Originally Posted by
HerrKaLeun
teh tape only seals the spoke holes. the rest of the rim is solid aluminum that is already air-tight. if it wasn't for the spoke holes, no tape would be needed.
if you have the tape too close to the tire, it may not fit correctly anymore. At minimum it will be hard to move the tire.
this is different for typical fatbike rims, where there are cutouts. in that case you use a tape as wide as the rim. I believe my 80mm fatbike rims required 78mm tape.
Every rim/tire combination is different, but as long as it doesn't interfere with tire mounting, then using edge-to-edge tape allows the bead to press down on the edges of the tape, sealing them off and preventing sealant from working its way under the tape and migrating towards a spoke hole under pressure. Maybe if I were using Gorilla Tape I would be less worried about this since the adhesive is much stronger. Also, if you ever need to unseat the tire, I would be concerned that the bead would scrape across the edge of a narrow tape (especially if you have a double layer), pulling it up. If the tape is edge-to-edge, then the bead is already in contact with the tape, so when it pulls away from the hook it should just slide over the tape with minimal damage. On the other hand, wider tape is easier to mangle with a tire lever so it's tricky either way.