New Handlebar

@creadinger 14636 wrote:

#1 – Is the flexing solely due to the handlebars or could it also be the stem?

What’s on it? My Cross Pro has a 31.6 Ritchey WCS bar, and while I’m nowhere near your size I loved the bars enough to put them on several other bikes.

@creadinger 14660 wrote:

It’s a Ritchey 26mm handlebar. Mine is a 2005. Yours must be newer. I wonder if the difference maker here is the 31.8 vs 26mm tube? Otherwise why would they have made them larger? I’m gonna have to go to my local shop to ask some questions and put my hands on some bars. I think a wider bar will make a nice difference too.

Yeah, mine was (sold it recently) a 2010 Cross Pro, Given your size I’d agree that you probably need something wider with a bit more strength to it based on what you have. Bigger bar will necessitate a new stem, but I doubt you have to buy toward the top of the price range to get something stout. 7 years makes a difference in technology for sure.

Taping the bars isn’t extremely difficult.

Start by unwinding the tape you’ve got. See how it winds around and goes around the brake levers. That can help with the re-installation process.

Before I start taping, I make sure that I use a little electrical tape to hold the cables in the right place under the tape. It will be covered by the tape, so do 2 or 3 rounds of electrical tape in 1 or 2 places to make sure it doesn’t move around while you’re taping.

Just take your time and be even with how you overlap. If you’ve got tape that has a narrow adhesive strip in the middle (which most do these days), the tape overlaps so that most of the time the adhesive sticks to the handlebar, rather than the bar tape. When you go around a curve, the adhesive will stick to the tape on the inside of the curve and that’s okay.

I’d also add that most of what holds the tape in place is tension. You should stretch the tape a little bit as you wind it around. At first it seems like having 3 or 4 hands would help the process, but actually it can be easily done with just 2. If you need to stop and let go of the unused end of the tape, it is okay. When you start winding again, back up half a turn to get the stretch of the tape even.

I have some bars to tape in the next week or so. If I get time to do it before you get your bars and stem, I’ll make a video of the process for you.

Good luck.

Pete

First make sure they’re the correct screws. If they are, loosen the screws completely. The shifter bodies should then separate from the clamps, and you’ll be able to see why they’re stuck to the handlebar.

I’m reviving an old thread, but creadinger, did you ever get this figured out?

I had my bike in for routine maintenance last week and the mechanic noted the bar tape was chewed up and asked if I wanted it replaced. I said yes, but I guess they forgot to do it because it was the same ratty bar tape when I picked it up. I figured it was an omen that the time has come for me to learn this basic bike maintenance task. Now it is beginning to unravel and I suspect I must address this issue sooner rather than later.

So, my plan is as follows, how does it sound? Buy bar tape, watch a few Youtube videos a couple dozen times and have a bottle of wine at the ready. Am I forgetting something?

Thanks.

Liz