Harlequin How-To

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Brian Hanson

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Dec 28, 2012, 3:51:45 AM12/28/12
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I finally got the hang of getting a video set up on doing a diamond pattern bar wrap.  Have a look if you are interested in this style.  I would love your feedback on how to make this more helpful.


Brian
Seattle, WA

Andy Smitty Schmidt

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Dec 28, 2012, 11:24:53 AM12/28/12
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I've admired your (and other diamond wrapped bars). The video is great. Perhaps it's time to give it a try myself. --Smitty

Tony Lockhart

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Dec 28, 2012, 4:41:11 PM12/28/12
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Great video and excellent soundtrack! I really liked how you slowly started out the process, incorporated written directions, and then included a time-lapse section. It's nice to see the process as 5-6 diamonds are created.

I'm wondering if you ran into any issues while reaching the bends of the bars. When traditionally wrapping bars with cloth tape, I always seem to run into issues due to the lack of stretch in cloth tape.....not really a problem with Cinelli cork.


Now....if I could only decide which colors to use on my orange Sam!! I'm leaning towards a main gray with celery or light blue diamonds, but there are times where I'd like to be more adventuresome.


Thanks for posting this,
tony




On Friday, December 28, 2012 12:51:45 AM UTC-8, stonehog wrote:

Brian Hanson

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Dec 28, 2012, 5:33:51 PM12/28/12
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I use more muscle and inside overlap when going around curves.  I gave up doing the diamond pattern on the curves as it never looked quite right - they get squished.

Brian
Seattle, WA


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Alex Moll

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Dec 29, 2012, 12:59:16 AM12/29/12
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Awww - shucks! I was just gonna have you wrap my bars for me . . . 

GREAT video - I sorta get it, though it still seems a bit magical.

Thanks for doing that.

Cheers,
Alex

Brian Hanson

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Dec 29, 2012, 1:22:02 AM12/29/12
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I'll do a wrap if you make one of those cool bike stands for me :)

Brian
Seattle, WA


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Rob

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Dec 29, 2012, 4:38:45 PM12/29/12
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A few times with motorcycle stuff (back when I rode) we'd have get-togethers to do some specific thing that someone knew how to do, like adjust the valves on an airhead BMW, or install an accessory power socket. Everyone would bring their bikes and work on them together. We should do that with harlequin wraps! I'll volunteer my garage if Brian will demonstrate the mysterious technique. :)

Rob in Seattle

Brian Hanson

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Dec 29, 2012, 6:47:35 PM12/29/12
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I'm in :)

Brian
Seattle, WA


On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 1:38 PM, Rob <robh...@gmail.com> wrote:
A few times with motorcycle stuff (back when I rode) we'd have get-togethers to do some specific thing that someone knew how to do, like adjust the valves on an airhead BMW, or install an accessory power socket. Everyone would bring their bikes and work on them together. We should do that with harlequin wraps! I'll volunteer my garage if Brian will demonstrate the mysterious technique. :)

Rob in Seattle
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Alex Moll

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Dec 29, 2012, 11:20:47 PM12/29/12
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Great idea - I wouldn't miss that.

Rob

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Dec 30, 2012, 3:45:59 PM12/30/12
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Excellent! Guess I better get the garage cleaned up! :) 

I'm going to bail on my downtube shifter experiment, and the shellac over cork hasn't held up, so I'm ready for a change and I've been wanting to try a harlequin wrap since I saw Brian's beautiful bike two years ago. I've got cloth tape, and lots of amber shellac at the ready! (Seriously, I have shellac to share with anyone who wants some--I'll send y'all home with a jar full!) 

Pick a time Brian. I'm available pretty much any weekend day in January I believe.

Rob in Seattle

Stonehog

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Jan 11, 2013, 2:37:42 AM1/11/13
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How does the last weekend look for folks?  It would probably be Sunday the 27th?

Brian Hanson
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Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery

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Jan 11, 2013, 8:33:21 AM1/11/13
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It's been awhile since I did this, but I have some pointers for dealing with bends. Start in the middle of the bend and wrap in both directions from there. That means you'll have to unroll the tape and start a few feet in from the end. Cut the tape under the brake lever hood, and resume under the other side of the lever hood.

Alex Moll

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Jan 11, 2013, 10:11:24 PM1/11/13
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If it's in the afternoon, I can make it.
Alex

Rob

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Jan 21, 2013, 4:35:58 AM1/21/13
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Sunday the 27th sounds good to me!

Rob in Seattle

Paul Y

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Jan 21, 2013, 8:17:12 AM1/21/13
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Superb video! I'd really like to try this now. 
Added Newbaums to the shopping list... 

Does anyone use shellac on bars done with this type of wrap? 

Allingham II, Thomas J

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Jan 21, 2013, 9:55:23 AM1/21/13
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I did, and it works great.  Pic here (please excuse the poor harlequin effort –  I was making it up as I went along.  Anyway, the question was about shellac!).  http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/5645451069/in/set-72157626433454817  And the great thing about shellac – that you can reapply and make the bars look fresh without having to rewrap – works, if anything, even better with harlequin wraps.  This pic shows the bars after a reapplication, following a year’s accumulation of Philadelphia grime from a year of everyday commuting by my son.  Scrubbed off the dirt, a couple of new coats right over the old, and voila!  As good as new.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/5645451069/in/set-72157626433454817 

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William

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Jan 21, 2013, 12:13:14 PM1/21/13
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I agree this is really helpful. 

Brian, how many rolls did you need?  I'd guess you needed two rolls of Maroon.  Did you get away with only one roll of yellow? 

On Friday, December 28, 2012 12:51:45 AM UTC-8, stonehog wrote:

Allingham II, Thomas J

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Jan 21, 2013, 4:26:17 PM1/21/13
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Sorry, all.  Second link was bad.  For those interested, here’s the post-reshellacking.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/37542512@N04/7107219303/in/set-72157626433454817  

Brian Hanson

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Jan 21, 2013, 8:44:12 PM1/21/13
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One roll of yellow, and two rolls of maroon, although I had leftovers.  I always put 3 coats of shellac on these afterwards, BTW...

Brian
Seattle, WA


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RonaTD

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Jan 21, 2013, 9:10:36 PM1/21/13
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Sorry I'm a bit late to this thread. I did the writeup that was on the Riv site for a while. Others have really improved on my instructions.

One thing I discovered in the last couple of years. It's a lot easier, and I think cleaner, to do the tops and bottoms of the bars separately. I work from the end of the bar up to the brake lever, then from the top back down to the brake lever. It makes lining up the diamonds and dealing with the brake levers much, much easier.  It also eliminates the need for twine at the end, but hey, you can always put that on for show. 

In fact, I've started wrapping bars this way even when I'm doing a single color, standard wrap. You just want to make sure that you hit the brake lever from opposite directions, so one wrap goes up the inside and the other outside of the lever body.

Ted Durant
Milwaukee, WI, USA
(No, I didn't ride to work today. Single digit temps and lots of wind just didn't seem worth it.)
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