I’m starting to get the hang of doing the diamond pattern bar wrap.  I think the key is just doing about 10 bars to practice.  The last two went so well, I didn’t even have to look up the instructions (http://www.wastedlife.org/bike/harlequin/index.html).  First time for everything.  So…  There were two bars to get done.

I recently replaced the B115s on my Hilsen with some 41cm Noodles.   I wanted to give ’em a second chance, as I found I like a narrower road (drop) bar.  I chose my standard green and yellow tape as it gives good contrast.  Here’s a pic post wrap:

Clean cotton bar tape

I like the Nitto bar end accents!  I rode the bar this way with no comfort issues for a 20 mile commute.  Now onto the shellacking!  Here’s the bar after three coats of amber.  It should dull up a bit after being used/doused.

Post Shellac

OK – one down.  Now on to the Hunqapillar.  I did a bit of adjustment to the brakes to lower them a bit.  It’s always a good idea to ride the bike for a few miles before you tape it.  Especially when you do the coatings that will pretty much make your setup permanent for a while.  I had adjusted the bar angle on a couple of my commutes last week to get it just right, and had to bring the brake levers down a bit to compensate.  I wanted a similar them with the diamond pattern on the main flats, so I went with the red and yellow, and planned to use amber to darken up the red to get a similar color to the kidney bean red of the Hunqa.

Pattern Close-Up

You can just see the mahogany sykes fenders I put on this weekend.  Like!  I will do a write up on these in a future post after I ride them through a rain storm.  Here are some more views of the moustache bars, also with three coats of the amber on ’em.

Showing the Whole Bar

I used red twine to wrap the tape ends on the inside of the bar.  It was a good match for the tape, and is almost invisible.  The harlequin pattern is started with a rolled edge that makes twine (or electrical tape) unnecessary on the bar end by the shifters.  It’s very clean.

More Diamonds

Nice to have this wrapped up – now I can get on to riding the heck out of this beast.  The big bag/basket, fenders, and double kickstand added a few pounds to this bike, but it’s ready for some serious off-road camping, and heavy commuting now.  Can’t wait for the first S24O!!