Vel Snake Tape

Vel's Snake handlebar tape is a decent performer for not a lot of money. It's easy to fit and even with minimal padding it offers plenty of comfort, although it could do with being a bit more grippy against sweaty hands.

• Pro: Enough stretch for easy fitment, soft to the touch
• Cons: Slippery when wet

Unless it's cold I rarely wear gloves or mitts on the bike, so I like a good bar tape. I want comfort but for that to come more from the material used than the padding; I'm not a big fan of a bulky handlebar.

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The Snake is a good compromise in that respect with its rubber type texture deforming enough for a soft feeling without being very thick. It has a much nicer feel to it than something like the similarly priced Pro Microfibre tape or a traditional cork offering.

The material, which Vel describes as a Dura polymer, has a nice stretchiness to aid fitting. To get around the tight bends of the handlebar and around the brake/gear shifter unit you need a little bit of give to get a nice tight wrap without it snapping. You don't get any creases in the tape at the bend either.

Grip levels are fine in the dry, but in the recent hot weather I did have a few slippages from sweaty palms if I hit a rough section of road. Even though the Snake has a pattern to it, it is still basically a smooth, firm finish and I've had the same grip issues with other other similar tapes.

Wearing gloves sorted this out and in the rain too, so if you're a mitts wearer it's not really an issue, although I'd still say the tape could do with a little bit more tackiness, like the Supacaz Kush tape that I have fitted to my bikes, though admittedly the Kush is over double the price.

The Vel uses a sticky double sided tape to hold it in place and it works well enough. It stuck to the back of the bar tape when I was removing the backing, and you can unwrap the Snake from the handlebar a few times while you are fitting it if the spacing doesn't go quite right. It's too early to say if it'll leave the sticky tape behind if you were to remove it after a few months' use.

> Step by step: How to fit handlebar tape

I prefer a tape that doesn't use any adhesive on the back as you can fettle it, plus if you have to change a cable the tape won't need replacing.

The Snake is available in black, blue, yellow, red, white and grey, with each priced at £15.99, which I'd say is pretty competitive. Fizik's Performance bar tape is a good quality offering that I've used on various test bikes over the years and costs £16.99, plus there's the Pro Microfibre I talked about earlier, now £19.99.

Verdict

Comfortable bar tape for those who don't like a lot of bulk, but can be a little slippy when wet/sweaty without gloves on