) shows precisely why starting with an outward wrap is incorrect. Note how your tape above the levers at the ramps has a leading edge which is exposed as opposed to an edge that overlays with the tape underneath. Over time, riding on the hoods or ramps will result in a binding or folding over of the leading edge...also the leading edge will snag your gloves and be susceptible to making the tape slide. Starting with an inward wrap is a well known pro technique (ala Munoz in the videos) while starting with an outward wrap is a well known rookie mistake (as is the figure 8 at the hoods technique) ...no offense, really. EM3

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My 2011 Cervelo R5

Campy used to say to wrap up n out. They also showed two strips in line with the bar behind the hood, as opposed to the traditional single strip along the clamp. They don't make any distinction anymore. Others, too, but of course the specifics escape me right now.
The edge at the hoods and ramp trail, they do not lead. In either direction. The tape edge would only be leading if taping from the top of the bar down.
A poll of pro peloton bikes that I do every so often has tape direction at about 50/50. Maybe ten years ago, it was 75% or more my way. I'm sure the tide swings in both directions. Oddly, I think it was Garmin on Felts that I saw a few bikes where one side was wrapped one way and the other side was the other way. Identical as opposed to mirror image, if you will.
It's a MYTH that wrapping in this direction leads to tape slide. If it did, I would find EVERY bike wrapped this way with slid tape (maybe one in a hundred, I'll get back to that), and I would find ZERO bikes wrapped the other way with slid tape (again, about one in a hundred). Fact-every single road bike that leaves the doors here is wrapped as I require. No, there isn't a line of angry customers outside right now with unraveled tape.
Maybe 90% of the unraveled tape I've seen was from residual lubricant on the bar prior to wrapping, from lubricating cables or other. Alcohol on the bar, wipe, tape, no more problem, even a year later. Again, if your statement was correct, they would be back with the tape slid again.
One of these days I'll do a scientific study on this, to prove it once and for all.
Note: I've been wrenching for 17 years, service manager for 15 of those, more of an oversight role now, setting standards. hardly rookie. I'm highly regarded. Please don't take this response as an opportunity to attack me personally.

1-2 inches of tape inside the bars.

1 wrap of overhang.

Wrap 10cm up the bars.

Fold excess into bar end and insert plug.

Unwrap to plug and start again.

Depending on the tape I may or may not start the wrap again but I can always get a good finish using this method. As with most things I put most of it down to practice. I find it more difficult to get it as neat as I like around the levers.

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BMC SLC01

Visiting South West Australia? Visit Crank n' Cycles!

Oh, yea, I forgot to mention the start of the taping!
I prefer tucking the tape in with the plug.
I start with approx 2/3 of the tape off the bar, pulling moderately, wrapping once around so approx 1/3 still overhangs at the overlap point. By pulling moderately, the tape "sucks in" just a bit at the end of the bar, ending up cleaner in the end. The amount of overhang I start with depends on the stretchiness of the tape and its thickness, a thicker tape overhangs less, otherwise it takes too much volume on the inside of the bar and the plug likes to creep out. If you start with, say, 1/2 off the bar and wrap the first wrap square so the loop ends with about a half off the bar at the overlap, the end will bulge when you're done and it doesn't look as clean.
Some tapes have no adhesive at all on the backside. as a precaution, I lay down a couple loops of adhesive at the end of the bar, to keep the end from unraveling off the end (it would happen in either taping direction, btw). To do this. I use electrical tape and wrap once at the end of the bar, and stop on the underside, twist the tape firmly 180degrees, and wrap two loops up the bar with the sticky side up, finished by another 180degree twist and securing loop. Can't remember where I picked up this trick, Sheldon Brown or Stu Thorne, who knows. but I tried it and it works for those occasions very well.