rpenmanparker 

So I know I may discover some downsides with double-sided adhesive tape for mounting tubulars like difficult removal of the tape to change a tire. But for now I have only good things to say about it. I have done this before some years ago the old-fashioned way with glue, but the Tufo tape is a revelation. Clean and fast, and I am believing secure. Mounting the tire over the non-stick liner is the bomb. You get no glue all over you, and you can completely adjust the position of the tire to get it perfectly straight. Then presto-changeo you pull the non-stick liner out from between the glue tape and the tire, and the tire is fully adhered. It couldn't be easier.

loimpact

Just say no to tubulars!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGXioR1e0Jg

rpenmanparker 

Good video representaion of the process. I just wish I could have understood one word they were saying.

K.Katso

I like it too, awfully convenient, but I did find two problems with it. First, if you want to change tires and save the tire, it makes it difficult because the tape sticks a little too well. In several cases, when I took it off it also took some of the tire's cotton base tape with it. I guess that might be fine if you're going to tape again, but I wasn't sure there was much for either glue or tape to stick to anymore.

The other problem is with wider rims. On my Zipp Firecrest rims, the tape being only 19mm wide leaves quite a bit of room without any type of adhesive at the edges of the tire. I could push it and watch it move a little bit.

I've gone back to glue but I do keep some Tufo tape around for emergencies, like if I am in the middle of a multi-day cyclosportive and I need to quickly mount a tire when short on time. I haven't had this situation yet (fortunately) but I think it would be a good temporary option.

rpenmanparker 

My rims happen to match the width of the tape exactly. Fortuitous.

loimpact

No lie (thought, admittedly I had the volume down). Still it does look fairly simple. As OCD as I am though, I'd always wonder if I did it right. (tape alignment)

And, of course, there's always the thought that I could've changed 3 or 4 clinchers in the time they did that one tubular.

rpenmanparker 

I wouldn't say that about the relative speed vs. clinchers. I don't know about getting it off again, but it was comparable for putting it on.

K.Katso

You just have to pull. Hard. The easy trick is to leave a 1" gap untaped exactly opposite the valve, then you can wedge a tire lever in there to get it started.

The time-consuming part of removing the tape is cleaning all the adhesive it leaves behind on the rim after you rip it off. You pretty much have to clean it the same as with glue, otherwise you have uneven spots under any new tape. The Tufo Rim Cleaner works pretty well though, I even use it to remove Vittoria Mastik 1 glue.

hueyhoolihan

i've been using the Jantex tape, and have had reason, nothing to do with the tape, to have had the tire off and on three times now. getting it off is just about as difficult, initially, as i would want it to be to give me the confidence that it was securely attached. and cleaning the rim was a snap with kerosene (aka diesel fuel). the tape pretty much peeled off the tire's (vittoria corsa) cotton stitch backing without difficulty.

leaving a gap does help in removal, but the gap length is critical. too long and a thump when riding on smooth roads at high speeds is possible.

rpenmanparker 

That is good advice. Thanks. I avoided the Jantex just because it didn't seem to be as highly developed for the specialized application as the Tufo is. But that could have just been my foolishness. I think I did read that the non-stick cover tape wasn't as robust as on the Tufo. So pulling it out between the tire and the sticky tape could be problematic. What was your experience with that?

hueyhoolihan

i haven't used the tufo tape yet, but, if simply yanking it out, like i saw some guy do on a recent video is the approach, i don't think that's a viable option with the Jantex. that non-stick cover tape is not that, as you say, robust. it will rip. but being forewarned is being forearmed, or something like that.

anyway, even on that video the guy mentioned to check that the cover tape hadn't ripped. so i have to assume that he was either passing on the info from someone else that had experienced it, or he had.

i've experimented with a 3/8" wooden dowel that i would slide under the tire cross-ways, then slowly rolled around the rim. it would lift the tire as it traversed the circumference, leaving enough room to easily remove the cover tape with no chance of it tearing. and at the same time giving one the opportunity to do a final centering adjustment to the tire. sort of like opening a can of sardines BITD when the can was sold with an attached 'key' on the bottom.

interesting thing is that, to my surprise, because the friction between the dowel and the rim was less than the friction between the dowel and the tire's seam tape, the dowel would move counter to the direction i was turning the dowel. so if the dowel was turned clockwise, it would move counter-clockwise around the rim. not that it mattered...