Today I did a “winter project” on my gravel bike: I removed the old handlebar and tape, and replaced it with a new handlebar and new tape.
The tape needed to be done for years. I had a crash on black ice in November 2021, and that tore up the left bar tape a fair bit. I’d never gotten around to it.
Ever since I failed spectacularly to install the oil slick shiny tape on the Roubaix, I’ve been gunshy about it. But I found this video from the manufacturer and it really helped to have it as a reference.
The other thing was the shape of the bar. As you can see in these before and after pics, the new one has 1.5 cm of “rise”. When trying out Ian’s Kona Rove gravel bike, I was struck by how much higher his bars were relative to the seat. I thought that having the bars higher would be more confidence-inspiring, especially on loose gravel.
They are also a bit narrower, and the shape of the drops is different, but we will see if that’s a net positive or negative. The hardest part of getting the old bar off was that the bar tape wanted to eat itself when I was taking it off. Whether it was just because it was old, or just the cheap stuff that came with the bike, I don’t know. I’ve done bar tape lots of times, and usually it just unravels. Once it was off, then it was a matter of running the cables/hydraulic lines (thanks Tammy!) and putting the bar tape on.
Following the video, I got it done in record time. There’s particular figure-8 pattern you need to do around the hoods that doesn’t want to stay in my brain more than 5 seconds. But I got it done, and I think it looks pretty nice.
