Leather is a great way to protect a bike's finish from scratches and dings. In this post, we talk about why, where, and how to wrap your bicycle frame with a protective and all-weather leather wrap.
Table of Contents
Why Wrap a Bicycle Frame
In addition to being unsightly, scratches and dings can shorten the life of your bike.
There are several common bike finishes:
- Painted steel is the most common finish. When this paint is scratched off, the raw steel is exposed and can rust.
- Powder-coated steel is the strongest and most high-end finish, but it is uncommon. Because of the expense, bikes with powder-coating are worth protecting!
- Carbon fiber frames can experience structural weakness from dings and scratches because of its unique material structure, especially when cumulative. This can be safety issue.
Frames can be wrapped to insulate and protect bike finishes from scratches. This way, the wrap material gets scratched, not the bicycle itself. There are only two common places to wrap the bike, where they see the most scratches from normal use.
A leather wrap is beautiful, can match handlebar wraps, provides cushioning and is all-weather. The leather material is warm and tactile, inviting handling.
Where to Protect a Bicycle Frame
The two most common places on the frame for finishes to become scratched are the chainstay and the top tube. Their locations are shown in the illustration below:
Top Tube Protectors
The top tube is the large tube parallel with the ground, between the saddle and the handlebars. It's where you commonly lean the bike against an object, like a wall or bike rack, while locking it up or just setting it aside for a minute.
It's also where you often hold the bike or rest your hand when standing next to it. It can also be a storage opportunity for accessories like our 6-Pack Frame Cinch, allowing you to secure objects to the frame and carry stuff in the empty space inside your bicycle's triangle. You can readily see the top tube between your legs as you ride.
The top tube is a visible and tactile place to put a warm or colorful accessory. Because it gets so much handling, especially when leaning against objects, it's one of the most commonly-scratched up areas. And because it's so visible and noticeable, it's worth protecting with a wrap.
Chainstay Guards
The chainstay is often out-of-sight, out-of-mind, on the bottom rear of the bike. It connects the bottom bracket to the rear wheel.
The chainstay is a slender tube that often comes in differing lengths for different uses: a long chainstay makes for a smooth ride and allows for larger wheels, while a short chainstay is for more agile handling.
Because the chain is running alongside it, it often gets gashes and scratches from chain slaps. Many people guard this part of the bike with a wrap to protect the finish from the chain hitting it.
⚠️ Safety Note About Cables on Top Tubes
It's fine for the leather to cover the cable housing, but some bikes don't use cable housing.
If you have a bare cable, you do not want the leather to touch the brake cable itself.
If the cable is exposed, the leather has to go underneath the cable: between the cable and the frame.
Leather Wrap Styles for Bicycle Top Tubes
Here are our options for wrapping your bicycle top tube, chainstay guards, or anywhere else in our gorgeous, hand-dyed, vegetable-tanned leather:
Coiled Leather Bicycle Frame Wraps
We recommend one of our coil-on leather wrap kits for most bicycle frame wrap projects. It is the easiest and most intuitive wrap style to install. It is also flexible to any size or shape.
- The Oswego Wrap Kit is (1) 1.25" wide strap that should be ample to wrap both a top tube and a chainstay.
- The Coil Leather Bar Wraps are a set of two (2) 1.25" wide straps designed for bicycle handlebars. Each strap is a little bit shorter than the one Oswego strap but they come in a matching set of two. Customers often have a little leftover from their handlebar installation that they use on their top tubes or chainstays.
Both of these coil leather wrap kits are in stock, ready-to-ship, and can serve as a wrap anywhere on your bike - or off! If you have extra left over, you can use them elsewhere in your life: we like wrapping tool handles, like garden tools, axes, or brooms! They're also great on other sports equipment, like rowing machine bars, tennis rackets, or golf clubs.
Portage Strap Top Tube and Seat Tube Protector
The Portage Strap is one of our standard products. It is economical, always in stock, and ready to ship.
It serves three functions:
- A top tube protector on the rear end of the top tube (near the saddle)
- A seat tube protector
- A carrying aid: it creates a "hammock" for your shoulder when carrying your bicycle on your shoulder, such as up stairs.
The Portage Strap is a sew-on style designed for a 1-1/8" (approximately 28-29 mm) diameter top tube and seat tube. If your bike's tubing is smaller or larger, and you want this style, contact us about creating a custom size.
The Portage Strap comes with a stitch kit for sewing it on, and there is an installation video on YouTube/Vimeo:
Custom Sew-on Leather Wraps
For customers looking for that perfect little detail, we can create a custom-sized wrap to fit your dimensions. The clean look of a sew-on wrap is hard to beat, but it has to be specially designed to your measurements.
Bicycle frames and chainstays come in many sizes, so we have to make these to-order. You'll need to measure the circumference (or diameter) and length.
Custom sew-on wraps come as a kit you install yourself, and includes needle, thread and instructions. just like the Sew-on Bar Wraps, City Grips, and Portage Strap.
Cost depends on size and complexity. Contact us for a custom work quote!
⚠️ Sew-on Wraps for Tapering Tubes
Some bicycle tubes taper, especially many chainstays. A tapering tube has a variable diameter/circumference, such as getting skinnier from one end to the other.
Tapering wraps can be much more difficult to measure and make. They require the customer to make extra measurements, and know exactly where they want the wrap to go ahead of time.
Customer Photo Gallery: Sew-on Leather Top Tube Protectors
Braided Leather Top Tube Protector
We can also make a custom version of our 4-plait Bullwhip Bar Wraps, for top tubes! Our handlebar wraps are designed with a sew-on section midway down the wrap that gets stitched around the brake levers. Our custom version for top tubes comes without the sew-on section. It will wrap approximately 12 inches in length, depending on top tube diameter. You finish it with tape or twine just like with drop bar wraps. Request a custom work by contacting us.
Customer Photo Gallery: Braided Leather Top Tube Protectors
Conclusion
All of these bicycle leather wrap options are available in our four colors: Natural, Honey, Dark Brown, and Black.
Just like all of our high-quality, vegetable-tanned leather, these will last you a lifetime. You can unwrap and re-wrap these as many times as you want as change and maintain your bikes, so you can keep the patina that you've earned.
If you're interested in one of the custom options, request a custom work by simply contacting us.
Ride on,
Team Walnut
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