Double wrapping bars. Any reason not to?

Just curious really but my bar tape looks a bit shabby and I suffer numb hands on long rides some times, so I was considering just wrapping the new tape over the old.

Any downsides I haven’t thought about? 🤔

I’ve double wrapped for the fatter, comfort grip before.  No problems at all.

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id be concerned about the second layer being able to shift about on the first

weight

Leaving the original on also means you can’t wash the bars and get rid of all the salty cr*p that is under them, which will not do your bars any good especially if aluminium.

weight

😂

Leaving the original on also means you can’t wash the bars and get rid of all the salty cr*p that is under them, which will not do your bars any good especially if aluminium.

Hmmm…the existing (original) tape is 4.5 years old. I’ve never known (or heard of…) this. Is bars failing due to sweat induced corrosion a thing??

I put lengthways sections on old tape under specific contact points to try and damp the vibrations a bit, I didn’t like silly fat double wrapped tape when I tried it. Same principle as those gel pads you can buy, but free cos you’ve just pulled 2m of otherwise useless bar tape off.

Also I do find some tapes are just comfier than others.

Is bars failing due to sweat induced corrosion a thing??

Absolutely. Worse on bikes used on turbo trainers.

Worse on bikes used on turbo trainers.

Oops. I’ve got another bike that has been  permanently attached to my turbo for at least 4.5 years that I’ve never replaced the tape. (This older bike was reduced to turbo duties when I got my other road bike above.)

Yuk!

Hmmm…the existing (original) tape is 4.5 years old. I’ve never known (or heard of…) this. Is bars failing due to sweat induced corrosion a thing??

Ewww. 🤢
You skanky git! All that sweat and snot/sweat-soaked gloves sitting against it and it’s 4.5 years old?! I change my tape every year and it gets regular cleaning with antibacterial wipes.

Part of the reason the current stuff feels bad is because it’s old so it’s lost all cushioning. Pull it off and I bet the bars underneath will be minging as well. Clean it all up (and you might as well replace the cables while the front end is undone) then fit good quality new tape. If you want to improve comfort a bit, put an offcut of bar tape lengthwise along the bar on the tops and where your hand meets the bar when riding in the drops. You can also buy elastomer / gel pads in various thicknesses for this as well; Specialized used to sell “Roubaix” bar tape with extra padding. I used them on my CX bike for a while.

Bikes used on turbo trainers really suffer from this but here’s what can happen if sweat etc is left to seep through the tape:

Or, if you really want to add some cushioning put some old school foam grips on, and then tape over that. Means removing the STIs but if your taking off the cables anyway…  Just make sure you mark/note the position of them on the bars.

In my defence, the turbo bike has beer towels over the bars to soak up any sweat and are washed regularly!

Specialized Bar Phat is one reason not to double tape.

I ran two layers – blue and yellow offset slightly so double thickness but showing both colours. I really liked it, lots of cushioning. Never came unwrapped. Gave the bike away but would certainly do the same again.

It might end up too fat and not really solve the problem but no reason not to try, our hands are all different sizes.  I used to use gel strips under my tape to get a bit more comfortable but in the end the solution was a slightly fatter bar tape.  There probably isn’t one solution for everyone.  Only downside is paying for two sets of bar tape of you ever come to changing it

Unless you’ve got very small hands there’s no real reason not to. I’ve done it for the last 20 years at least on all my drop bar bikes.

I like those gel pads you can get that go under your bars – they only go along the top though so it’s not too bulky but you get nice cushioning.