Some tips for wrapping with tressorex and tressostar tape ...
1. Start at the top of the bars. This has the advantage that you needn't use any sticky tape to secure the cloth at the top of the bars. This has the disadvantage that the tape will overlap in such a way on the tops/curves that it's subject to fraying.
Fraying is minimal with tightly wrapped sticky-backed cloth. It's much more of a concern with plastic or cork tapes, where one cut in the tape can start some unraveling.
2. One tressorex/star box per bar, 2 boxes to do a set of 38cm bars. The tape doesn't stretch much, so you need to control overlap.
3. Start with about 30-40% overlap for each wrap around a 38cm bar. What this means is that about 60-80% of the tops will be covered by 2 layers of tape. A 50% overlap will BARELY work, but the tape will be very thin on the drops.
For 40-42-44 cm bars, you may want to use slightly less tape per wrap.
When you get past the brake levers, estimate the remaining tape and you can use much less overlap, i.e. as little as 10% overlap per wrap (20% overall) when finishing the drops on the bars.
This assumes that you are on the tops more than the drops. If your riding style is different, wrap more tape on the parts of the bars where you ride the most.
don't be afraid to unwrap and re-wrap the bars if you run out of tape too early.
You don't want to unwrap past the brake levers, however, so don't waste too much tape on the tops.
4. Trim off excess tape before stuffing it into the handlebar plugs. If you trim with the scissors perpendicular to the bar ends (i.e. so the scissor blades are parallel with the cut that ends your bars), it's easy to wrap about 3mm of tape around the sharp ends of the bars and inside the bars, so you can see no aluminum when looking at the bar-ends, anywhere.
In other words, by pulling tightly and trimming properly, the tape can completely wrap around the sharp corners of the bar-end, which in theory would make a bar plug redundant or non-functional (just aesthetic).
Most bar plugs and also suntour barcons do not mind if there is one layer of cloth tape going inside the bars.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA