Rim Tape and Punctures

[joggingbob]

Strange issue, (to me anyway). I replaced my wheels about 3 months / 900 miles ago with DT Swiss rims and Hope Hubs. All fine. Recently had a couple of punctures, (Marathon Plus), and noticed that the first puncture was on the inside i.e. spoke side. nothing found and rim tape in tact so patched and all fine. Yesterday evening the tyre was completely flat, checked again and another puncture on the spoke side, (different location). This time I noticed that the rim tape had been torn with two perfect holes matching where the spokes connect to the rim.

What is the cause? The spokes appear tight and fine.

Have I inflated the inner tube too high? I do not recall any particular bad pot holes recently.

I will replace the rim tape but wondered if there is something else to do as I would prefer to know the cause and prevent reoccurance.

Thanks for reading .

 

[fixedfixer]

Defo rim tape past its best. The ones I like are the plastic type that fit right across the rim. I find the thin rubber or canvas tapes tend to get pushed into the spoke hole by the pressure of the tube. That's where those 'inside' punctures come from.

 

[battered]

There are some here who swear by insulating tape as rim tape. As you already have rim tape, albeit tired, I'd be inclined to stick a couple of layers of insulating tape over the top. I bet that fixes it.

 

[joggingbob]

Thanks battered and fixedfixer for your quick replies. I am surprised that the Hope tape has worn in such a short space of time but glad to know that this is the likely cause. With my previous wheels I never needed to replace the rim tape, (in fact I have never had to replace rim tape on any bike). At least it is simple and cheap to fix.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Check that all spoke holes are smooth and free from burrs, my guess would be that you have a sharp edge on a spoke hole, or several spoke holes. A faulty inner tube is another possibility.

 

[joggingbob]

dave r,

Thanks for the tip. Have just bought today some Velox rim tape so will check the holes when I replace it. I don't think it was the tube, fairly certain it was the same one I have used on the previous wheels and has had good service.

 

[vorsprung]

I've had several problems like this last year, on different bikes

Usually this sort of flat happens when the wheel is hot. So I had one breaking on a steep hill - fortunately not at high speed. Another after a high speed ascent - must have been a slow one as I didn't notice until I'd cycled up again. Another when the bike was in the back of a the car on a hot day.

In all cases I was using worn and old Velox tapes that I'd reapplied a couple of times following wheel rebuilds, broken spoke fixes etc