Forum menu
Road bike looking scruffy and needs new bar tape. Looking for something comfy and durable, anything better than Lizard Skins?
I bought some Silca in a sale. Pretty pleased with it so far. Very comfortable.
That BBB gravel tape is great.
I'm a real big fan of Lizard Skins DSP and have been using it on a number of bikes for 15 years or more, but the tape on my road bike currently looks pretty scruffy just inboard of the shifter hoods and it's only been on around 18 months. I'm swithering about trying something different for a change.
Recently bought some of this (not at that price though)
have had two rides with it on and impressions so far are good, seems tough, hands don’t slip and it’s quite thick / padded so not uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination
Recently bought some of this (had a voucher so not at that price)
have had two rides with it on and impressions so far are good, seems tough, hands don’t slip and it’s quite thick / padded so not uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination
Love Supacaz. Been ace.
Can’t go wrong with Cinelli gel. I’m just sad they don’t make the orange I like any more in gel
I've heard good things about Ergon and I think that's what I'll try next, but I don't have first hand experience
As with scotroutes I’m a big lizardskins DSP fan, however I put supacaz on one bike recently and am pretty impressed so far..
I’ve had Lizard Skins and SuperCaz. Prefer the latter. My SuperSix came with a tape similar to the BBB gravel and I really rate it. I replaced a damaged side with Kenesis 4 seasons which seems identical and my gravel bike has the BBB tape which also seems the same, I’d not be surprised if all 3 are the same tape under different brands. It has a nice knurled pattern and a matte finish, it’s easy to wrap and looks good. The Kinesis had better plugs included than the BBB.
Another SuperCaz fan here.
SuperCaz fan here
almost all our roadie club use it too
Supacaz for me too. I like the Lizard Skin tape for feel and looks, but in wears in really short order, which given the price is kind of disappointing. That's on my gravel bike. I have Fizik Bond Cush, or something, on my road bike, because I like the colour and texture/feel, but it's defo less wear resistant than the Supacaz.
Somewhere downstair there's a roll of Enve tape in waiting, but the bloody Supacaz refuses to wear out 🙂
Supacaz fan here as well.
I'm going to buck the trend and say Fizik microcush suede stuff. Every time I try something else, I end up back with this. Plenty of cushioning, good grip, ok in the wet too.
Fabric are on par with lizard skins...and actually Rapha
Ergon going on on Friday. I'll report back.
But this is for a gravelly roady gravel bike
Supacaz is OK, mostly popular for variety of wild designs it comes in, but it's reasonably nice to use and a lot easier to wrap than Lizard Skins!
Got some Prologo One Touch Gel tape on my road bike right now, not as flashy as Supacaz but it's grippier and nice and tactile stuff.
Absolute favourite bar tape is Zipp Service Course though... Not at all flashy, but lovely to wrap, even nicer to hold, and they do a textured CX tape too for those who want a bit more grip (got this on my Gravel bike right now).
Any bar tape IS better than lizard skins. Mine lasted one ride before the gloves wore off the top layer. Supercaz has been the best I’ve used, Fizik is also very good. But I’ll never buy lizard skins again. Fabric silicone was another very poor performer.
And I always wear gloves or mitts because I have palmar psoriasis.
Another Fizik fan, bought a job lot a few years ago in a bankruptcy sale, still ploughing my way through it (last two rolls ready to go!)
We must have used different lizard skin dsp tape. I found mine wore out in a couple of rides.
supacaz cush is fairly expensive, but I found lasts very well and is sticky.
I tried using some enve stuff last time but found it very average. Kinesis Jo burt tape looks mega, but is in reality a cheap tape. smamine elite bar tape can be very cheap and punches above its price, but they use a silly sticky backing which makes it hard to re-wrap or remove
Last few wraps have been Silca Piloti, like most of their stuff very nice but £££
I have some Supacaz to try next
I really like the Prologo Onetouch stuff - it's got a really nice feel. I often find the Lizardskins and Supacaz stuff feels a bit greasy with bare hands. I'm also a fan of the really cheap Deda bar tape that is ubiquitous in most shops...for like £7 it works super well and is really comfy.
Weirdly I wore out both sets of Supacaz tape I've had in less than 800km each. It was so bad I remember emailing the distributor about it (and it follows I bought it from a real shop, not the fake Chinese version of which there is loads on eBay). Lizard Skins I also remember wearing quickly, although not quite as bad as Supacaz.
Plus one for cheap Deda, although I've got some fancy Fizik Microtex Vento stuff at the moment. Can't comment on longevity as it's only a few rides olld.
I like the Supacaz for ride feel but if you need to unwrap it to replace cables, the sticky portion rips away from the tape. Not a fan of Lizard Skins for feel and wrapping. My favourite for feel, longevity, wrapping and re wrapping is Bontrager gel cork
I've used it, but stopped because it wears out so quickly. I have good old Cinelli cork tape on my road bikes now.
I either have sandpaper for hands, particularly corrosive sweat, or fidget too much on the bars. But nothing lasts well for me and so paying £30 for bar tape is just ridiculous.
£10 Decathlon gravel tape is comfy any available locally. Can't comment on durability yet but IME 2-layer tapes with PU outers tend to wear through or the edges curl up, so we'll see.
Just bulk ordered several rolls (2 in every color) of the £5 selle-italia tape from banana industries. I presume it'll be the same fairly generic EVA/cork mix as most tapes but £5/roll it'll last long enough and I can just change it before big rides.
I either have sandpaper for hands, particularly corrosive sweat, or fidget too much on the bars. But nothing lasts well for me and so paying £30 for bar tape is just ridiculous.
£10 Decathlon gravel tape is comfy any available locally. Can't comment on durability yet but IME 2-layer tapes with PU outers tend to wear through or the edges curl up, so we'll see.
Just bulk ordered several rolls (2 in every color) of the £5 selle-italia tape from banana industries. I presume it'll be the same fairly generic EVA/cork mix as most tapes but £5/roll it'll last long enough and I can just change it before big rides. 6 rolls of fresh £5 tape will always be better than trying to eek out a bit more value from £30 tape.