In the days almost everybody was using cloth (cotton) bar tape, just the cheapest bikes were equipped with cheap slippery plastic (Polyurethane/vinyl?) tape and only a few bikes had fancy leather wrapping (Almarc!). All of a suddon, bike brand Benotto introduced a new kind of bar tape that looked gorgeously, many pro riders used and was easy to maintain. And the marketing trick worked! The whole peloton moved to Benotto tape. Benotto was one of the leading bike brands (supporting top team GIS and others) and Francesco Moser, the absolute star racer, used and promoted the tape. The special appearance of the Benotto tape and the wide range of colours and the image of the stuff were the success. However, the tape itself was almost as slippery as the old plastic tape, very difficult to apply and slid down the bars very quickly, because it wasn't self adhesive. Besides that, it has odd bar end plugs, that don't go in, but over the end of the bars.
After 1 or 2 years, the Benotto tape more or less disappeared and other, better ribbons like Bike Ribbon, fading Ciclolinea and Pelten and "cork" tape replaced it.
There was a weird story about Benotto tape. Rumours that it was made from fibres of a Mexican plant or tree. All bullshit, as confirmed by the Benotto people. Truth is that it was made in Mexico, just like a part or all of the Benotto frames and bikes in that period.
There were 2 versions of Benotto bar tape available. The smooth variant with the fibre or flake design was used by almost everybody. The second, waffled variant was far less popular, but if I remember well, this was the kind of tape Francesco Moser used (Celo-Cinta?).
Finding Benotto tape is not too difficult. Don't expect to find it in your local bike shop or at a regular web shop. But when you go to auction sites, you'll find out that there's still some new tape available.
