Rim Tape

[e-rider]

I've had a few problems keeping rim tape central. Basically it moves up one side or the other when the tyre is inflated.

Is this a problem? It looks like it could stop the wire bead seating properly in some places.

I have recently tried the sticky cloth stuff - had it perfectly central and 'stuck' down. Just removed some tyres after a few months use and I noticed that this too had moved out of position in a few places. I've noticed that the tyres never seem to sit 100% straight in the rims - is this because of the rim tape stopping the bead seating properly by 0.5mm?

 

[numbnuts]

gaffer tape works well

 

[zexel]

Yes, it could well be.

Don't know what wheels/bike you've got. Have you seen these?

 

[corshamjim]

I'm glad it's not just me!! I managed to make a right old pigs ear of fitting the rim tape on my new wheel recently. I didn't think it would make any odds, but the tyre was rather horribly out of kilter when I put it on. It's not so bad that I can be bothered to wrest the tyres (M+) off again to sort it, but I have bought some more rim tape in readiness for when I fit the winter tyres back on again in a few months time.

 

[PpPete]

I've rather gone off the cloth stuff. The Schwalbe blue plastic stuff is cheaper, just as effective, and quite stiff, so if you get the right width it's not going to move anywhere. Only downside is that when it's new, it does stop the tyre bead going down into the "well" of the rim.... so new tape+new tyres can be quite hard to fit.

 

[albion]

My tape snapped at the valve so I resorted to joining it with a small piece of old tube with a hole for the valve.

Fixing a puncture a while back I noticed the tape on the other wheel has done the same so I'm tempted to do the same repair.




Whilst it is a mountain bike/hybrid does this have many unknown drawbacks?

 

[mickle]

A couple of layers of electrical tape tightly wound will hold a rim tape steady. You'll need to poke a tidy hole for the valve, which can be done easily with a craft knife. But its a bodge.

I like the Velox (white cloth) and Shwalbe (blue thin cloth) tapes. Once they've been in place for a while they don't move but they are so low tack they don't stick to a less than scrupulously clean surface so it can be a nightmare getting them to settle down. It's very important to get the width spot on for Velox but not critical for shwalbe as it's so thin.

The best - IMO - is the stiff plastic hoops which snap into the rim well. Of the type supplied with Mavic rims and also made by Michelin. It can be a bugger to line up with the v hole if you're not familiar with it but there's nothing better.

Old style rubber rim tapes are sh!t. Bin them at every opportunity.

 

[gwhite]

I've just had a tyre seating problem on someone's bike and when I stripped it down found that the shop had used a cut-down inner tube but had trimmed it too wide. This was not allowing the tyre to sit properly in the well.

 

[PpPete]

Inner tube just is not strong enough to act as rim tape. With double wall rims & anything approaching high pressure tyres it deforms into the nipple eyelets quite dramatically. And the tube follows it with more frequent punctures as a result. Same with electrical tape.

 

[raindog]

The best - IMO - is the stiff plastic hoops which snap into the rim well. Of the type supplied with Mavic rims and also made by Michelin. It can be a bugger to line up with the v hole if you're not familiar with it but there's nothing better.

+1
I've mentioned these several times on rim tape threads on here. For lower pressure tyres, quality of tape probably doesn't matter so much, but with 700x23 with pressures over 100psi you need really good tapes and these Michelins, which come in one piece, are bullet proof. Before I discovered them I had loads of problems with tubes puncturing where they bulge into the spoke holes.