Review: Silca Nastro Piloti Bar Tape
(2020) Mention that your product is designed with Formula One or prototype racing in mind and your product will signify attention in high demand accessory. Indianapolis-based Silca has brought their Nastro Piloti bar tape to the forefront, and it has impressed the road cycling world. With a dual direction wrapping ability a cyclist can choose high or maximum grip. Installation has Silca innovation and safety opportunities. With our passions lying somewhere in the middle of auto racing and bikes, it felt imperative to wrap up the rig with Silca Nastro Piloti tape.
If Oakley has Unubtainium, and Roka has Gecko, Silca has Silcathane. These names are ubiquitous with compounds that actually become more grippy when wet. Here is where Formula One technology comes in, comparable to tire grip. Being that summer months are for perspiring hands and drippy wrists, the decision to wrap with Nastro Piloti was reinforced. The concept behind the tape’s Duel Tread deboss is more intriguing: the high pattern is for dry summer conditions and/ or riders who use gloves while the maximum pattern, stickiest, side is for wet conditions such as cyclocross and even recommended for trainer season. We went with the high compound on account of summer and the lack of glove use.
Bar tape companies often lead with the anti vibration argument but Silca has continued the improvements there as well. An expanding tape that acts like a 2.5-mm tape, it is recommended to hand tighten the expansion bar plugs to anchor the starting point. We did not use the plugs on account of Di2 bar ends and did not have any issues. With nearly every road being a chip-and-seal variety around our office, vibration dampening, or buzz, is always important. Having a thicker wrap is hardly ever the answer. The Nastro Piloti, sporting a 1.85 mm thickness, quickly adds up the appeal before hitting the road. For those wondering about color, Silca offers white, black, and red solid bar wrap.
Silca Nastro Piloti Bar Tape features expanding bar plugs, dual grip options, butterfly brake clamp cover, and substantial finishing tape. It has become a quick favorite over other brands.
Silca recommends regular wrapping of bars, specifically highlighting the benefits of regular tapings. They emphasize a clean bar, free of any stray adhesive or lingering bar tape, prior to installation. Furthermore, Silca reminds riders to inspect their bars, especially carbon bars, prior to installation. Regular replacement of Silca tape promotes bar safety, which hardly needs emphasizing. Their finishing tape is a nice touch, it is clearly not electrical tape as it is grippy, too. It is Silca’s butterfly brake lever wrap that steals the show, a successful innovation that prevents clumping of wrap behind the brake lever.
Well. Almost steals the show.
Out on the road and the whole experience steals the show. With choppy roads looking to wrench bars from the hands of cyclists, Silca Nastro Piloti scoffed at the challenge. The tack made it easy to keep hold in tight turns and white knuckle descents. With the vibration dampening built in, there was less clutching and grabbing and more finessing. Maybe some of the sweat from older rides was a combination rodeo grip to hold on and forearm fatigue to control the bike. We even jumped out of the saddle to sprint hard, testing the hooks’ feel any weakness and found none. This tape is needed: minimalist acting larger, grippy acting standard.
The grippy function continued the tackiness from the hoods and through the bars. With the knowledge we could order up another roll and install it with a stickier side, it is clear Silca’s Nastro Piloti was made with the intent to become the leader in bar tape. We have been diligent fans of other bar tape companies, so the fact this has become a favorite isn’t lost on us. While Formula One doesn’t stop at Indianapolis anymore, the town still knows a thing or two about auto racing tire grip. Racing tire grip can be felt each time we grab a turn just a little bit faster.
