Cool. I like my bar tape low key as well, but i also appreciate the nod to marginal gains with the logo.

On the tape thickness topic... why not just do a tighter wrap of the solid version if you dislike the logo but want more diameter/padding? Mind you, for marginal gains aero reasons, I have that choice because i do not tape the tops of my road bike bars (too much time in the tops and you are losing!!!).

At the moment i am using Tessa tape on my road bike. Basically a very light wiring harness tape that has zero padding, but feels damn soft on the hands. Starts to get fuzzy quickly, but three rolls is 5$ or so. Saves me a key 60g on my weight weenie road bike. And with everything being carbon, i have yet to miss the padding. Mind you, it is a bit skinny in the sprints, but i am usually more focused on the feeling that i am about to pop anyway...

I only glanced at the blog, but in a gp4000s2 style, i am thinking the patterns in the tape will help promote airflow attachment.

I am a big fan of the marginal gains concept.

Heck, i just got a silca digital pump... and the body is an airfoil!!! Maybe a nod to past ventures... and maybe to make it harder to blow over on a windy day. Love the details.

We got a bunch of Supacaz tape in the shop I help at and it looked cool. Our mechanic wrapped a customers bars and mentioned it did not stretch so was a bit more work, but I got to say, it is really awesome! Amazing tacky feel with cushion.....I'm getting one on my machines for sure.

Even Benotto Celotape is $15-20 (on eBay). I remember when it was $3 a roll.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Does the white stay white ? I don’t know how but some brands do much better at staying white than others.

Yes, the outer ply of the tape is a non-foamed TPU which is essentially non-porous, so nothing to hold the dirt. A SILCA gear wipe will make even year old tape white again, and because TPU is 5-10x more durable than most foams, you should get a lot more life out of it than previous generations of tape.

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http://www.SILCA.cc
Check out my podcast, inside stories from more than 20 years of product and tech innovation from inside the Pro Peloton and Pro Triathlon worlds!
http://www.marginalgainspodcast.cc

Maybe someone asked it already but how slippery is the tape when wet or drenched in sweat?

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blog

Stevej, Yes, with the TPU we can tune it in about 1000+ ways. The tape when dry is quite sticky/tacky and has ~90% of dry grip when wet/sweaty compared to with ~30-60% for most self skinning foam tapes (and ~10-15% for cello tape for all you Benotto lovers out there!!)

Thanks
J

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http://www.SILCA.cc
Check out my podcast, inside stories from more than 20 years of product and tech innovation from inside the Pro Peloton and Pro Triathlon worlds!
http://www.marginalgainspodcast.cc

I'm convinced from our testing that it isn't the thickness but rather the damping and losses associated that are the problem. Cello tape and cotton both give you a super connected feeling to the bike, but the direct vibration transfer can be a problem. Sort of like running barefoot.. it can/will work for some people, but those will be very few.

Our initial hypothesis was that just like with new low damping/high rebound foams in running shoes, you can get away with a thinner/lighter tape that still had that 'planted' feeling while also offering good wet/dry grip. The result is a tape that has fast enough spring back that it can absorb ~1mm amplitude vibrations up to a couple of hz frequency, and it's those vibrations which can prove to be extremely fatiguing to the body as a whole.

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http://www.SILCA.cc
Check out my podcast, inside stories from more than 20 years of product and tech innovation from inside the Pro Peloton and Pro Triathlon worlds!
http://www.marginalgainspodcast.cc

Any plans to make aerobar pads from this kind of foam?

Not by us, but I would imagine the companies that have molds in place to make aerobar pads must be considering it.

The foam is easily 2-3x the cost of EVA and other existing foams, but at the same time, I know from previous experience that the foam is a fraction of the pad price compared to the velcro and some of the other elements. Also unsure about the difficulties of laminating or 'facing' the foam with fabric.. so I'll leave that to somebody else to figure out as well!!

BryanD had asked the same question, and it is a good one, in theory, having a more optimized foam in the interface between rider and bike can only be a good thing for both comfort and efficiency.

Josh

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http://www.SILCA.cc
Check out my podcast, inside stories from more than 20 years of product and tech innovation from inside the Pro Peloton and Pro Triathlon worlds!
http://www.marginalgainspodcast.cc

Josh

As a Silca poster boy from way back, I think what you are doing and the tech you are pushing out is absolutely fantastic. You have done an amazing job....

Now about tape. Having just heard your latest podcast on contact points and tape in particular, here are my thoughts....

I think that the thickness is dependent on the application... (duh !). I agree with your thoughts on normal drops about thin tape. But for one of my specific applications - aero extensions on my track pursuit bike, I like it a bit different. I want thicker - larger diameter bars - that are not necessarily 'cushy', but 'firm' and big enough that i can get a good handful. I don't have a death grip, but I've found that if I try and get that same firm grip on the stock aero extensions ( small diameter) I really get hand fatigue, and they tend to 'flop around' a lot.

So, I will be ordering the thicker tape shortly !

Dbeitel

Thanks Dbeitel,

You make great points which are interesting to consider. I think the reality of the contact points discussions are that our understanding is still evolving and honestly we probably actually know very little about a lot of this.

We saw this during our research, smaller, larger, size relative to hand size? All questions that seem to have very personal and varied answers.. same thing with firmness of the foams as well as the stickiness of the top coating in the tape.

This makes for some of the most frustrating data because so much of what you get is related to opinion that can't really be broken down much further than 'doesn't feel good to me' or 'I don't like it' or sometimes even worse, when somebody really likes something you get 'it's just right' with so many follow up questions being answered something like "it just is..'

Anyway, will be interested to hear your thoughts
J

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http://www.SILCA.cc
Check out my podcast, inside stories from more than 20 years of product and tech innovation from inside the Pro Peloton and Pro Triathlon worlds!
http://www.marginalgainspodcast.cc

I got my Red Nastro Piloti tape on Monday! It looks awesome and it's super sticky feeling. The real test will be with sweat on my hands. I'll install it this weekend and take some photos.

BikeRumor is covering the tape https://bikerumor.com/...ith-nastro-bar-tape/

and Silca also has a sale going on! https://silca.cc/collections/sample-sale

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Wrapped my aerobars with the new Silca tape. First ride was on Tuesday. I really like the tape. I used Zipp CX tape before and it was too thick but the grip was better than Lizard Skins. I used the Max grip and the race car tire look is really cool. The tape was tacky, felt great, and looks nice. I'll be curious how it performs with really sweaty hands or rain but so far I like it. Have you bought any yet? I think this tape is better than Lizard Skins.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Hey Josh,

Who is the registered rep/importer to Canada? Also when you ship direct internationally do you use USPS?

Fed ex and UPS or anything shipping via private courier is painful and full of hidden fees/brokerage....to the point where I don’t buy anything from the US unless it’s USPS shipped.

Thanks,
Maurice

Maurice,
Where in Canada are you located? I can help find you a shop if you'd like, or if you prefer, we do only use USPS to Canada from our website as we understand the challenges with the other carriers!!

Best
Josh

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http://www.SILCA.cc
Check out my podcast, inside stories from more than 20 years of product and tech innovation from inside the Pro Peloton and Pro Triathlon worlds!
http://www.marginalgainspodcast.cc

Thanks for posting that! That helped me save $10 on a multi-tool that I needed anyway.