Mel,

I noticed in the Tahoe interview footage, you were wrapping bar tape on your handlebars. Is there any particular reason you use tape instead of the regular rubber grips? I had not seen that done before with a mountain bike and wondered if it was more comfortable.

Thanks.

Chris

Two reasons for the road tape on my bars rather than grips.

The first reason is that I like skinny grips so I have good reach to the brake levers (one finger braking, thanks Shimano) so road tape tends to be quite skinny but still cushions my hands. This is good for us girls with smaller hands.

The second reason is the cork road tape tends to be less slippery than rubber grips... or at least that is what I think.

At the end of the day, it is a habit I have gotten into since my mtb days that I have no intention of breaking. Now that I am with Profile I have tons of choices in bar tape colors so now my tape can be a fashion statement.

How often do you have to re-tape?

Depends on how often you ride in reallly gross mud. It stands up incredibly well to dust and bike washing.

I think I changed the tape twice last season. I ride my mtb about 2x per week at home, I would have more rides when I am on the road. You only need about half a roll at a time

That being said, grips are good too. I ride with Titec lock-on grips on my freeride bike so the road tape is just for my XC bikes.