How To Tape Your Handlebars In The Figure Of 8 Style | Maintenance Monday
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- In association with Profile Design.
If your bar tape has seen some miles, become scuffed, rough or even perished over time you'll want to replace it. Here's how to wrap your bars in a figure of 8 style to give your bike a refreshing look:
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It was about time to replace Simons bar tape after seeing some winter miles and Paris Roubaix. Fresh bar tape is great for your riding comfort and a quick cheap way to get your bike looking fantastic!
We also found out that the Figure of knot is also known as the Flemish knot! how about that for a cycling connection 😉
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How To Change Handlebar Tape Like A Pro Mechanic 📹 gcn.eu/Probartape
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Leave us a comment below!
Who can do the figure of 8? let us know 👇
Or he's doing it the way you think is wrong?
How about bar wrapping 201? I'm quite fond of Cinelli's Mike Giant Tap these days, but wrapping bars so the logo/graphics show on every portion of the bar is difficult. Once you make the turn over the hoods, and start wrapping toward the rear of the bike, your overlap will cover up the graphics. Also, wrapping fancy looking bars with graphics or aero handle bars with wing shaped tops where the wrap is stops at the top bend seems to be a bit different. I've seen bikes with no electrical tape on the tops and it looks so much neater. Do they wrap from the top down? Sram hoods have several lugs on the inside of the brake hood, and the hood doesn't overlap onto the bar very far can be tricky to wrap too. They show a gap even if you use a separate strip of tape on the clamps! Si is a Sram guy, show us the ways of the (Sram) Force!
I would like to see Si do the two colour bar wrap.
Global Cycling Network me
Me!
Pause and replay 100x during the figure 8.
That’s exactly what I just did and then do that again for the other side
😅😅😅😅
Ha! Exactly what I did. Turned out great though
lol sameeee....
They need a play at half speed button 😆
I always thought this was a mystical art held only by the greatest bike mechanic sensei, but this looks pretty easy! Thanks for the guide
Nope, just had a go and I have to say my white belt is in danger of being revoked.
@@mortallious1234 My first try wasn’t perfect by any means, but is holding up
@@svfutbol20 Yep, mine's going to work but it's not too pretty.
But, we both did it ourselves, good on you.
I just taped my new Surly Truck Stop handlebars yesterday, having watched MANY videos on the process. This is the one I learned from, and emulated. I havent wrapped bars in almost 40 years, and it wasn't the best job, but I took it for a 2 mile ride and it felt amazing. The 3cm rise in the bars was great too. I'm going for another 20ish mile ride in about 30 minutes, just to really break the bars in. Thanks GCN, another very instructive video
I'm just glad there's a video showing the conventional method that mentions that pro mechanics wrap the opposite direction. I have been doing the 'outside-in' method of wrapping the drops since my crit racing days starting in the late 80's. When I sprint and even when I'm riding steady in the drops, the heel of my hands load inward not outward. I always wrapped outside-in on my track bikes too.
Going to try to wrap my bars for the first time today. Thanks for all the amazing videos, they help me loads as I’m new to road bikes!
Great to hear, Andrew! Best of luck!
manwithnoname65 took me a while but managed it fine. You just need to be patient.
Just did it. Figure 8 was good. I also did the clockwise right and anticlockwise left. My finishing was shit. On the aero bars. I used cut down gaffer tape as opposed to electrical tape. Not the best. But sufficient. Club ride in the morning. Nobody will know the difference and it looks equal. This video really helped. Thanks. Gave me confidence and saved me $70 at my local shop
I always use tape I had left over from a previous wrap job to place a strip on the bar top from levers toward the stem to make the bar a bit more cushioned.
Third or fourth time wrapping my own bars, but the first time I have done it correctly, was after watching this. Great information!
I always tape inwards because when you hold the top of the bars you have a tendency to twist your hands backwards. When you do this having taped inwards makes it so that you actually tighten the tape when you do it as opposed to loosening it. Taping inwards therefore is a lot more durable which is also why most pro mechanics do it that way.
Wrapping from the outside to inside, (opposite to Simon) this gives the outside view of the bars the very neat view of the vertical section of the figure 8.
Simons therapeutic voice helps me during my first attempt. Thanks mate!
The Kim kardashian fry winds me right up.
My first handlebar tape installed. Thanks for the guide all went nice and smooth with your instructions!!! Regards form Poland !!!
Great video! My first figure 8 wrap. Between the hoods and the stem wrapping the curve is tricky. I found it’s better to have more overlap on the inside of the curve, otherwise there don’t be much overlap at all on the outside.
yep, I usually focus on getting good coverage on the outside at this point and let the inside do what it does.
The direction of force that your grip applies in each area of the contact denotes the direction of wrap, that way it tightens and doesn't loosen, that is why the "figure 8" was applied to bar tape people. When your wringing its neck it will come away from the bars if you don't do this or if you are less aggressive it will just take longer to happen, but it will happen.
Hey, there's more pedantic comments on here than views 😂 A couple of things I found helpful about this (free) advice (meant for the unpractised) 1) stretch as instructed as otherwise you lose a lot of the spring in the cushioning and will just throw that away 2) any more than a third overlap and you may struggle to get that nice hill/valley effect that looks great and gives better feel during the ride. The rest of this I found effective and is otherwise personal preference. My own tips 1) some (or all?) types have a tapered edge on one side, so ya know, make note of that directionally 2) stretch the 1st loop tight as it helps the finish and getting the cap on (if too much resistance trim it) Thanks GCN👍😃
Excellent video - helped an amateur like me make the handlebars look good!
Just got some new carbon bars this week, tried this twice from memory, just had to come back and re-watch to get the figure-8 right. New bars look great now :D
This is brilliant. GCN always has it going on.
Wrapping bar tape is a true art form !
I use fizik and lizard skin tapes and both come with two short strip of tape just for covering back side of lever junction and nice finishing tapes with logos. Never used electrical tapes for finishing.
Guoenyi electrical tape wears out so fast and gets sticky and electricaly
Nice timing, I need to replace the tape on my road bike commuter as it's getting torn in a couple places. I always do it this way, with the figure 8 behind the brifters so that there are no gaps. But I always use black bar tape.
Wonderful way to describe the elbow-wrap portion! You really helped me out, bud, thank you!
That profile design tape is the best I have ever used. No sticky back, that means you can undo and redo your bars until you are satisfied without tearing the tape apart. Its really comfy, I like it a lot. For anyone interested its the Shock wrap with gel, you can't find it in the big online bike parts stores, I had to go to my LBS.
That feeling when you are watching a video about how to tape your handlebars and you don't even own a road bike 😂
not yet.
Soon
Any day now my LBS should receive it 🤤
This video tells me I'm not crazy for buying $90 spiked peddles so I can ride to work with my steel toed boots on. It also helps me think about possibly changing from flat to dropdown handle bars. ☺
Fantastic video for first-timers 😎🤙🏽🚴🏿♂️
Last time I retaped my bars, I wrapped one side from the hood to the stem in one direction, i.e. away from the rear of the bike and the other side in the opposite direction, i.e. towards the rear of the bike. 3,000 miles later and no problems with either way. Clearly, unless you apply a vice-like grip to your bars, there should be no problem with unwinding if you get the tension right.
I Always install my tape watching this video 🙏🙏
First time I have tried the 'figure 8', and it turned out to be the best 'wrap' I have ever done. Thanks for the tips!
Wrapped some new bars for the first time yesterday, this video really helped and I got a pretty good finish out of it. Not perfect, but not far off!
Never change my bar tape until today! Video was very helpful, but 1st time is always so stressful!!
Yep, followed this guide, was pretty easy. Thanks Si.
Thank you. Just wrapped my ribble gravel bike, going to test it out now.
Great vid. Specially the part around the LEVER. I wish I was cool enough to say LEEVA’ 😂😂😂
When resting your hands on the drops, your hands put a rotational force on the top and outside of the bar, when resting on the top of the bars your hands will put rotational force on the top and to the front of the bar. Thus, you should always wrap in the direction your fingers are pointing when resting on the bar. This way your hands will be tightening (not undoing) the bartape in case there is any slack or slippage. :)
Thanks Si. Just done my first bar tape replacement. Fisher Price My First Bar Tape. Could have done it better no doubt. But could have done it a lot worse. Took two goes each side to go around the hoods...trying to watch carefully!
Best bar taping without gimmicks
Been curious from 7 days on how to install a new tape on my bike until i watched this video. Took me 30 mins to do it. The first one i had more or less 30cm extra, the other, about 10cm only. But i dont wanna re do it again. My new tape is neon (giant) and my old worn out tape is made by fisik. Thanks man! I miss Ashford, Thames and Tesco! Haha! (From a biker in the Philippines)
I used to always make a mistake going the wrong direction, now quick success after watching this video before application!
I was just about to convert from straight bars to dropbars on my road bike.😂😂😂😂 I know how to do this but it's fun to watch. Si probably has more experience changing bargrips on MTBs tho
Fantabulous as usual. I watched a few of these and yours is the best. BY FAR !!!! Thank you.
Thanks for explaining this mystery.
When we do find GCN brand bar tape in the shop?
Best guide, it's a lot easier when you do it, you just do the figure 8 in the natural way
04:49 - best description of how to do the final cut, something that's a little counter-intuitive and thus easy to get wrong.
Thanks, just taped my bars for the first time!
Thanks Si, very god advice took me several goes to get it write but did thanks to the video and explanation
perfect...best video about wrapping no doubt
Useful! actually taped my bike using the instructions from that video!
made it look easy. Thanks.
Very useful, am redoing my tape this weekend!
glad we can help
Is this way wrong?
I just got some fizik gels and some Cannondale synapse tape. can't wait to wrap my bars. Thanks GCN for the tips!
I have “practice” tape for learning the technique, and after a couple of tries on both sides, the good stuff gets installed. I found that the overlap is crucial, as too much overlap leads to not enough tape on top at the end.
Another trick you didn't mention is thatwhen you use the electric tape to close off at the end the last bit should be stretched a bit, that wayit sort of hugs the bar tape and make it look that tiny bit better.
Brilliantly clear for a beginner. Thanks!
Beautifully clear explanation and very well filmed!
I made it, halfgood but motivated. Tanks guys
Hey GCN, really enjoy your videos. Are there any thoughts on doing a 'bike build' series showing how to take a frame and fit all the components? That would be brilliant
They gotta split the vids one by one so they don't run outta ideas on what vids should they do next. Fyi Dan did this vid already
there are too may variables. so may types of frames and components they wouldn't be able to generally cover everything..
Great video! Saved me $35.00 at the bike store! Which I refused 😢to pay, when the tape cost$35.00 also 🤦♀️
Great quality video so easy to understand! Just wrapped up mine and am really happy with the result
Excellent job !! Thanks , you make easy !
Ha! Just sat down to watch some GCN after putting some new bar tape on and saw this! 😀
Simon gives the best detailed version. Dan's version is simpler, but Simon knows what he's talking about
Superb Video & looks brill !
Great how to video as always, nice and clear.Cheers guys Andy
Great video. Thanks 👍
tip: before wrapping the bars with the bar tape, FIRST wrap the bars with electrical tape completely. This will keep the bar tape adhesive from sticking to the bars if you ever need to remover the tape. This is especially true with alloy bars as the stick um of the tape can leave a real mess on your bars. After applying electrical tape, then wrap as you usually do for a clean, professional look to your ride.
I like the color combination.
Nice job.
Pro direction makes sense as they change their tape frequently so it does not have time to deteriorate.
Non-pro direction is better when you are leaving it on for a long time so it will not be pulled against the grain
Thank you, video helped a lot.
Great job
Great vid, as usual. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks. Big help mate.
The new tool shed looks terrific.
Great video, nice to watch, but I did it like Calvin Jones told us
Easy to follow. Very Many Thanks.
OFF TOPIC: That accent is BOLD, would love to hear from you regarding where is it from, cheers
you want to go the other way when wrapping for one reason, tension. as you ride the bike and your hands pulls back on the top it can loosen the tape where as if you tape from the outside in, the tape at the top will end with the end facing the back of the bike. doing so will keep the tape tight while riding
Si is the BEST!
Lol this would've been super helpful about a month ago :()
1) yes I did and I watched the older video, this one was better and more detailed.
2) you're a snarky shit, fix your tone
I finish mine off by wrapping the end, a full one width back, with a flat "serving cord" giving a look you see on line(rope) to keep the strands from unraveling.
Well orchestrated.
i love profile tape it feels great
thank you from manhattan ©2025
nice job Simon
Great video, thank you!!
Holy shit that figure 8 is so pro I've always struggled with that section. Many mahalos 🤙🏽👍👏🏼💪🏼
Figure 8 is ok with thinner tapes. With thick stuff figure 8 is often judged too bulky. There's another way, which I won't try to describe. It uses less tape and gives virtually the same end appearance - with practice.
you guys should do a video on how to do braided bar tape ie two different colours.
thank you guys for all your videos . very helpful . i enjoyed it a lot.
Super helpful! Thanks!
I did it oppositely cuz I don't like electrical tape on the handle bar and make me sticky at all. At last still tight and didn't lose
Right, right, I shall unwind my last effort and do it properly tomorrow!!!!
I actually taped my handlebars last weekend, but since I have aero bars I stopped taping just passed the top bend. #personalchoice
Very neat indeed. Although the last time i did this leather tape was the ‘in’ thing, mind you am 62 now....but still riding ...🤪
so satisfying
I've been looking at bar tape. Wow, a mine field can anyone recommend any. I'd probably say comfort would be my highest priority 😎🤙🏽🚴🏿♂️
Great technique! Thanks!
We need another video for the left handlebar!!!
I've got to take my perfectly good tape of because the rear brake cable is binding. So, if you're putting on new tape, it might pay to change the cables at the same time?
Amazing!! So easy, thank!
It's me again.. stil can't remember how to do it after 5 times...