Origin8 Pro Cork Handlebar Tape

It's "made with real cork" but that's apparently specks of cork mixed in with the dense foam rubber. No matter, that's what I was expecting, and this is decent tape. It wraps well. You can give it a good stretch to mold to the bar curve and levers without tearing the tape. It's much easier to use than actual cork. I used extra double-sided tape on parts of the bars to keep it solidly in place, since all tape will try to loosen up on you. I couldn't do a traditional "figure-8" around the levers due to the thickness of this tape, so I used the included small sections to cover the brake lever bands and just wrapped past the levers. I did not use the included end plugs. They're sized to work if you roll the tape into the bars. I prefer to cut the tape at an angle so it's flush, and use expanding plugs. I also did not use the included pieces of finishing tape, but instead used some white Scotch 35 tape to match my white brake cables. It looks great and gives a very cushioned feel to the bars. I don't know how long it will last, but at the price, I don't mind rewrapping the bars now and again.

It's been a looong time since I've wrapped a set of handlebars....with Benotto Cellotape maybe....so this was a relearning experience. I've bought some other Origin8 products in the past and bar tape is bar tape..right? Nicely packaged including not only the expected bar-ends but also two short strips of bar tape for under the hoods should you choose not to figure-8 the tape. Nice touch. Tape has a single adhesive strip down the center (be careful removing the protection-it is possible to pull the adhesive strip off the tape if you're a little careless) and seemed plenty cushy. It's a cork product so I was a bit worried about how much tension I could apply while wrapping....not an issue. I was able to give it plenty of tension without tearing. I was wrapping the stoker bars on my tandem so it was pretty straight forward. Wraps nicely without puckering on the internal bends. The finishing tape strips (Origin8 logoed) don't work very well so I would recommend using simple black electrical tape-works great and does a better job conforming the wrap. "Feel" of the finished job was much plusher than I expected. Very comfortable. Next up the captain's bars...why should the stoker get all the comfort. Why white? I know it's going to get dirty really fast but with red metallic paint the tandem just screamed out for bright white bar tape....

This is really nice handlebar tape, with a nice flecked black look and pleasant sponginess. It was easy to apply and looks great on my bike. I like the cool finishing tape strips that are provided and they also give you extra tape pieces for around the brakes. The end caps work perfectly and look great. The adhesive has just the right stickiness and is easy to pull off and reapply if you need to. I had plenty of tape to do my handlebars and had to throw away a foot or two on each side.

Good wrap - didn't use it for a bike (as shows on the instructions) but for some crutches to soften the hand-grips. Worked well, but if I were wrapping handle bars, the instructions are a little light. It's pretty basic to do, but there are no instructions on how to do it WELL,,, just some images on the outside of the box. Starting the wrap is simple enough, but finishing it nicely could be tricky if you want it to look good. It comes with some tape to finish it off (and some butt ends for the handlebars) but I'm surprised that the tape is black, and isn't as wide as the cork. It would be nice if the color matched, if it were a little wider,,, or if they provided instructions that you should make a diagonal cut (or something) to finish it off nicely. For the crutches it worked well enough to pad the pressure on the hands and overall a good product, so 4 stars from me.

I've used this tape for several bikes, and I absolutely love it. It's comfortable, and the adhesive backing is both effective and forgiving, making the tape easy to install. The tape also holds up wonderfully. It comes with pre-cut strips for masking drop brake hoods, and there's plenty of tape for larger handlebars. All in all, you can spend more on tape, but you aren't going to get more for your money.

The Good. With a little stretch. It was Easy to install. Comfortable with Bare hands. No slip with sweaty hands The Bad . The Backing on the Adhesive would not come off.. and adhesive tape lifted off both Rolls.

This is great bar tape. Exactly what it said it was, and the color was very true to the pictures online. The bar ends that come with this are plastic, but much better quality than the cheap plastic chrome look alike bar ends. These are solid black bar plug ends and they match perfectly the origin8 finishing tape, which I personally though gave it a nice touch. It was a little tricky to get the adhesive backing off the first one, and I ended up tearing off some of the adhesive. But, I consider this user error, and not the fault of the manufacturer.

I tool my bike to a bike shop to get it installed professionally to make sure it was dont by someone with experience wrapping handlebars. They called and said the handlebar type broke as they were installing them and inform it was made of a really cheap and fragil material. I had to spend $25 for the service and purchase another one to replace this one.