Wrapping Handlebars

Wrapping handlebar tape on drop bars is pretty easy, but I'll show a few tricks to give you a more professional look. Start by removing any old tape and cleaning the bars:

Next measure a piece that's just long enough to cover the back of the brake lever and stick it in place:

Before you start wrapping the bars it's a good idea to cut an angle in the tape so that there won't be a big bump where the tape starts. This also ensures you won't have a bare spot on the bottom of the handlebars.

Now you can start wrapping. I like to start from the bottom and work my way to the top. It's a very good idea to wash your hands right before you start to avoid getting the tape dirty and contaminating the sticky backside of the tape.

 

It's also very important to keep tension on the tape the entire time that you are wrapping it around the bars. If you wrap it too loose then the tape will shift around and unravel. Try to overlap the tape by the same amount for a neat professional look:

Now comes the tricky part. Once you get to the curved section of the bars you have to overlap the tape much more. This is to prevent a gap from showing on the outside of the curve. When I get to the brake lever I like to just continue wrapping around the extra piece to make it look like it's a continuous part of the tape:

Again, the tape must be pulled tight around the curves because this is the most likely place for it to shift around. It's a good idea to check for gaps on the outside part of the curves now since you can still easily retape it. Once you get to the end you should cut another bevel into the tape:

After that you just need to pull the tape nice and tight and secure it with lots of electrical tape (or finishing tape if it came with your kit). Here's the completed result: