Thursday, March 17, 2011

Gamjams Review: Bar Tape

In my realtively short time as a cyclist (two years) I have only use four different varieties of bar tape. One variety of this was made by cinelli and I'm not sure the model name, another two types I have used are made by fizik. These two types are both called mictotex but they are quite different in texture. On my training/crit/bad weather bike I have black fizik microtex tape that has sort of microfiber or suede feel which I like because it soaks up moisture and it more grippy. The other variety of fizik tape I have is also microtex as I mentioned earlier but it is kind of like microtex without the "tex" if you know what I mean. This tape is blue and on my race bike, and I'm not sure if I like it yet as I have been using mainly my other bike since it was installed. What I have noticed though is that this tape cracks easier and it doesn't really absorb any moisture which I'm sure will cause issues on hot summer rides. The fourth type of bar tape I have used came on my race bike when I bought it and it is the bontrager tape which I liked because it had a better vibration damping aspect than the fizik but when I started sweating holding the bars was like walking on ice. This tape was comparable in feel to the cinelli tape but one thing I liked better was that I found that if the bar end ever came out with the cinelli the tape would immediately unravel as there is no adhesive backing. Cinelli was probably my least favorite as it wasn't as cushioney(my word) as bontrager and didn't stay on. My ranking of the four tapes is black fizik(fluffy), bontrager, fizik(slippery), and then cinelli.

1 comment:

  1. Try Lizard Skins DSP great bar tape really grippy. I like the salsa bar tape too.

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