Tressostar

Bit of a stupid question....
I thinking of getting some tressostar cloth bar tape, for my sixties bike, it
currently is fitted with modern cork tape.
Basic question is do i just wind it tight, and fix it both ends, plug one end.
tape the other. Or do you glue It?.
Or am i barking up the wrong street, and there is something better to give
that sixties racer look?.
Mike.

Start at the plug end, overlap and finish by tapeing it at the stem end.

If you start at stem and plug it to finish, the trailing edge of the tape will be upwards and this will eventually roll over with your hands gripping it tightly.

I'd love to persuade you to buy Benotto tape from me but TBH, that's an 80s look. Cloth tape was certainly the 60s thang!

Cool if that was the thag.........
Thats the way, i do all my taping anyway, so that good.....
I was sure i remembered someone saying, that they laquered it or something!
sounded a messy job.

I was sure i remembered someone saying, that they laquered it or something

Click to expand...

Never heard of this. It was probably either....

Hair lacquer used on fitting grips

-or-

You misheard when they said that they'd hit a wall and knackered it!



In my cycling club in the 1960s, time triallists used Tressostar white and to protect this before the start, they wrapped a surgical crepe bandage around it. This fashion was actually started by King Alf, the God of the day!

I still wrap my off-road bar extensions in this ... black, of course.

It was shellac they used.

Shellac...........thats it..... Sounds a bit messy........

A bit of a problem, keeping white bar tape clean :cry: .

But if i use cloth tape, i could stick it in the washing machine. .

Thanks for the info guys.
Mike.

The packaging is just beautiful:






The tape is sticky, so no need to apply glue.

Thats the stuff I use, NOS is still around.

Cool guys.....
Just ordered some of the bay......Red for the novy
Blue for the new project.........

Mavesyn, your memory may have failed you here.

Shellac is basically a wood varnish that is made up from crystals mixed with methylated spirits. Track riders (especially sprinters) used to apply this to tubular rims in the 1960/1970 era.

This was a lengthy process where about 3-4 coats were applied to the rim and 2-3 coats to the cotton cloth at the base of the tubular tyre. Each coat had to dry before the next and when complete, a final coat was put on the rim and the tub fitted, seated and pumped up.

Fitting this correctly made it almost impossible to roll the tub on any banking, even with Chris Hoy-type power (but of course, in those days, it would be Pierre Trentin or Daniel Morelon).

TBH, I've never heard of it being applied to handlebar tape. It would crack, slip and look revolting, as it was a mid/dark brown when applied.