What bar tape for gravel bike

Need to replace my bar tape

Not familiar with the various offerings out there* so other than looking at other online magazine’s suggestions any real world suggestions?

Have larger hands so possibly on the “more comfort” side of things. Not sure there’s much else to say. It’s a Sonder Camino with flared bars that I’m refreshing should that make a difference

*mountain bikes grips on the other hand, happy to talk all day (well…ish)

Big hands here, I like the 3.5mm ODI tape, feels a bit like Lizard skins DSP but lasts much longer.

Have run it on the gravel rig for a few years now.

Double tape here.

Lizard skins does the job.

Just put some Salsa bar tape on my gravel commuter. Feels a cut above previous tape in terms of quality, comes with two small off cuts to go behind the brifters and instead of a line of glue on the back it has a line of grippy rubber so it’s really easy to redo if you make a hash of wrapping first (or second) go.

Redshift for me, it comes in longer lengths than most so you can get more wraps in, and has a nice feel.

If you’re going to use it properly, something with a bit of waterproofing and dark so it won’t show the muck. Then double tape on the tops and to the hoods and don’t worry too much about the thickness on the drops.

There’s ways to tape the underlayer, you don’t actually need to double tape and can run lateral strips for example but I’ve just kept the old stuff that was on there for several re-overtapes.

Thanks, that’s useful as ever 👍

I’m using the Prime gravel comfort tape(iirc), it’s 3.5mm which is as thick as I could find and much more reasonably priced than anything else.

Zipp CX stuff is the nicest I’ve used. I don’t like overly tacky or cushy tapes, especially not for any potential off road use.

You could run some gel insert strips underneath in the right places for extra cushioning…

Clarks silicone tape is very nice

The cheap snazzy looking stuff  from Amazon lasted a month before being shredded.

The expensive Wolf Tooth spongy stuff was comfy, but tore quite easily. It’s held on by stretching rather than adhesive, so a nick soon turns into a big tear.

The best so far is Ergon Gravel bike tape – strong, comfy and durable. Mine has been on for over a year with very little wear or tear.

I used WTB dirt Drops on a mountain bike for years back in my 26” days. There was a rubbery Pre tape wrap you could get which even included extra rubber bulges for additional comfort. Somewhere ergonomic to rest the palms.
I still have the old Slingshot bike with the wrap on.
That rubbery pre tape wrap made riding off road a lot more comfy so I’d recommend trying to find similar. The included top wrap was neoprene. That helped too. No adhesive. Tape the ends. No problems with tearing.
Back in the road bike days I remember folk putting a couple of layers of inner tube under the top layer tape.

Since we’re here and it seems a similar use case, what about loop/H bars? I have a pair needing wrapped and might as well do it right, did fancy the Kinesis Jo Burt tape but if its no good for that application I wouldn’t want to waste my time.

Back in the road bike days I remember folk putting a couple of layers of inner tube under the top layer tape.

Yep, seen that done too.

Normally I’m a fan of supacaz. Lizard skins whilst comfy and grippy wears out about 10x faster so is a no go. This time I found some cadex AR stuff on offer which worked out much cheaper. it feels almost exactly the same but is 4mm thick and it’s extra long, so you can now wrap your 500mm wide flared gravel bars with ease!

gel pads and whatever normal tape you find grippy and durable