Its funny what some folks will stick on their handlebars. I, myself, am guilty of using a little electrical tape or duct tape here and there to keep the original handlebar tape attached to the handlebars temporarily (read up to 5 years) when a tear, rip, or other failure occurs. The nicest handlebar tape I ever had was an ex-girlfriend who worked in a bike shop put on my first bike. I bought the bike, a
Univega Sportour-S, from her bike shop, The Peddler in Long Branch, NJ, in 1985. She put a nice two-tone blue and white tape that lasted until a couple of years ago. I replaced it in 2004/5 with the blue Forte' Classic Cork Tape from Performance. At the same time I replaced the handlebar tape on my road bike with the black Forte' Classic Cork Tape from Performance. I must admit that I like the feel of the cork tape. It is soft and supple while also quite resistant to ripping and tearing. I like black because it shows the least amount of stains (read sweat) as compared to white, blue, green, red, etc. Plus, if your bars happen to be black or carbon, a little gap or tear will only be known by you. Also, the most readily available color of electrical tape is black. ;-)
