First off, I love them. They are super comfortable. What I am wondering is does anyone tape the bar ends on the basebar? I was out yesterday in the hot humid stank and my hands were really sweaty. I found I was having issues holding onto the bar ends. My hands were slipping all over the place and I think if I ever hit a big bump my hands would likely slip right off. So does anyone tape them?
i have a vision base bar and T2+ extenstions, and both have tape
.
I tape mine, it doesn’t take much.
jaretj
This is going to sound stupid but do you guys have some pictures to see how you taped them? My dilemma appears to be the base bar itself is so wide that I can’t just wrap the bar end without wrapping it up and down the aerobar itself.
Hard to explain.
Does this help?
Sort of. Mine are a LOT shorter than that. I got them second hand and now I have a feeling they were cut. I don’t have the part where it started to turn upward. I just have a small dinky end piece on either side.
Thanks again…not sure how I will tape this. 
Just stop sweating! Problem solved… 
When I wrap the base bar, I first lay down a could of strips of bar tape along the top surface, filling in the bend. When I wrap them, I end up with a little more cushion and more of a straight line in the area of the bend…much more comfortable on the hands.
Thanks. Problem is, there is no bend. It’s been cut off (I believe). It’s just a nub.
It looks like you were able to fit non-vision tech brake levers into the vision base bar, is that right? Was that difficult? I have seen a couple of things saying that no lever other than the vision tech lever will fit. Did you have to do anything to the base bar to get those levers on there?
That’s how mine are done too.
jaretj
I believe the only two options are the Vison lever or the Tektro Carbon lever…of course I went with the carbon. It wasn’t any harder than normal to install.
I was just about to make a new post on this topic, not that it’s breaking news or anything but in case anyone was ever searching for info in the future. I picked up a set of used VT bars and Tektro 5.0 levers recently. As you say, no other lever will fit in the VT bars. I’d say you’re probably right , unless you want to make some modifications So I got out the Dremel and did some grinding…
Before:
During:
Almost there…
Done!
I found a post in the archives where the poster mentioned merely “sanding some of the paint on the inside.” But on my bars, I definitely took out more than just a layer of paint. I also pinched in the “ears?” of the bare aluminum stopper on the Tektro lever, to reduce it’s external diameter just slightly. The final result was a snug fit, with no need for a rubber mallet to force the levers in. If you have any questions, let me know. Good luck.
Did you get the Alloy Base Bar or the Carbon Base Bar? Interested since I’m eyeing a completely new VT cockpit overhaul.
Alloy. I got it from a user on this forum though. From all the pics I have seen it doesn’t look anything close to all the other ones. So I suppose I am an anomaly.
Sounds like yours got hacked. Are the ends still painted (as in my first picture, more or less) or bare aluminum? You ought to be able to tell if they were sawed off…
Nope, you could see the alloy. Guess they were chopped. Funny thing is I prefer the look of them to normal ones.
I will see what I can come up with. May not be pretty.
Thanks folks.
Mark
I use my Dia-Comp 188’s, they fit just fine.
jaretj
Huhm, I never even tried tmy 188’s in the VT bar after I removed them from my old CarbonX. Based on all the research I’d done, I assumed the VT bar ends were SMALL and not that the Tektro 5.0s were too large. I stand corrected then, thanks!
Installed em over the winter. Tape is getting a wee bit dirty…as planned…and i love it.
