I've been using leather on my bars for about 2 years now, here in Seattle, where it rains a lot. Although I don't leave my bike parked out in the rain. It doesn't seem to me like they take that long to dry either. I went to a leather supply store and purchased two belt "blanks" (pre-cut pieces used for making belts) of different colors, split them length wise and diamond weaved them. Cost was at most 1/2 of what Brooks Leather tape costs. I've never had a problem with them getting "gamey" or curling.
I do treat them from time to time with various oils and if they ever got nasty I'd try to saddle soap them before throwing it all out. I think there's a fine balance here for maintenance. If they stay wet for too long they will likely get moldy and they need an occasional oiling or they'll dry out. But, too much oil too often and they may get to soft, stretch and/or wear faster. All that said I really don't put anymore work into them then I do my Brooks Saddle. Someone blogged about my bags and bars just last week so you can see a pic here - http://tubulocity.com/?p=3244 I don't have any real close ups but you can also catch pics of the bars in my Flickr bicycle set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/neutralbuoyancy/sets/72157607896493013/ On Jan 3, 1:06 pm, AmiSingh <asd...@gmail.com> wrote: > Question for the group. > > It appears as though there is a general overall preference for using > cloth or cork handlebar wrap / grips rather than leather. > > Why is it so skewed away from leather, especially considering so many > of us try and have our handlebar cloth or cork resemble the leather > saddles on our bikes so closely? > > Why not just use leather bar wrap? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
