Wolf Tooth Supple Bar Tape may be the widest & thickest silicone handlebar wrap out there

Written by Zach Overholt Jun 23, 2020 1:29 p.m. ET

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Spending a lot of time off-road on your dropbar bike? Are you looking for relief for aching hands? Maybe just a better grip on the bars? Don’t want to resort to gloves? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you probably should check out the new Supple Bar Tape from Wolf Tooth Components.

Similar to the BIG40 tape that’s currently sold by RedMonkey Sports, Supple bar tape is also 40mm wide. The difference is in the thickness with Supple tape measuring twice as thick as the BIG40 at 5mm in the center of the tape.

That thickness is only measured in the middle of the tape as the sides taper off. This allows you to overlap the tape while maintaining a consistent thickness as you wrap. Since it’s made from 100% silicone foam, the tape is naturally grippy with or without gloves. It’s also washable, which is a good feature for a bike that will spend a lot of time in the dirt.

Wolf Tooth have tested the bar tape from Minnesota to Texas in order to cover the spectrum in terms of riding conditions. That led to product changes in terms of durability to create a tape that is wear resistant and retains its soft, grippy feel.

Supple tape is sold in a package of two rolls, each measuring 151.5cm long. On our scale, a single roll without a bar plug weighed in at 104g uncut. If you used every bit of tape, you’re looking at 208g total before adding bar plugs. It’s definitely a bit heavier than the average tape, but if you’re then forced to add extra layers or under-tape padding to make standard tape more comfortable, then the extra weight of the Supple Tape is a moot point.

Available now in black, Wolf Tooth Components states that more colors are in the works. Priced at $39.95, the pack includes two WTC finishing plugs and self-fusing silicone finishing tape.

Learn more at WolfToothComponents.com.

Zach Overholt

5,633 articles

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor. He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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Hexsense

3 years ago

I thought my ESI silicone tape at around 80g per roll is already a bit too soft and heavy. It’s certainly a far cry from normal thin skin bar tape at around 29g per roll. This thing is even more so…

Is silicone just naturally heavy? Is it the right material for bar tape?

Author

Zach Overholt

3 years ago

Reply to Hexsense

This stuff is really thick, and really wide – about 10mm wider than most tapes. ESI doesn’t provide any dimensions for their RCT Wrap, either width or length of each roll so it’s hard to compare. I sort of liked the feel of the RCT wrap the last time I had it on my bike, but it ripped really easily and then once a tear had started, it wasn’t long until the tape split in two.

Comparatively, I’ve been riding the BIG40 tape and one of WTC’s versions for some time now (including a few big crashes), and both have been impressively durable. The BIG40 version is my favorite tape at this point and seems more supportive than the ESI RCT did, but I haven’t installed the Supple Tape on a bike yet. The crew at WTC seem to like really thick grips, so the Supple Tape is their answer to that. I’ll have to get back to you on how I like the 5mm Supple tape vs. the 2.5mm thick BIG40 tape.

But the material seems to be far better at deadening vibrations and makes for a super comfortable grip that is tacky without gloves, so for me the weight is worth it. Maybe it’s not for the weight conscious, but for one of the most critical points of contact on your bike, I’m willing to sacrifice a number of grams for comfort and control.

carbonfodder

3 years ago

135mm long must be a typo. 135mm is 5.4 inches. Probably 135cm or 54 inches/roll

Author

Zach Overholt

3 years ago

Reply to carbonfodder

Good catch. Turns out that was all kinds of wrong. The 135mm number must be from another product on the WTC site. It’s actually 151.5cm long per roll.

K-Pop is dangerous to your health

3 years ago

Did somebody just complain about the weight of bar tape? …[facepalm]

Jeff

3 years ago

Reply to K-Pop is dangerous to your health

yeah they did, cause that is some heavy a$$ bar tape. if you include the plugs you are looking at 1 pound of bar tape on your bike.

go home and add 50 measly little grams to 10 things on your bike. dont worry, it is only 50g. you wont notice that 50 grams. i would start with your tires. Point is, it all adds up. Both if you are watching the grams and if you are not. a 600 lbs person didn’t just one day just gain 400 lbs. it was a pound here and a pound there.

-3

gee

3 years ago

Reply to Jeff

If you use the entire roll on both sides and include the plugs, you’re still well under half a pound. Have another facepalm for your trouble.

Jeff

3 years ago

Reply to gee

My bad, i read it as 217 a roll x 2 rolls per bar.

Author

Zach Overholt

3 years ago

Reply to Jeff

Yeah, as Gee pointed out, both rolls of Supple tape plus two bar plugs are under a 1/2 lb. 217 g to be exact. And because I was curious, I weighed a pack of Blackburn Cinch bar tape that I had laying around, which seems to be discontinued, but was sort of a rubberized grippy bar tape that measures 3.1mm thick. The Blackburn tape weighed in at 124g for two rolls plus plugs. In this comparison Supple tape is only 93g heavier for an additional 1.9mm of thickness.

If you’re someone who has to typically double wrap your bars to get the desired thickness, this tape might actually be lighter in the end.

Josh

3 years ago

Reply to Zach Overholt

You guys call it “bar tape” but Jeff has a point because, let’s be real, if it’s as good as they claim I’m wrapping *everything* with it. Top tube wrap? Check. Crank arm wrap? Check. Tire wrap? Check? Saddle wrap? Check. Bottle wrap? Check. Wrap wrap? Check. That will surely add more than a couple lbs to my bike, so I definitely have an issue with the weight of this tape.

Author

Zach Overholt

3 years ago

Reply to Josh

I mean, I have used bar tape to wrap a chainstay before… And the handle of my Rogue Hoe Rhino!

Josh

3 years ago

Reply to Zach Overholt

@Zach – I’m sure it’s perfect for a great many things. I was just goofing on the dude (wrongly) complaining about the weight.

That said, I wonder how it would fare as elbow and knee wrap? I mean, it’s about as thick as my i7s…

Tom

3 years ago

I’ve got a bit of a wonky hand, and love Wolftooth’s biggest grips, so I’ll be trying this stuff soon.

They key to the weight issue is simple. Weigh your bike once, when it’s brand new, then install the stuff that makes it enjoyable to ride, but never weigh it again…..

Robin

3 years ago

Is the Big 40 what used to be Zevlin’s tape?

Author

Zach Overholt

3 years ago

Reply to Robin

Yes, now sold by RedMonkey Sports.

David

3 years ago

Supple Bar tape noticeably increases the diameter of the bars. I tried it on my Lynskey gravel bike, which has standard diameter bars. It is a bit trickier than standard bar tape to wrap due to the thickness. It has great cushioning, especially on the tops, and is just the right level of tackiness for me – so I wanted it to work. However, it makes the reach to the levers undesirably long from the drops, even with the reach adjustment on my Shimano levers set to minimum, so I will be swapping out the tape. (I prefer the levers closer than on my road bikes to make grabbing them easy even on a rough descent. Also, on the inside circumference of the drops, the bar tape is thicker because it overlaps more, which is exaggerated with thicker tape). I wear small gloves so YRMV; with bigger hands, it probably doesn’t matter as much. I’ll go back to 3mm tape and use bar gel on the tops or double up the tape there.