RE: handlebar tape. I had always gone from the top down. Until I built my '84 Gitane Team Pro. I went so far overboard researching those bikes that I even found the way they did the wrap. It was from the bottom up and that was to reduce the chance of tape slippage and rolling at the edges from your hand pressure. It wasn't just Gitane, they all did it that way. They also used an end cap that went on the outside of the bar, not a plug that slipped inside. The cap was installed first and the tape was wrapped over it like shown in the pic. Not sure why.
