Guee's SL One bartape is the lightweight model in their bartape range. For the past year I've been riding with Guee's Sio Dura bartape on my Giant Trinity (a comfortable, shock absorbing re-wrappable tape). Recently my soft touch bar tape on my Giant TCR Advanced SL neared the end of it's usable life so I opted for the Guee SL One. Check out what I thought of the SL One bartape below.
The SL One bartape has gone for a slightly different design than the Sio design, which resembles the same type of finish as the Lizard Skin DSP bartape, although a bit more subtle. This design is especially suited for a glove free rider like myself who likes to feel the handlebars and needs some traction. The tacky finish gives great grip in all conditions, and at 3mm thick its a very light and neatly designed tape that conforms to a sleek looking front end on your bike.
Unlike the Sio Dura tape, the SL One has a sticky strip on the reverse side to help keep the tape close to the bars and allows you to pull the tape tight when wrapping to maintain a neat finish with flush tape lines. The tape gives adequate shock absorption and unlike Lizard Skin DSP, which in my experience has a little bit of a stickier and more definite finish, it doesn't leave you with angry hands or tape marks after a longer ride.
To finish the bartape off Guee provides a durable, branded finishing tape which held well during wrapping and my first few weeks of riding.
** Note to all bartape manufacturers, make your finishing tape longer please**
Guee also provides lock tight end plugs which is the first experience I've had with lockable end plugs. Each plug has an allen key fastening which tightens the plug to the inside of the handle bars, which is very secure and efficient, they are however a little bit larger than the circumference of my bars which makes them stick out a little.
The SL One bartape is a great option for training or racing and comes in at $42.97 on their International website, and Guee currently has 2 Australian distributors .
