Tressoplast Cloth Tape

Tom Nakashima said:

Anyone still use it?
I'm going to be taping a handlebar with it, I can't remember if
there's a dressing to put over? Trying to recall if you shellac
over the cloth or leave it dry? Or other dressings?
-tom

I used Tressoplast for several years - "as is". The shellac thing
seems an affect, IMO, right up there with twine and beeswax.

Tom Nakashima said:

Anyone still use it?
I'm going to be taping a handlebar with it, I can't remember if
there's a dressing to put over? Trying to recall if you shellac
over the cloth or leave it dry? Or other dressings?
-tom

Dry is fine. I used to like to start at the plug and wrap up towards
the stem, which keeps the overlapping bits from curling if you like to
ride the curve before the levers.

After about two weeks, discard and replace with cork tape.
Alternately, shellac the cloth tape and develop a hip slouch.

landotter said:

Tom Nakashima said:

Anyone still use it?
I'm going to be taping a handlebar with it, I can't remember if
there's a dressing to put over? Trying to recall if you shellac
over the cloth or leave it dry? Or other dressings?
-tom

Dry is fine. I used to like to start at the plug and wrap up towards
the stem, which keeps the overlapping bits from curling if you like to
ride the curve before the levers.

After about two weeks, discard and replace with cork tape.
Alternately, shellac the cloth tape and develop a hip slouch.

Geez, if ya only get two weeks outta cloth tape, how long does cork
last? 72hrs?

"landotter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Tom Nakashima said:

Anyone still use it?
I'm going to be taping a handlebar with it, I can't remember if
there's a dressing to put over? Trying to recall if you shellac
over the cloth or leave it dry? Or other dressings?
-tom

Dry is fine. I used to like to start at the plug and wrap up towards
the stem, which keeps the overlapping bits from curling if you like to
ride the curve before the levers.

After about two weeks, discard and replace with cork tape.
Alternately, shellac the cloth tape and develop a hip slouch.

Yes, I'll be taping a dropped bar, but "track style" the lower section.
I thought of starting mid bar and working down to the plug. But may
reconsider because of the overlaps if put on dry. That was the reason
for asking about dressings.
-tom

landotter said:

Tom Nakashima said:

Anyone still use it?
I'm going to be taping a handlebar with it, I can't remember if
there's a dressing to put over? Trying to recall if you shellac
over the cloth or leave it dry? Or other dressings?
-tom

Dry is fine. I used to like to start at the plug and wrap up towards
the stem, which keeps the overlapping bits from curling if you like to
ride the curve before the levers.

After about two weeks, discard and replace with cork tape.
Alternately, shellac the cloth tape and develop a hip slouch.

I put some used cork tape on my commuter, then wrapped over it with some
cateye cloth (it's what the LBS had). The idea was to get something a
bit soft but durable; also the cork tape was torn in a few spots and
needed a bit of "support". Alas, the Cateye tape never was terribly
durable, and it's worn through at my usual hand positions. I may try to
get some Tressostar (?different from Tressoplast?) to replace the Cateye
with; IIRC the Tressostar wore like iron (seemed to turn /into/ iron
after a few weeks).

Mark

Ozark Bicycle said:

landotter said:

On Dec 12, 10:47 am, "Tom Nakashima" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Anyone still use it?
I'm going to be taping a handlebar with it, I can't remember if
there's a dressing to put over? Trying to recall if you shellac
over the cloth or leave it dry? Or other dressings?
-tom

Quoted message said:

Dry is fine. I used to like to start at the plug and wrap up towards
the stem, which keeps the overlapping bits from curling if you like to
ride the curve before the levers.

Quoted message said:

After about two weeks, discard and replace with cork tape.
Alternately, shellac the cloth tape and develop a hip slouch.

Geez, if ya only get two weeks outta cloth tape, how long does cork
last? 72hrs?

Nah, it'd just take me two weeks to get sick of it. But hey, it's a
step up from the crapola that was/is Benotto Cello.

I like the generic $4 closed cell black stuff from Nashbar. I replace
it yearly, with a bit of the old tape in the insides of curves to make
things super comfy.

Cloth tape is for ankles and squash rackets.

Tom Nakashima said:

Anyone still use it?
I'm going to be taping a handlebar with it, I can't remember if
there's a dressing to put over? Trying to recall if you shellac
over the cloth or leave it dry? Or other dressings?

Green is a discontinued color at Velox.

Cloth wraps from bottom to top, either simply ending (it's
adhesive-backed) or with a trim tape. Natural cotton is considered a
great handlebar medium itself without 'gilded lily' coatings.

p.s. Older Velox weave was easier to wrap without wrinkles. Today's
cotton tape is tough to get wrapped evenly - pull laterally as you wrap.

Try not to drool all over your keyboard when viewing the 1975 Team
Peugeot here with fresh white cloth tape:
http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/

mmmm... Gold Spidel...
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

"A Muzi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Try not to drool all over your keyboard when viewing the 1975 Team Peugeot
here with fresh white cloth tape:
http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/
mmmm... Gold Spidel...
--
Andrew Muzi

No droolin for me!
In my younger days I used to enjoy viewing Concourse d-Elegance
bikes, even had a few, but got rid of them all. Today, I enjoy the "Rat
Bikes" I like them beat-up and ragged. I love the bikes that have paid
their dues on the road, they are fun to ride.
-tom

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:28:30 -0600, A Muzi <[email hidden]>
wrote:

[snip tape]

Quoted message said:

http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/

Dear Andrew,

Thanks!

Three pre-war bicycles.

1914 Thomann with flip-flop hub, massive "quick-release" butterflies
on the rear axle, a forward-facing dropout, tiny half-inch chain,and
those strange new cable-operated brakes, the rear brake presumably for
when the hub is flipped to the freewheel:

http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/article-191461.html

***

1907 Peugeot with a proper spoon brake, decent inch-pitch chain, a
rear-facing dropout, and the ever-handy rear hub oiler:

http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/article-191420.html

***

1903 Ondiana with a nice old frame bag, wooden ends on the moustache
handlebar, and another tiny-pitch chain, this one wrapped around a
curiously threaded hub. I can't recall seeing that much thread exposed
on an old hub, so I wonder if it was once an early gear-cluster design
(which preferred tiny-pitch chain) that the owner replaced for the
sake of simplicity.

http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/article-191415.html

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

A Muzi <[email hidden]> wrote:
[snip tape]

Quoted message said:

http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/

Quoted message said:

Three pre-war bicycles.

-snip-

Quoted message said:

1903 Ondiana with a nice old frame bag, wooden ends on the moustache
handlebar, and another tiny-pitch chain, this one wrapped around a
curiously threaded hub. I can't recall seeing that much thread exposed
on an old hub, so I wonder if it was once an early gear-cluster design
(which preferred tiny-pitch chain) that the owner replaced for the
sake of simplicity.
http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/article-191415.html

I am not an expert but if one screws a single freewheel onto a more
recent 4-5-6-7 speed freewheel hub (thirty or more anachronistic years
in between) it would look just like that.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Dec 12, 9:26 am, Mark <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I may try to
get some Tressostar (?different from Tressoplast?)

Tressostar is Velox's cloth tape. Tressoplast is Zefal's brand of the
same thing.

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:12:44 -0600, A Muzi <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A Muzi <[email hidden]> wrote:
[snip tape]

Quoted message said:

http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/

Quoted message said:

Three pre-war bicycles.

-snip-

Quoted message said:

1903 Ondiana with a nice old frame bag, wooden ends on the moustache
handlebar, and another tiny-pitch chain, this one wrapped around a
curiously threaded hub. I can't recall seeing that much thread exposed
on an old hub, so I wonder if it was once an early gear-cluster design
(which preferred tiny-pitch chain) that the owner replaced for the
sake of simplicity.
http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/article-191415.html

I am not an expert but if one screws a single freewheel onto a more
recent 4-5-6-7 speed freewheel hub (thirty or more anachronistic years
in between) it would look just like that.

Dear Andrew,

That could explain it--an old bike with old parts replaced with new
parts.

That hub kinda-sorta looks like aluminum, as do several other parts,
which would be a bit odd in such an old bike, though there were a
surprising number of aluminum parts floating around even earlier than
1903.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

"Hank Wirtz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Dec 12, 9:26 am, Mark <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I may try to
get some Tressostar (?different from Tressoplast?)

Tressostar is Velox's cloth tape. Tressoplast is Zefal's brand of the
same thing.

I believe it's Velox Tressorex
http://www.velox.fr/fr/index.php?art=5&th=22
-tom

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A Muzi <[email hidden]> wrote:
[snip tape]
> http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Three pre-war bicycles.

-snip-

Quoted message said:

1903 Ondiana with a nice old frame bag, wooden ends on the moustache
handlebar, and another tiny-pitch chain, this one wrapped around a
curiously threaded hub. I can't recall seeing that much thread exposed
on an old hub, so I wonder if it was once an early gear-cluster design
(which preferred tiny-pitch chain) that the owner replaced for the
sake of simplicity.
http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/article-191415.html

Quoted message said:

A Muzi said:

I am not an expert but if one screws a single freewheel onto a more
recent 4-5-6-7 speed freewheel hub (thirty or more anachronistic years
in between) it would look just like that.

Quoted message said:

That could explain it--an old bike with old parts replaced with new
parts.

That hub kinda-sorta looks like aluminum, as do several other parts,
which would be a bit odd in such an old bike, though there were a
surprising number of aluminum parts floating around even earlier than
1903.

The cap on the Washington Monument for example? It was horrendously
expensive, predating the modern electric furnace technique for smelting
aluminum which hadn't yet been developed.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:37:20 -0600, A Muzi <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> A Muzi <[email hidden]> wrote:
> [snip tape]
>> http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote:
> Three pre-war bicycles.
-snip-
> 1903 Ondiana with a nice old frame bag, wooden ends on the moustache
> handlebar, and another tiny-pitch chain, this one wrapped around a
> curiously threaded hub. I can't recall seeing that much thread exposed
> on an old hub, so I wonder if it was once an early gear-cluster design
> (which preferred tiny-pitch chain) that the owner replaced for the
> sake of simplicity.
> http://velosvintage.ultim-blog.com/article-191415.html

Quoted message said:

A Muzi said:

I am not an expert but if one screws a single freewheel onto a more
recent 4-5-6-7 speed freewheel hub (thirty or more anachronistic years
in between) it would look just like that.

Quoted message said:

That could explain it--an old bike with old parts replaced with new
parts.

That hub kinda-sorta looks like aluminum, as do several other parts,
which would be a bit odd in such an old bike, though there were a
surprising number of aluminum parts floating around even earlier than
1903.

The cap on the Washington Monument for example? It was horrendously
expensive, predating the modern electric furnace technique for smelting
aluminum which hadn't yet been developed.

Dear Andrew,

I used to think so and even used the same example.

But the pure aluminum cap cost only $256.10 in 1884, about the price
of three bicycles, for a one-offe 6.27 lb casting:

http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html

The complicated estimate for the original copper-aluminum cap was only
$50 (gold plated!) or $75 (for platinum plating).

http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9511/Binczewski-9511.html

A Scientific American article on 1896 aluminum rims will appear
shortly.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

French Polish -
An article on shellacking cloth handlebar tape:
http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2006/03/shellac-basics_22.html
Interesting, I didn't know you could mix your own from dry flakes.
-tom

Tom Nakashima said:

"Hank Wirtz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Dec 12, 9:26 am, Mark <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I may try to
get some Tressostar (?different from Tressoplast?)

Quoted message said:

Tressostar is Velox's cloth tape. Tressoplast is Zefal's brand of the
same thing.

I believe it's Velox Tressorexhttp://www.velox.fr/fr/index.php?art=5&th=22
-tom

Both are made by Velox.

I've never actually seen Tressorex before. I don't think they sell it
in the US.

Here's their description of Tressorex:
Rolls of woven cotton.

Here's the same site's description of Tressostar:
Reinforced cotton handlebar ribbon of superior quality.

I'd guess that the cloth tape market in the US is small enough that
there's no point in pitching your $2.50 roll against your $3 roll.

Andy - you sell NOS of both models, how do they compare?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Mark said:

I may try to
get some Tressostar (?different from Tressoplast?)

Quoted message said:

"Hank Wirtz" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Tressostar is Velox's cloth tape. Tressoplast is Zefal's brand of the
same thing.

Tom Nakashima said:

I believe it's Velox Tressorex
http://www.velox.fr/fr/index.php?art=5&th=22

Tressostar and Tressorex are Velox products.
Tressoplast was their competitor; acquired by Zéfal.

There were several cotton tape vendors each with products at multiple
quality levels at one time (Gaslo, Chimiplast, Dissoplast, etc).
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

landotter said:

On Dec 12, 11:06 am, Ozark Bicycle

Quoted message said:

On Dec 12, 11:02 am, landotter <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Dec 12, 10:47 am, "Tom Nakashima" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Anyone still use it?
> I'm going to be taping a handlebar with it, I can't remember if
> there's a dressing to put over? Trying to recall if you shellac
> over the cloth or leave it dry? Or other dressings?
> -tom

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Dry is fine. I used to like to start at the plug and wrap up towards
the stem, which keeps the overlapping bits from curling if you like to
ride the curve before the levers.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

After about two weeks, discard and replace with cork tape.
Alternately, shellac the cloth tape and develop a hip slouch.

Quoted message said:

Geez, if ya only get two weeks outta cloth tape, how long does cork
last? 72hrs?

Nah, it'd just take me two weeks to get sick of it. But hey, it's a
step up from the crapola that was/is Benotto Cello.

Au contraire! The Benotto Celo tape was uber-groovy. You could do
blinding effects with it: http://masiguy.blogspot.com/2005/08/i-just-love-this-stuff.html
-- not to mention the elusive checkered pattern (mastered by a select
few). It came in a zillion colors, too.

I used this stuff for a few years until I realized that it was
dangerously slippery when wet (not a concern when I lived in
California -- but a major concern in Oregon). I switched back to
Tressostar -- and then the various post-cloth products. I wouldn't
use it on a bet today. -- Jay Beattie.