Initially revealed last year at Interbike, A’ME’s heated road underwrap is finally ready for prime time. Due to the fact that Bob and the A’ME crew were still putting the finishing touches on the heated road tape, the inner workings couldn’t be shown. Until now. Tired of cold hands for your winter training rides? Get the details of A’ME’s heated road tape after the break.
At the heart of the heated road system is the heated strip that is wrapped around the bar beneath the tape itself. While the strip isn’t long enough to cover the whole bar, you can choose where you want to wrap it to a degree.When installed properly, the A’ME heated underwrap will cover roughly 5 inches of your bar, presumably in the place you most like to ride. This means you basically have the choice of heating the tops, hood area, or drops of the bar.
Keep in mind that the A’ME heated road system doesn’t replace your favorite bar tape, you simply wrap the bar with the heating element and then wrap over it with the tape. Each kit includes two wraps which are ½” wide x .100 thick and 27” long.
Unlike the heated mountain bike grips that house the control switch in the grip itself, the road kit uses two inline remotes to control the temperature. Like the MTB grips, the road underwraps have the same 6 level Blu-Pulse heat settings which range from 95 to 130 degrees F. Each press of the button raises the temperature one setting, and simply hold the button for 3 seconds to turn the system off.
The heated road underwraps operate on the same Lithion-Polymer batter that the mountain bike system uses, so if you already have the heated mountain bike grips you can add just the heated wraps for $60. Buying the complete system will set you back somewhere around $350. Expected duration for heat is somewhere between 1.5-3 hours depending on usage, and bar set up. While the price will no doubt keep heated underwraps out of reach for quite a few cyclists, if they work anywhere near as well as the heated mountain bike grips, equipped road riders are in for a treat.
