Track drops with grips on the tops and not in the drops, I’m going to kill someone.
fuckin stupid.
Half of me hates this because it looks stupid. The other half knows its because the person piloting that bike can only ride on the tops because it’s either the wrong size or that njs stem/bar is to deep and they cant use the drops. That half hates it too.
I pretty much hate all drop bars (not on the track) that are not fully taped. But what the hell do I know…
Dude! The grips go where you hold the bars, like with your hands! Unless that guy is some kind of freakish ape he cant reach down to those drops! and why should he, fucking belt buckle digging into your gut and shit! the only crime I see is that there is a good inch un-gripped on either side of the stem! Talk about a safety hazard! grabbing where there is no grip while you talk on the phone…
what about grips just on the drops then?
or would you rather see bars with no tape/grips at all?
might I suggest a certain ‘far north’ governor with sexy glasses?
[quote=“JayNev”]what about grips just on the drops then?
or would you rather see bars with no tape/grips at all?[/quote] When you race you have to have your hands on the drops… Thats why you can use grips that just cover the drops…
[quote=“bradencbc”]Half of me hates this because it looks stupid. The other half knows its because the person piloting that bike can only ride on the tops because it’s either the wrong size or that njs stem/bar is to deep and they cant use the drops. That half hates it too.
I pretty much hate all drop bars (not on the track) that are not fully taped. But what the hell do I know…[/quote]
What do you think about the tape job on the B123’s on the Anchor in my sig 
But yeah I find that bar tape up to atleast the shoulders (out of preference, I like to keep the hand position near the stem naked on all my bars), not having a ridiculous bar-to-saddle drop and knowing the technique to ride them (e.g., don’t accelerate/sprint with your hands on the tops of the bars) is what makes track drops ridable/fun in the city. Can’t much stand them for anything over 25 miles though.
Controversial.
[quote=“bradencbc”]Half of me hates this because it looks stupid. The other half knows its because the person piloting that bike can only ride on the tops because it’s either the wrong size or that njs stem/bar is to deep and they cant use the drops. That half hates it too.
I pretty much hate all drop bars (not on the track) that are not fully taped. But what the hell do I know…[/quote]
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.
The way I see it, if you’re going to pretend to a be a tarck star with your half-taped deep, deep drops, and jag stem, do the bottom half, even if you spend 99% of your time on the tops. Nobody is going to believe you if you only have the tops taped/gripped, so why bother? And anyway, if you can’t reach your drops, but you’re too much of a douchebag to install some bullhorns/riser/flats or fully tape your bars, you don’t deserve comfortable hands.
Tarka… to me… still ugly. But that’s just my opinion.
Why not just tape to the taper at the top of the bar and be done with it? Looks much cleaner in my opinion.
I like it… But it is for sure a track specific tape job… But its also on a track bike, so it seems ok
This really is the biggest fixed gear faux-pas I can imagine. The only thing that’s worse is when it’s TAPE instead of grips.
That’s why I was kind of pleased when risers became de rigeur for fixed gear guys. You know, at least they stopped pretending that they needed anything other than the tops of the bars. I’ve been continually amused to see the fixed gear evolve into a comfort bike, in this way.
[quote=“Quinn8it”][quote=“JayNev”]what about grips just on the drops then?
or would you rather see bars with no tape/grips at all?[/quote] When you race you have to have your hands on the drops… Thats why you can use grips that just cover the drops…[/quote]
haha i know, but is that more acceptable to the OP then?
[quote=“JayNev”][quote=“Quinn8it”][quote=“JayNev”]what about grips just on the drops then?
or would you rather see bars with no tape/grips at all?[/quote] When you race you have to have your hands on the drops… Thats why you can use grips that just cover the drops…[/quote]
haha i know, but is that more acceptable to the OP then?[/quote]
At least they’re willing to suffer for their poseur-dom.
[quote=“ben”]
might I suggest a certain ‘far north’ governor with sexy glasses?[/quote]
So, I have my grips on the drops, like they’s apozed to be. However, I usually only ride the drops when sprinting and climbing hills, or long flats without stops where I can spin pretty fast (which is kind of the point, right?). Around town use, though, I’m on the tops/bends 80% of the time. I always wear gloves so I do have some cushion though. But since the shit looks tarck as fuck I ain’t gonna change. That said, I can understand having grips on the tops only. It’s not pretty, and a change of bars would be better, but it’s probably the most sensible for most people.
I am guilty of doing this in the past.
Now go kill someone.
How about just wrapping the damn things?
grips you can take on and off…to allow for more changability, and with tape you cant really?
[quote=“bradencbc”]Tarka… to me… still ugly. But that’s just my opinion.
Why not just tape to the taper at the top of the bar and be done with it? Looks much cleaner in my opinion.[/quote]
Well, atleast with my latest tape job using Fizik tape on B123AA’s, I ran out of tape right around the end of the shoulder (like how I did the Anchor one) due to how close I overlapped the tap. I like it well enough though.
[quote=“Quinn8it”][quote=“tarckatina”]
What do you think about the tape job on the B123’s on the Anchor in my sig 
[/quote]
I like it… But it is for sure a track specific tape job… But its also on a track bike, so it seems ok[/quote]
Word. It rides fine on the street as well. I use that shoulder hand position where the tape ends and it works out fine - w/o tape it’s slippery and uncomfortable but with some grippy tape it’s nice when you’re going at a constant speed.
Me too. I don’t mind seeing risers though I don’t like them myself but I do get irritated for some reason when they’re on track ready bikes like FTP’s, Concepts, et al. Even worse if that Tri Spoke is there…
It’s all about investing in a few quill stems and just leaving the bars permanently bonded to them 