I should've taken some snapshots this weekend, but didn't. It is interesting looking at the various ways New York's bike food delivery people customize their rides. I saw a lot of rear racks widened with old wire shelves from refrigerators.
I noticed tons of frames entirely wrapped in a rubbery-looking tape that comes in various colors. It looked less rubbery than an inner tube and more rubbery than saran wrap. It's probably something cheap, since the deliverymen barely make more than tip money. Does anyone have an idea what the wrapping material might be? Electrical tape?
3M reflective tape maybe? I saw that when i was up there last month too.
Also a lot of electric bikes (not necessarily delivery people, just in general) which made me chuckle since it's so damn flat - but I'm guessing that's due to people wanting to take advantage of the bike lanes but being too lazy to pedal.
"I noticed tons of frames entirely wrapped in a rubbery-looking tape that comes in various colors. It looked less rubbery than an inner tube and more rubbery than saran wrap. "
Might be liquid electrical tape...
Brush on truck bedliner can coat metal pretty well. It is quite effective for a lot of things actually.
shop I used to work in had this dip for tool handles... you took a tool with an uncomfortable metal handle and dip it, and when it dried it had a nice comfy handle. Thinking about it now makes me never want to touch those tools, but maybe it was the truck bedliner stuff or something similar.
If it wasn't reflective, what's the motivation? Steel frames rust prevention?
"shop I used to work in had this dip for tool handles... you took a tool with an uncomfortable metal handle and dip it."
Again, most likely the liquid electrical tape which is used to insulate screwdrivers and the like in order to help prevent electric shock. It makes a great all purpose coating... I never thought about the bedliner stuff but it makes sense. You can pick up a can of the liquid electrical tape at most hardware stores and even Mall*Wart I think, in various colors for about $5.
When you say "uncomfortable metal handle," I imagine a hammer wrapped in barbed-wire. :p
As for my motivation to use it, it works great to coat metal pieces like a bike hanger so that the metal doesn't scratch up the frame. I imagine it would work pretty well as a weather proofer and the spray on bedliner definitely is.
"uncomfortable metal handle" - has curves where straight would be better, has corners where knuckles should be, and is well, hard as metal. the soft dippy stuff was nicer to handle, though by no stretch did it turn the tool into an Oxo good grips wrench or whatever. Sounds like the liquid electrical tape stuff.
Would an aluminum frame benefit from weatherproofing like that? Strikes me as a bit of overkill, though I may be assuming incorrectly that delivery bikes are beaters. I could see trying to keep the bike nice, but in the process you're covering it with this goop...
The only benefit that I can think of is that the goop makes it look like poop and no one will steal it? I don't know, I think this one is a question for the Bike Snob.
ok, those all make sense.
my fork got recalled, so I'm going to lose some rhinestones when I get around to taking it in. I considered glitter/sparkle tape instead, but not if tape's what people do to bikes to make them look like beaters. sigh.
You know you want to...
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
O. M. G.
*shudders with delight*
Repairs have never been so cute.
