Man, this stuff was like Wolber rims and Selle Italia Turbos back in the 80's - every other manufacturer OEM'd it in their mid-high end road lineups. Of course, the Cinelli cork wrap was and is still the wrap of choice, but Bike Ribbon was a great economical alternative.
Sadly though, somewhere along the line the 'formula' changed. I recently purchased a couple rolls of white (what else?) and was disappointed. Most notably, the "perforations" down the center of the tape were gone. I remember spending way more time than I needed to when I used to re-wrap my bars to make sure all the little holes lined up; and visually, the look of the perforations gave the handlebars a bit more 'pop'.
The new stuff (I'm guessing it's new since it sure ain't like the Bike Ribbon I remember) is also much stiffer and has a definite plasticky feel once wrapped on the bars. The old Bike Ribbon was lightly padded, soft, supple and felt good - plus it was easy to wrap. The new stuff is hard and stiff, doesn't stretch as well, and displeasingly bulky around the brake hoods. And instead of chrome plugs, it comes with black plastic plugs with a faux carbon fiber look.
Maybe there's two version of Bike Ribbon, but I can't seem to find the 'old' style anywhere.
Back in the early 00's, there was a seller on eBay who offered something like 6 rolls of "Padded white handlebar tape" for a reasonable price. It looked and felt just like the old Bike Ribbon (even with perforations!) but without the chrome plugs and finishing tape. Sadly, my stash is all gone now save enough for one more bike which will be my '87 Allez project. If anyone knows where I can get the old stuff again, I'd be much obliged if you let me know.
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