Try, Try Again

    Several years ago I sampled a product by Selle Italia called "SmooTape". I had described the failed experience with this bar tape as a "good idea gone bad", when I couldn't find a neat way to finish off the bars, and the puffiness of the material just didn't look right on a quality racing bicycle.
   A recent customer contacted me recently about purchasing a modern, lightweight bicycle for his wife, and we lucked out to find a 2008 Orbea Onix Dama, in fantastic condition and at a great price! The carbon fiber bike came equipped with an excellent mix of Campagnolo Record and Chorus components. Unfortunately, the existing pink Lizard Skins bar tape that complimented the bike nicely was unfortunately quite worn. Not wanting to wait a week for delivery of new tape ordered online, I visited a local shop to see what they had in stock.
   With the previous SmooTape debacle clear in my memory, I was understandably hesitant to purchase another round of frustration, but the color matched perfectly with the bike, unlike the "hot pink" shades that were the only other alternative on the store's shelves. Luckily the cutaway in the box allowed me to feel the SmooTape, and it seemed to be a thinner ribbon, which now had a synthetic leather finish. I decided that I should give it another shot.
   I am not usually a person who uses the tape tuck technique in which you force the overhang of tape into the bar end with the plug. I like to wrap the first course of tape flush with the bar end and then angle the tape in successive passes around the bar. It was clear that I would have to go with the tuck, otherwise the profile of the SmooTape was going to leave a large, 
unsightly bulb at the end of the bars.
   I had no problem with the wrapping of the bars, and I was careful to push all the edges of the overhang piece under the plug before tapping it in neatly with a rubber mallet. I was very happy with the look, and my customer was excited to pick up the wonderful bicycle the next afternoon.

   A couple days earlier, I had visited my friend Bruce and his impressive new digs at Victus Sports. He has really gone "big time" with the company, creating custom baseball bats for many Major League Baseball stars, such as Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Fernando Tatis, Jr. I recently saw an ESPN.com feature on my talented friend and his bat artistry, and joked with my cycling friends that "I knew him when."

   Bruce had done his usually wonderful job matching up colors, both the pearl white on the Merckx Corsa I was building for a customer and the midnight blue on my brother-in-law's Ciocc "World '77" (I'll be sharing photos of that bike in a few weeks). I also dropped off the Merckx Alu Team frame for painting while I was there, and Bruce assured me that he could match up paint for the Pogliaghi frameset that Brendan recently gave me. I have to do a little prep work on that one before he can do his magic.

   I'll say good-bye with photos of the 1989 Merckx Corsa in Domex-Weinmann team colors. I assembled the bicycle with Campagnolo Chorus gruppo and a 3T bar/stem combination.