Best Handlebar Tape?



earlrise

New Member
Jun 22, 2014
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Looking for black handlebar tape, needs to retain grip in the wet.
What's the best out there?
Cheers
 
Yeah, Fizik is nice for both grip and shock absorbing. Some of the cork/polymer blends are pretty good for sweat-soaked hands, but I haven't tried them out in rain.
 
That's going to be a personal preference question. I like the Performance Soft Touch tape, but maybe the Tacky would work best for you in the wet conditions. Whether you would go with the 2 MM Superlight thickness or 3 MM Performance will depend on preference, hand size, style of riding, road conditions, etc.

The 2 MM stuff is best (IMO) if you are going to double-wrap your bars.
 
After a decade of nothing but Cinelli cork have just switched to Lizard Skins DSP 2.5mm. A little pricey but the bike it's sitting on wasn't too cheap either. Both have good grip when wet.
 
I much preferred the old Benotto tape - I really don't care for any of the padded tapes. Cinelli is my favorite although the next time I might try the thinnest version of LizardSkins.

Black is practical - but Bob, for once, is right. White is the way to go.
 
Originally Posted by swampy1970
I much preferred the old Benotto tape - I really don't care for any of the padded tapes. Cinelli is my favorite although the next time I might try the thinnest version of LizardSkins.

Black is practical - but Bob, for once, is right. White is the way to go.
Benotto! Loved that stuff, especially because one could run white and it never got dirty, compared to white cloth which looked like a coal miners overalls after one ride, and virtually impossible to clean. I seem to remember it being slick as an ice rink in the wet though.
 
Quote by Dan:
"I seem to remember it being slick as an ice rink in the wet though."

My only memories of Benotto are:

1. It came on cheap bikes. Schwinn applied it by the mile.

2. After re-mounting from a crash, the severity of the wreck could be assessed by estimating the number of feet of Benotto tape streaming in the wind.

The cotton stuff was the debil. Even the black looked filthy after a few rides and the edges frayed easily, leaving short lengths of strings and stubs sticking out from the bars and sticking to your gloves.
 

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