I’m sure everyone has heard this a few times, but…
Had a buddy ask for help refreshing his Tarmac SL2. It probably has 30,000+ miles… and likely the original bar tape! The bar tape looked great - great job Specialized. I told him that aluminum bars can corrode, so we needed to check the bars. We cut it off and…
That’s not salt… that’s oxidized aluminum (aka sapphire)
Thinking it was just salt as this point, I sent him to wash the bars in his kitchen sink. 15minutes later (!) he comes back. I see this hole and tell him that his bar is done. I was glad there was a definitive hole in the bars, not a judgement call.
This is a road bike in the Chicago area, ridden about 3000mi/year, and maybe 2 x hour long ‘endurance’ level trainer sessions in the winter in the garage.
Tell your buddies to change their tape! You don’t want uglier friends
Luckily, we saved his face. He was pissed he spent 15 minutes washing the bars, while I wondered how he got them clean without destroying them.
Could be fine if you are a minimal sweater and/or do regular & thorough cleaning. Examples above are more common for bikes used inside on trainers without deep cleaning than outside, but anything is possible with enough sweat in play regardless of location.
Sounds legit. My bike is 7 years old with 15K miles on it (50/50 outdoor/indoor). The Specialized bar tape is still like brand new, besides minor scratches from the crash.
My bike has done 25,000miles since I got it at the end of 2018 its only had one tape change. I do have new tape to change though for its next change but given its the first winter Ive used it indoors, maybe I should speed up that change.
Awesome, I got to 41,000miles in 6 years on my last bike before I had the itch for something new. Ive still got the frame and I’m tempted to rebuild it; no way it would get to 70,000 miles though I like the new bike too much
Curious what year your SS is? I recently invested in a wheel upgrade for 2019 SuperSix Dura Ace. Got a holiday deal on Winspace Hypers for like $850. Still running latex tubes though.
Besides inside riding, another quick way to corrode your bars is to ride in a hot and humid area, and then store your bike in a humid garage. Bar tape doesnt dry out and super accelerates the whole process. Climate control is your fried
My SL3 went 10 years without changing the bar tape, though I didn’t ride it anywhere near that much. I still have the handlebars (but not the bar tape) and they’re fine.
Whatever about the drops/ below the hood - you’d have the lift the tape to service the cables? I’d be telling my buddies to service their bike rather than change bar tape!
My bike has done 25,000miles since I got it at the end of 2018 its only had one tape change. I do have new tape to change though for its next change but given its the first winter Ive used it indoors, maybe I should speed up that change.