Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Brooks Cambium Cloth Bar Tape - Brooks should stick with saddles

I just got a package via DHL from Brooks with some Cambium Bar Tape in it.



I didn't order it, didn't pay for it, haven't said boo to Brooks in a long time. Maybe it's a belated gift for signing up for their Cambium C15 beta program many months ago? I dunno. But, I do appreciate that they're thinking of me. :)

Actually, I had been interested in trying this stuff just because I'm so fond of my Cambium saddles (I now have C17s on three different bikes), but was a bit hesitant due to the price tag. It's €45 in the Brooks store (about $50). As bar tape goes, that's not cheap.

Now that I see it in person, boy am I glad I didn't pay for it.

Basically what you get for your €45 is:
  • 2 rolls of pretty standard looking cotton tape, very similar to Newbaum's. 
  • 2 rolls of really plain/cheap looking black "cork" (aka foam) tape. 
  • 2 cool looking Brooks branded rubber bar end plugs. 
  • Italian looking packaging. 
There were no instructions, but I believe the idea is to first wrap with the black cork tape and then go over it with the cotton cloth tape.

I can buy Newbaum's at my LBS in just about any color I'd ever want for $5 per roll, and cheap cork tape is $10 for a full handlebar's worth. The plugs are cool, but I think of plugs as something you get for free when you buy tape. So, basically what you get is $20 worth of bar tape for $50. The fact that you can get it in a color that matches your Cambium saddle is kinda cool, but since it's cotton tape, I would expect that the color is going to fade out pretty quickly anyway, and then it won't match.

Never mind that the idea of wrapping cotton cloth tape over cork tape doesn't really work for me. Either I want cork or cotton, not both. Cloth over cork is going to be sort of bulbous and weird.

But, as I said, I appreciate that old man Brooks is thinking of me, and I owe it to them to at least give it a try. So, I think I'll use just the cloth on my Rawland Stag, since its black cork tape is starting to get a bit ratty anyway. The color they sent is the "natural" which matches the saddle on the Rawland and, well... that's cool.

I still love my Cambium saddles and in general I think Brooks is a very cool company (they did send me free stuff after all), but I think they sort of missed the mark on this Cambium bar tape. Because they are Brooks, I was expecting something unique and in some way superior to other options available. So far I'm not seeing it.

I'll be sure to report back if in the process of installing and using this stuff, I find that it has some magical properties that I'm not seeing at the moment.

4 comments:

  1. Hi
    Steve

    any photos of matching set :)
    I will say this have to be killer on classic bike :)

    Just fund you blog looking for opinion about c17 , ordered one all ready now looking for opinions - on line :)
    Every one saying that they are good for long distance so will try c17 Carved, my smp after 9h give me a new dimension of ass pain :)

    So Steve what the story with c17 after 3 years and what was the biggest time / distance that you manage on him ??

    regards
    Darius


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    Replies
    1. I'll try to get pictures up soon of the bike with matching bar tape and saddle. Unfortunately they don't really match at all since the saddle has a patina from lots of use.

      As for the C17 three years in... I now have C17s on all three of my bikes. I still find it to be the most comfortable saddle I've ever used.

      Longest ride? I rode PBP last summer with it. That was about 1240 km in a little over 70 hours. My butt was a little sore by the end, but that's to be expected.

      Delete
  2. WoW this is long ride , respect !!!

    Try my saddle yesterday, moving from smp where nose of saddle is down and you "gear" is free to move vs brooks flat saddle nose is strange but need time :)
    Few minutes ride to setup so far looks ok , will attack 6h ride maybe next weekend.

    regards Dariusz

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  3. about the tape , in Ireland is one race don't remember name but bikes are not allowed after 1995 / no carbon no fancy wheels , no spd pedals :) = old shool and real bikes - so this tape and brooks b17 saddle are perfect .
    Dariusz

    ReplyDelete