I like it because it's resistant to damage, weatherproof if shellacked, quite grippy and lasts longer than a year or so. It also has that endearing retro look that goes well with twine for securing the ends.
It isn't easy to get here in Australia and I certainly don't see it in my LBS. The good tape from Newbaum's has inflated to $12 a roll by the time it's reached the few Australian online bike shops that carry it, and you need two rolls for a typical drop handlebar. Add the cost of a postage bag to that and it's getting to be a luxury.
Mail-order across the ocean is equally problematic. None of my preferred overseas suppliers have it. Other suppliers who do have it want from $5 to $10 a roll and have minimum overseas postage rates of $30 or even more.
I decided to do some lateral thinking and I discovered some inch wide twill weave cotton tape at a local haberdashery for $3.99 a roll. There's 9 feet on the roll and it looks exactly the same as the stuff sold as bar tape. One minor drawback is that it only seems to come in four colours, beige, white, red and dark brown. This particular stuff is made in China but packaged by Simplicity Creative Group, headquartered in Antioch, Tennessee USA.
 | |||
| White, Brown, Beige |
They say it's for tote bags, backpack straps, drawstrings and hemming but now it's for taping bicycle bars. Naturally, it does not have the adhesive backing found on Newbaum's and other brands of cotton bar tape. I thought I could solve that with some 12mm wide double sided adhesive tape. I use it around the workshop for various purposes and I had some on hand. This is not the foam backed mounting tape typically seen on the 3M Scotch rack. It's a very thin membrane with adhesive both sides and a layer of waxed paper on one side to stop it sticking to itself. If it can't be found in your hardware store you can get some from Jaycar Electronics, part number NM-2823. At $3.95 for a 25m roll it is amazingly cheap. Enough to convert eight rolls of cotton tape to handlebar tape.
 |
| www.jaycar.com |
The best way to apply the adhesive is to lay the cotton tape out straight on a tabletop and hold it taut but not stretched with a couple of bits of masking tape. It's very easy to stick the 12mm adhesive tape with its waxed paper backing right down the middle of the 25mm cotton tape.
 |
| Laying on the double sided tape. |
Run a thumb along it to be sure it's stuck then firmly roll the prepared cotton tape back onto the cardboard spool. Does the adhesive stick? Yes, amazingly well. An inspection proved that the adhesive has almost become part of the cotton tape.
 |
| Excellent adhesion |
After that you can treat it like any other handlebar tape. Wrap it on firmly with a 50% overlap and the adhesive strip ensures that it stays in place. Unlike cork filled foam bar tape, you won't break cotton tape if you pull on it too hard, nor does it unwrap itself if you let go of it.
I wanted it on the hook portion of a Nitto Albatross bar. Here it is, wrapped on, twined and varnished with a couple of coats of amber shellac flakes dissolved in methylated spirit.
 |
| Nitto Albatross bars. |
The beige cotton darkens considerably when amber shellac is applied but that was the effect I was looking for. The shellac soaks right in and binds the overlapped tape into an immovable whole. The twill weave remains grippy as long as you don't use too much shellac. And when it gets grubby in a couple of years I can lightly sandpaper it and recoat it with shellac.
