Bar tape

White leather!

Hi there
HAS ANYONE DONE THEIR OWN LEATHER BAR TAPE
EITHER IN NORMAL WAY OR LIKE A CAR STEERING WHEEL SEWN TOGETHER ALONG THE LENGTH OF BAR,
GOING TO USE AN OLD LEATHER COAT OR JACKET AND TRY IT

LOOKING FOR SOME TIPS

Wikey
sorry about caps ..not shouting really just dyslexic fingers

ho ho
you will be impressed when i crack it though !!

http://www.lfgss.com/thread33757.html

thanks for that jogger

used cork tape, might try another time

Slightly late to reply, but in the interests of a complete thread...

yeah I did the stitched method. It's quite difficult to do neatly, and you need to shell out on nice thick thread (harder than you think to find). The trick is to get thick leather, and to cut the shape out perfectly so that it stretches to just cover the bars. And pre-cut all the little holes for the thread. That's the hardest bit, actually. Then follow a cross-stitch pattern, using two needles, and stitch up to perfection... I got the leather for free by asking for off-cuts in a shop near Brick lane. I re-did it another time, but couldn't be arsed with the effort so bought a premade kit from freshtripe. slightly better results, but less satisfying.

Now that's off my chest. Carry on...

thanks andyfallsoff for update

the clever thing would e if anyone with the kit put it down on some pattern paper or card and cut a pattern including the holes etc e and then that could be a master for another time

My dog caught a squirrel last week, the corpse is not too manky yet, dunno if there's gonna be enough leather off it, you may need to kill something larger- cow???

And then there's the whole tanning malarky:
[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanning[/ame]

Seems like a lot of effort when you could just buy the stuff by brooks?
S.

old leather steering wheel cover or part of an old leather jacket or coat or chesterfield settee, there's lots of ways to get the leather

Re doing a template, it wouldn't help that much as long as the perforations for stiches are evenly spaced, and match each side so the leather aligns. The only measurement you actually need is the width of the strip, which you can work out by wrapping a bit of leather round your bars. Then just do a straight line... then make the cuts for stitches about every 1cm evenly spaced.

Having done it, I can safely say the difficult bit is cutting the leather perfectly straight, it has a tendency to shift while you cut it. I used a stanley knife and a ruler but it wasn't too easy. If you can get something to grip the leather and hold it taut that would help.

good points

You could always buy the ready made kit from Velo Orange....http://www.velo-orange.com/elsebarco.html

I have it on my Holdsworth and it would save a lot of time and energy.

interestingly it says width of leather is 7.5 cm so cut to that and make holes as per pictures

Does anyone know of some non=adhesive bar tape that would match a tan charge spoon? U-bend is all adhesive IIRC.
Thank.

white spirit will remove the sticky tape, plastic matches spoon

What about Tennis / squash racquet handle tape ? often non-adhesive and cushionyyyy and good grip...

Brooks Honey leather tape.
You can easily peel the adhesive off that. It's only a weak strip of double-sided tape.

i have brown leather charge bar tape. The sticky shit peals off

Right then, charge it is. Thanks

Not for any hipster conotations but cause Maxi Cosi want £50 for a whole handlebar assembly just to fix the split sponge tube grip, my solution is to replace the knackered covering on the buggy with bar tape. So which is nice and thick? I guess the sponge is about 4 mm thick so I'm after summat a bit squishy......

Just get some of the cheap easton stuff (around a fiver) and wrap it double/triple thickness? I assume you don't need to cover an area as big as on drops, so one pack should do.

Soz, dumb repost.

I used S-Wrap (from evans or something) a few years ago, under a tenner and too squishy for my liking, probably ideal for your needs.

Aye, S Wrap Roubaix should see you right.