BBB GravelRibbon Bar Tape

If I was asked to sum up the BBB GravelRibbon Bar Tape in three words, they’d be ‘comfortable’, ‘grippy’ and ‘durable’. It doesn’t look grubby after a few months of cycling and it’s easy to keep it looking new. About the only downside is that there are only three colour options available, which may make it harder to coordinate your bike and bar tape.

For more options, check out our best handlebar tape buyer’s guide.

BBB’s GravelRibbon bar tape is made from 3mm-thick polyurethane (PU) foam, which I found offered plenty of shock absorbance, while not muting any of the feedback being passed up from the gravel trail or road. This is a balance that I find very important.

The tape has a springy feel to it and I was impressed with the overall comfort – and I don’t wear padded gloves, or any gloves at all in warmer weather.

Grip is good too, wet or dry. It’s not as tacky as something like the Supacaz range, but it still has a non-slippery surface, though I’m not sure how much of that is down to the tape’s slightly embossed diamond pattern.

I used this tape for about four months on my do-everything bike, which took in lots of wet and dirty back roads, loads of riding in the rain and numerous treks over gravel paths and chalky trails. The tape hasn’t discoloured at all and there’s no ingrained dirt, both of which have impressed me.

I found that any road-borne muck and spray was easy to wash off, and the tape would end up looking as good as new. Aside from our grey tape, the other colour options are black and cream, or ‘sand yellow’ as BBB would have it.

The tape is easy to fit too. It has a reasonable amount of stretch, which allows you to get around the bends of a drop bar with ease. And there’s plenty of length in each 200cm roll to allow you to wrap it tightly on pretty much any standard width bar. I fitted it on a 44cm bar and had plenty left over on each side.

The sticky tape on the rear is tacky without being overly adhesive, which allows you to tweak the position of the tape over and over again, and if you need to re-wrap the bar it won’t be an issue.

> Watch: learn how to wrap handlebar tape in 10 easy steps

One thing to note is that these don’t come with extra strips to use around the brake levers. I don’t tend to use them anyway, but if you do, the rolls are long enough for you to trim off a couple of sections.

The supplied finishing tape is decent enough, but I always use electrical tape over the top for that extra bit of security.

The bar-end plugs are simple push-fit affairs but provided a snug fit in all the bars I tried them with.

Value

The GravelRibbon’s £19.99 RRP is a middle-of-the-park price.

It’s a fiver cheaper than the Genetic Hi-Grip tape that Dave found comfortable, grippy and durable, though it sounds as though that was harder to fit than the BBB.

The Lizard Skins DSP V2 tape is 4.6mm-thick and as the name suggests, it’s designed for gravel riding. Patrick found it suitably comfortable and grippy, though the impressive tape comes with a £47 price tag.

At the budget of things you’ve got the KranX Stretta Eco-Grip Handlebar Tape, which you can get for as little as £12.99, but Josh was impressed with its all-round quality.

Conclusion

If you’re happy with one of just three colour options available, there’s very little to dissuade you from buying BBB’s GravelRibbon Bar Tape. It offers everything you want – it’s comfortable, grippy and easy to fit – and it stays looking new for ages too. And at that price I think it’s good value.

Verdict

Comfortable and grippy in all conditions, a doddle to fit, easy to keeping looking new – and all at a good price

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