Velox Tressostar Cloth Bar Tape

I actually use this instead of electrical tape to finish off a bar wrap on a couple bikes. Used it on my wife's road bike, she loves it. It's lasted longer than expected, about a year of twice a month short rides, still looks good.
Does not provide any padding, of course.

Pros: Looks great, economical, classic looks.

Cons: No padding, but that's not why people buy this tape.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: November 30, 2012
Reviewed by: Daniel G., California

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Practical and useful

I bought some cloth tape because I tend to use it on various parts of the bike. I wrap my bar ends with it so they are not so slippery when they are wet. I've used it as a chainstay wrap. I've used it as base layer handlebar wrap.

Pros: Good to have in the garage for temporary fixes. Good cost and the wrap holds up well over time.

Cons: None for my use. A little thin for a bar wrap, in my opinion...

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: September 12, 2012
Reviewed by: Paul S., PDX

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BAR tape? Too many other uses to waste on just bars!

I use this for almost everything BUT bar tape. It's under the headlight mount, the battery mount, the computer mount, the wheel magnet detector mount, chain-stay,...

Pros: Low price, thin, adhering, doesn't slip.

Cons: 2 meter length. I run out of roll before I run out of uses.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: January 03, 2012
Reviewed by: Jonathan B., Massachusetts

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Nothing beats the look of cloth tape. Great for any kind of classy build. Not much cushioning though, so you may want to double up or wear gloves.

Pros: looks great

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: October 20, 2011
Reviewed by: Matthew J., Oregon

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Nice tape. I actually use this as additional padding over my mtb grips. It works well to prevent damage of existing grips when I crash or get careless. When that does happen, it's cheap to re-tape. Comes in lots of colors too!

Pros: Cheap, sticky.

Cons: None - good product.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: August 24, 2011
Reviewed by: David M., Maryland

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Personally my favorite bar tape. Relatively easy to apply, thin/firm feel with lots of grip, and durable. If you don't like a lot of padding in your bars/gloves... this tape is for you!

Pros: No padding, good grip, durable!

Cons: If you like padding, this is not for you. Some say it is rough on the hands (e.g. getting something similar to carpet burn when sprinting). I personally haven't had any problems and ride them without gloves.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: July 18, 2011
Reviewed by: Dustin R., California

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I love that tressostar is still available! If you haven't tried cloth bar tape before, I highly recommended it. Always, always, always shellack cloth tape, pre-mixed hsellack is available in most hardware stores. Looks truly excellent shellacked and secured with hemp twine. Will last longer than the bike it's on if done correctly. Some find it more comfortable than others, not particularly comfy without gloves

Pros: Beautiful, long lasting, comfy to me

Cons: Some find it uncomfortable, difficult to remove once shellacked

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: May 12, 2011
Reviewed by: Ian G., Washington

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Nice stuff, classic look, forgiving to apply

I used four rolls of Tressostar on my first attempt at covering an Origin8 Gary bar with a diamond (harlequin) wrap pattern. I liked the medium-stickiness of the adhesive and the workability of the cloth. It's not so much stretchy as it is "bendy," if that makes sense.

Since it was my first attempt at the harlequin style wrap, there was a lot of wrapping and unwrapping of the tape in order to get it right. this tape can and will stick to itself in all sorts of vexing ways, but pulling it back apart isn't too big of a deal. I was going around brake levers, too, which made it even more of a challenge. A word on length. If you're doing the harlequin wrap and using four rolls of this stuff, there's no harm in stealing 6-8 inches off the roll to make some pieces to do the brake levers, you'll still have enough tape at the end to tuck into the bar ends.

If you are considering this, I'm sure you know what you are getting into in terms of padding (not much) and durability (bombproof with shellac over it). I coated mine with seven coats of zinsser clear shellac and it takes on a patina and feel of worn in leather, very nice. I also got my cables all sorted early on and pre-wrapped the whole bar with white athletic tape. I can't recommend this enough- it adds a little meat to the bars and makes wrapping and seeing what you are doing that much easier.

Pros: Easy wrapping, looks super-cool, feels nice in my hands. Stickiness of adhesive is firm but not so crazy you can't undo it if you have to to fix a wrapping mistake.


Cons: Not much padding, but you know that already, right?

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: May 11, 2011
Reviewed by: Matthew B., Vermont

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Cloth tape has some shortcomings (it doesn't stretch as much as cork tape, and once you've shellacked it it loses all of that, and the padding it provides it basically nil) but, if you ride barehanded (or with non-padded gloves) the grip is fantastic.

Tressostar tape is particularly nice because the adhesive on the back is sticky enough to hold, but not sticky enough to make the tape tear if you remove it. I put a couple of rolls of this tape onto a pair of handlebars that didn't end up working out for me, and when it came time to remove those bars I was able to salvage the tape so I could use it on my next set of experimental handlebars.

Pros: good color choices, good adhesive, terrific grip

Cons: the rolls are somewhat short, so really wide handlebars will want three rolls of tape to be completely covered.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: March 31, 2011
Reviewed by: David P., Oregon

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I've used the black one not as a grip tape but rather to secure cable housing onto one of my recumbent's handlebar. It certainly looks a lot classier than electrical tape and can be made to conform to contours almost as well as synthetic handlebar tape.

Pros: Classy and light

Cons: Not very sticky, needs to be wrapped around itself before you can start applying any tension.
I noticed on other bikes that it gets discolored after a while, not sure if it's washed out by water or UV exposure.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: December 17, 2010
Reviewed by: Julien M., San Francisco / Paris

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I used this tape to wrap the chainstay and top tube of my cross bike. It worked well and held up to constant chain bashing. Because its cloth, it did absorb dirt and grease and I might try something else in the future. For the money, its pretty good though.

Pros: Cheap, is great protection for chainstays

Cons: Absorbs grease and mud.

Would Buy Again: No
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: December 05, 2010
Reviewed by: Brian K., Oregon

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Tressostar

Just the thing for your old school build. As others have said, it doesn't really give any padding by itself. For really wide bars, you might need three rolls. This is kind of a hassle.

Pros: Nice feel, lots of color choices.

Cons: No padding, too short.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: No

Reviewed on: November 28, 2010
Reviewed by: Eric D., Ohio

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Old-school but rugged material to cover your handlebar. Just shellac it well - I also put a few layers of hemp twine underneath to have a nice, beefy handlebar - and it will resist everything.

Pros: Strong, practial


Cons: Could be cheaper, if it cost $4 I'd give 5 starts.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: November 01, 2010
Reviewed by: Krisztian K., Takoma Park, MD

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Harlqueine wrap

Stick with dark colors if you work on your own bike. Eventually you're going to touch your chain or something filthy and mess up your tape.

Pros: Price, nice grip.
You can do fancy braided wraps, and it doesn't tear like cork tape when you install it.

Cons: looks terrible after a few months if you don't shellac or otherwise coat it.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: October 01, 2010
Reviewed by: Sean Y., Washington

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i love this stuff.

very cheap, and "old school"...has slight sticky backing, but not too sticky which is great for getting anal with your bar tapping.

i will say, very little padding. but that is something i like about it.

versatile, i like using it as end tape for other bar wrap....use electrical tape to tape the ends in place, then this stuff on top of that for a nicer look.

another great thing about cloth tape, and for me is mandatory: get some shellac from the hardware store, and paint a few coats on. not only does it cement the tape in place so it wont unravel (yet still allows you to remove) it makes it waterproof and adds a nice patina ie, will turn a red into a nice maroon. warning though: shellac might seep thru cloth tape and turn your bars the cloth color. dosn't matter though since your bars are always taped!

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: September 15, 2010
Reviewed by: Daniel L., California

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I have used this tape for many bar wraps. I usually use a shellac finish to waterproof the tape and make it more durable after wrapping. It does hold up fine without a finish it just soaks up water, fades, and it looks worn in more quickly. Cloth tape is a great look for an old classy bike, but it adds very little padding. I use padded gloves for long rides. You definitely will need two rolls if you plan to wrap a full bar.

Pros: looks good, classic, nice texture

Cons: wears and fades quickly when it gets wet, no padding.

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: September 03, 2010
Reviewed by: JJA, Oregon

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i really like this stuff. it lasts long too. i recommend a darker color if you live in warmer climates because sweaty hands can discolor them. but this stuff is great -- cheap and reliable. you can also do things like weave two in different directions to get a harlequin pattern (a quick search and you can find the directions). since this tape is not really padded compared to some of the cork tapes out there, you tend to feel the road, which can be good or bad depending on your perspective.

Pros: inexpensive, attractive

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: September 02, 2010
Reviewed by: peter e., Texas

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