Salsa Gel Cork Tape - Natural Tan

comfortable quality bar tape

I put these on (in march 2013) a custom commuter/tourer/all-rounder bike I built. It was the most comfortable bar tape I've tried so far. I used them for 5000km before I made some changes to my brakes and shifting; at which point I replaced the it with new salsa gel cork tape (august 2016). They still had life in them, but I figured I'd replace them at this time.

Details: For reference, the bike has ritchey wcs evo curve 44cm drop bars, road bike levers, cross brake levers (the ones near the stem), and room for a light and an odometer. I wrapped them myself; I've only wrapped a few bars before these. I think I only rewrapped each side once in 5000km due to the tape separating enough that some of the bar showed through. After the rewrap, only one side was showing some bar between its tape by the time I replaced them. I wrapped them fairly compact without pulling too tight. This may have made them more comfortable than they could be - I just had them replaced with the same salsa gel cork tape installed by a skilled mechanic, and they seem thinner and less comfortable. I think he may have wrapped them tighter and stretched them thinner unless salsa has modified their product. The way I wrapped them, I had just enough tape to cover what I needed. For added comfort and less chance of tape separation, I'd be happy to have a bit longer tape. I'd say they were twice as comfortable for me as standard thin tape. Overall I'm very happy with this tape.

Pros: comfortable, 5000km+ life for me

Cons: could be a little longer for perfection

Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes

Reviewed on: August 25, 2016
Reviewed by: aku a.

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