I unwrapped the handlebar tape on a nice Bianchi the other day and uncovered a potentially dangerous situation.
This happened for a couple different reasons. First and foremost, rider doesn't use gloves. There's nothing wrong with that-I let my hands go commando on occasion too. The problem with that is there's nothing to keep sweat off the bars. Instead of gloves absorbing the sweat, it goes straight to the tape. Sweat is caustic, and some riders' sweat is worse than others. Regardless, it causes corrosion if not cleaned off.
The second reason this happened is because the bar tape was used well past its prime. In this case, it was three years old and had never been removed. Bar tape is something that wears out rather quickly - even if you don't consider the aesthetic reasons, the padding wears out in a couple thousand miles. In many cases it will wear quicker if the rider leans on the bars more, crashes, or rides in the rain often.
The worst happens with a combination of the two, like this bar. The rider doesn't use gloves and the tape is three years old, used about 4000 miles. The tape had absorbed so much sweat that it smelled like dirty socks. The tape was on the handlebar so long that the sweat started to eat into the aluminum. This can happen no matter the material of the bar is made of. I've even seen sweat eat through a carbon fiber bar!
This is pitting on the handlebar caused by corrsion after it has been cleaned. What you don't see is the white power that covered the bar, remnants of sweat and aluminum oxidation.
This happened for a couple different reasons. First and foremost, rider doesn't use gloves. There's nothing wrong with that-I let my hands go commando on occasion too. The problem with that is there's nothing to keep sweat off the bars. Instead of gloves absorbing the sweat, it goes straight to the tape. Sweat is caustic, and some riders' sweat is worse than others. Regardless, it causes corrosion if not cleaned off.
The second reason this happened is because the bar tape was used well past its prime. In this case, it was three years old and had never been removed. Bar tape is something that wears out rather quickly - even if you don't consider the aesthetic reasons, the padding wears out in a couple thousand miles. In many cases it will wear quicker if the rider leans on the bars more, crashes, or rides in the rain often.The worst happens with a combination of the two, like this bar. The rider doesn't use gloves and the tape is three years old, used about 4000 miles. The tape had absorbed so much sweat that it smelled like dirty socks. The tape was on the handlebar so long that the sweat started to eat into the aluminum. This can happen no matter the material of the bar is made of. I've even seen sweat eat through a carbon fiber bar!
The corrosion shown above is bad enough to necessitate replacement of the bar. The danger lies in how the corrosion weakens the bar. Since the bar supports as much as 40% of rider weight, it doesn't take a very big hole or bump to break the bar. Broken handlebar= crash!
Prevention is easy. Replace your tape once a season. If you ride without gloves, replace it if it starts to smell bad. If you don't replace it, at least unwrap the tape to the lever and clean the bar with rubbing alcohol once a month. If you see any pitting on the bar like the picture above, replace the bar!
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