# Bar Tape on Sempre



## KM1.8T (Aug 11, 2007)

I am almost done with my Sempre build and trying decide on bar tape. I have not seen any photos with Celeste tape and most have white tape on the bars. Although white looks good when it is new, it quickly gets nasty and no longer white. Any thoughts on Black or Celeste?


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## clayton.cole23 (Feb 25, 2011)

for me, celeste lasts about 4-6months with good post ride wipe down (ride 5-7 times per week).


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## motorep (Mar 23, 2011)

Newbie here: What do you use to clean the tape? 

BTW, I have Celeste tape on my 1885. I think it looks great!


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

I use dishwashing soap.
Celeste tape with black hoods looks better than white tape with Celeste hoods, I think.


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## motorep (Mar 23, 2011)

kbwh said:


> I use dishwashing soap.
> Celeste tape with black hoods looks better than white tape with Celeste hoods, I think.


Agreed. That's my current setup.


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## pickled (Apr 28, 2011)

I've gone for white tape and black hoods on mine. Not arrived yet so I hope it looks ok!


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## adjtogo (Nov 18, 2006)

My Infinito came with white bar tape and black hoods. After a while, I agree, the white bar tape does get pretty dirty. I use Simply Pine with a toothbrush to clean my bar tape. It does a pretty good job, but I'm going to change out the tape to black tape with the celeste hoods. I think that looks better than what I have now. At least black tape hides the dirt much better than white. I'm going to do that next week when I get my new Shimano Ultegra 6700 pedals and Sidi 5 Mega Carbon shoes in. I'll have my LBS do it all at once with a minor tune up.


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## KM1.8T (Aug 11, 2007)

Thanks for the input, I will not let you know my choice and will surprise everyone with a couple of pictures. Looking forward to completing and getting out on the road.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

adjtogo said:


> I'll have my LBS do it all at once with a minor tune up.


Doing such things myself is a big part of the fun, but then again I built my bike up myself except for the steerer cutting and headset assembly.


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## KM1.8T (Aug 11, 2007)

Wrenching and building the bike yourself is very rewarding, I have also built several for friends to save them a few bucks and I also enjoy doing the work. I have not cut my Carbon steerer yet but have the tools to do it correctly, have done aluminum before but this will be my first carbon one. I would be done already building the bike but wife and kids come first and I also have several other bikes to ride.


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## Bobbin-Man (Oct 1, 2008)

My Mono-Q is white with celeste seat and bar tape, black hoods :thumbsup: 

How clean the tape stays can be down to the particular brand of tape - I fitted a celeste Fizik Arione with matching Fizik logo'd Microtex bar tape and it stays pretty clean because the tape's quite smooth. Even with the Microtex though there's a variety of different tapes - I have another bike I've done with black Microtex and it's quite a grippy tape - in white or celeste this would be grubby pretty quick!


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## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

Bobbin-Man said:


> My Mono-Q is white with celeste seat and bar tape, black hoods :thumbsup:
> 
> How clean the tape stays can be down to the particular brand of tape - I fitted a celeste Fizik Arione with matching Fizik logo'd Microtex bar tape and it stays pretty clean because the tape's quite smooth. Even with the Microtex though there's a variety of different tapes - I have another bike I've done with black Microtex and it's quite a grippy tape - in white or celeste this would be grubby pretty quick!


Yes, Microtex has been the cleanest-staying tape I've used in any colour, including white. 

I also have a couple rolls of the Celeste tape w/ Fizik logo. For the time being I have no plans on wrapping my bars with it (my Infinito is blue, current bartape is Fizik soft touch gray), but perhaps on future Bianchi's I'll use it.


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## KM1.8T (Aug 11, 2007)

Not a big fan of the soft touch Fizik tape but the shinney version holds up great.


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