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review
£16.99
VERDICT:
A bit of a faff to fit but the grip and comfort are worth the extra time taken, especially considering the price
Weight:
86g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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The Oxford Performance bar tape offers plenty of comfort and, thanks to a tacky finish, loads of grip too. It isn't quite as simple to fit as some of the others on the market but it is half the price.
- Pros: Plenty of grip whatever the conditions, comfortable
- Cons: Not supposed to be stretched, which can make it slow to fit; length might be tight on wide gravel bars
I'm a big fan of tacky style tapes like the Fizik Terra Microtex Bondcush tape recently tested or those made by Supacaz and this stuff from Oxford is a very similar product.
> Find your nearest dealer here
The sticky feel provides grip in the wet and dry, whether your hands are bare or you're using gloves, so slippage is near-impossible, which is great when moving between the drops and hoods with sweaty palms.
It's only 2mm thick but feels much more padded. I liked the overall feel. I'm not a massive fan of thickly padded bars and this was a nice balance of road buzz damping and feedback through the handlebar.
The only downside to the light colours we were sent for testing is that they get dirty very quickly, although it can be wiped clean with a cloth without too much hassle. The colours available are blue, aqua, fluoro yellow, red, pink, black and white.
On the side of the box there is one instruction, 'Do not stretch', which makes it a bit slower to fit than most other tapes, especially around the tight bends of the hoods. Getting a snug fit without leaving any gaps between each wrap while not pulling the bar tight is quite the balancing act.
Without much stretch, the metre-long length of each roll comes up quite short if you aren't careful; that's okay for narrow road bars but wider flared gravel bars might be a different story.
Take your time, though, and with a bit of patience you can get a good finish.
The Supacaz tape I mentioned above is much quicker and easier to fit than the Oxford stuff, but when all said and done the overall result is pretty much the same, and as both the Fizik and Supacaz tapes cost over 30 quid, I'm happy to allow for a bit of faff for the £16.99 rrp of this stuff.
Overall, I really like the finished product. I can forgive a few foibles for the low cost, and thanks to what looks like decent durability I won't be changing it anytime soon.
Verdict
A bit of a faff to fit but the grip and comfort are worth the extra time taken, especially considering the price
road.cc test report
Make and model: Oxford Performance Handlebar Tape
Size tested: 2 rolls of 30 x 1000 x 2mm
Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
It's designed for extra comfort, for day rides and audax events to multi-day tours.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Oxford lists:
2mm comfort cushioning
Super tacky finish for improved grip and control
Tape, plugs and end tape included
2 rolls of 300 x 1000 x 2mm grip tape
2 pieces of end tape
2 end plugs
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
8/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
9/10
Rate the product for value:
7/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Once fitted it's a very nice tape to use.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Excellent grip and comfort levels.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Gets dirty really quickly.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
Similar products like the two I've mentioned in the review are double the price.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
A few niggles, but compare the performance to those twice the price and the Oxford Performance tape shows itself to be a decent product.
About the tester
Age: 40
I usually ride: This month's test bike My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed
Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.
With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.
He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.
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