Enve launches Handlebar Tape, ideal for gravel bikes and riding in the rain

Enve is best known for making very expensive carbon fibre wheels, but it also makes some nice handlebars, and now it makes handlebar tape to match.

There’s an abundance of choice when it comes to choosing new bar tape for your bike. Here’s why Enve reckons you should choose its new tape.

It has been designed to provide “maximum ride feel without compromising comfort and ensures grip in wet conditions” and achieves this lofty goal by using a 3mm thick silicone-backed material.

The grippy compound has been designed to ensure suitable grip with bare hands in the rain, ideal for British cyclists then. It’s 3mm thick tape with a vibration-damping backer strip further aiding comfort.

Enve reckons the tape has just the right amount of stretch to make installation easy. A hard-wearing construction should provide adequate durability. There’s no sticking backing tape, instead a grippy silicone stripe helps adhere the tape in place.

The tape measures 250mm in length per roll, enough for a 50cm wide handlebar, making it ideal for gravel bars.

It comes in three colours - white, black and grey - and has the Enve logo repeated. Question is, can you really only use this bar tape with an Enve handlebar or is the brand clash okay?

As you’d expect, it’s not cheap at $40, and probably about the same in British pounds. We’ll confirm that price once we get it. More at www.enve.com/en/products/handlebar-tape/