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Advice on wrapping bars

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rollfaster

Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
Is it best to clamp the levers over the new tape or should I wrap the tape over the clamp? Just trying to get some input on what might look best for this bike. Will be using black cotton tape. Thanks a bunch!
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I believe that the tape could rap under the lever side of the clamp with a wide or non-overlapping turn or wrap.
I recall how non-symmetrical it would look compared to a friend’s bike. He said that he cut a small piece of tape placed underneath the wide turn or wrap to make a more symmetrical looking “X”. I thought that it was so ingenious and then my friend said that it was written in the instructions that came with the vinyl tape.
 
I always mounted the levers first, so that the clamp is able to bite into the handlebar.
Then as stated above. Cut a small length of tape, and place it over the back of the clamp.
Then start your wrap at the bottom of the bar, so that the overlap lays in the direction that your hands manipulate the bar.
This seems counter intuitive, but if you start at the top, your hands with roll the edges of the tape over time, since the predominant direction of force is down towards the drops.
It’ll make sense once you’ve ridden it for awhile.
Make the X when wrapping around the lever. This is where that little backing piece comes in handy.
Then continue the wrap all the way to the top, and secure the end with your favorite piece of good quality adhesive tape.
The good old Red White & Blue stripes, was always a favorite of mine.
 
You can also start at the top and wrap in the right direction. You will definitely want to use an extra piece of tape to cover the lever mount if the lever doesn't have a hood, but you should be able to maintain the wrap direction around the lever, then you can use bar end plugs to hold the dead end of the tape. Without a hood, you'll need a good length of extra tape as you'll want to wrap around the bar, cover the lever, then wrap around the bar on the bottom (or top, I'm not sure how much it matters, just the opposite side you started from). Do this before wrapping the bars themselves. If you start at the bar end, you'll need something to secure the dead end near the stem. I like to use twine with that, but most people use tape. I've done both ways and I just go by which method fits which bike. My more modern road bike started at the top to keep it clean looking, but the old bikes start at the bottom and are secured with twine.
 
Levers on 1st then wrap tape. Start at top and go down. No wrapping around the levers.
They didn't wrap all fancy on the bikes in the 30's and 40's.
I learned that way in Schwinn School.
 
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