At 06:57 PM 15/05/2007 -0700, Mark Fulton wrote:
>Since 1948 i've been wrapping my handlebars from the stem out.
I bet that's the way we all started wrapping bars because it's so simple and easy. I did that too in the 1950s. I only learned in the eighties that starting at the ends and finishing by the stem was the "proper" way and discovered why the tape would sometimes develop gaps because I'd been doing it wrong. It's because when starting at the stem, your hands press against the exposed edge when above the brake levers. Of course, we would stretch the old plastic tape pretty tight and this seldom happened. The newer, softer tapes relied more on their adhesive strips and didn't have to be stretched as tight.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada