Tomorrow will see me gird my loins and stride manfully shedwards, cup of tea in hand, to start putting together my commuter. All seems pretty much as per MTB, other than these here strange drop bars, STIs and bar tape.

I’ve just about managed to get the STIs to go on the bars – after wresting with the hoods and using what felt like unnecessary force – but I’m now faced with weird cable routing, inline barrel adjusters (full length cable routing on the frame) and bar tape.

STIs are 105s, so it seems I have a choice of both cables on one side of the bars or one each side. I have no idea which is best. And how to get the bar tape on and staying on rather than unravelling on the first ride?

Any suggestions, hints, tips or links appreciated.

There’ll be some videos on youtube that’ll show you how to do the cables and bar tape.

what he said…keep tape tension high and even, make sure teh adhesive bit in teh centre is in contact with the bars as you go.

As for cable routing, do whatever is more comfy (cables on inside IMO) and tape it down to hold it while you do the bar tape.

One cable at the front and one at the rear makes the bar more aerodynamic.

i like the cables front and down; bout 5oclock.

tape is easy watch some videos for the twist at the hoods.

bar position & levers position takes a bit more time ime.

Sort out the cable length.
Decide where you are having your inline adjusters.
(Although there is one at the rear mech, so you don’t need one there, and I don’t have one on my front mech so you don’t need one there either)
Set the top of the bars in line with the stem angle (provided you’ve got a flat stem; if you haven’t got a flat stem, make it so)
Then put the flat bit of the shifters in line with the inline stem and bars.

Sit on it to check it out.

Decide it feels a bit wierd and different to your mountain bike, but embrace the difference and stop whinging.

Then run the front brake cable along the front edge of the bars, making sure that the cable is long enough to deal with the bars being turned from side to side.

Tape this cable in place with a single wrap of insulating tape at three points; where it comes out of the lever and bends with the bar, half way between the straight bit of the bar and stem, and about 1cm before your bar tape is about to end.

Repeat for the rear brake cable. You will need more slack in the rear because of how the cable runs.

Gear cables; run the rear derailleur cable along the back edge of the bar, and secure with 3 bits of tape; at the bend, in the middle, and 1cm short of the end of the bar tape.

Take time to make sure the length is ok.

I’ve run the gear cables like this on mine; I put the right hand, rear derailleur cable into the left hand stop on the frame, and vice versa with the front/left cable to get a better cable run.

Pics to follow..

Put a layer of old bar tape or foam or anything along the top of the bars from the shifters to just short of the proposed end of the bar tape for extra padding.
Then tape em up.

Sorry, rushed photos, teatime..

I hate running cables along the back of the flat section of the bar unless its got a groove, i run the shifter cable out and then under the bar at the bend, so it wraps round to the front and sits under/next-to the brake cable.

Are the 105 shifters the latest version or older ones,if its the older ones then the brake cable is left exposed(not wrapped).
What bars are you using, my personal preference is for aero ones which have a flatter section across the middle which gives a flatter platform to rest your hands and also I prefer the way any cables can be routed underneath.

Regards wrapping the bars ,leave you bar tape on a hot radiator until the last minute as it makes the tape more pliable and easy to wrap.

Many thanks all, esp. Crikey for the details and piccies.

Bars are Easton EA70 Ergos, bar tape Easton too. Shifters are new 105s, so both cables get wrapped … keep thinking it’d be easier to have gone for older style levers with the gear cables exposed.

Will see what You Tube has to offer too.

Park tools website has a good article on doing handlebar tape.

I wrap my bars from bottom to top (i.e. where bartape will end) with inside-out electrical tape. Do it tight and it doesn’t slip. Bartape then grips like s–t to a blanket and, when you swap bartape, you don’t have to get the residue off your bars.

As for round the STIs, watche the vids. I favour not using the little piece of tape they give you.

On my CX bike, I wrap like pro bikes and don’t bother hiding the gap.

A good tip is to not tighten your STI’s fully to the bars. Just make sure they don’t move under your weight.

If you come of the STI will have a bit of give and will hopefully reduce damage to them.

My tip would be if taping black tape on black bars make sure you do it in good light not a dimly lit garage otherwise you may get a disappointing surprise when you check it the next morning in daylight :p
I would go one cable in front one behind the bars so you create a flatish top once taped, I’m pretty cack-handed and the only thing I struggled with was taping around the lever without creating too much of a bulge, various techniques out there are well documented though, oh and have the finishing electrical tape ready to hand .

I’d set up the bars without any bar tape and run them like that for a week or so until you are happy with STi position. you’ll be wearing gloves anyway. Then tape once happy.
My 1st attempt at taping bars went ok…but after a week or two all started looking a bit poor. Will leave as they are and re-tape in the spring