Velognome 

It's been around since 1943 so I think it legit to use on bikes post '43 without a problem..right?

This stuff is pretty cool. I keep my tire irons wrapped together with it for emergency purposes. Today it happened in a big way.

Out on an early AM ride, I deviated and went long....I forgot to swap out the spare tube in saddle bag from the last flat incident, but I never flat on this route, so no big deal.

But I did, in a big way! The sidewall separated from the bead. By the time I saw the tube blistering out the side, it was too late. Not enjoying the thought of a 10 mile hike home, I tried what I thought might get me a mile or two at best.

I patched the tube with a postage sized square of tape. The remaining few inches of tape I adhered to the inside of the tire and wrapped it around the bead and up the side wall a few millimeters, enough to pinch against the rim.

I inflated the the repaired tube & tire to about 80lbs, they are rated for 115lbs. Everything held! I expected to have to add air every mile or so, or deflate and adjust the patch but no sir, it held fine; all the home. It's been 6 hours and the pressure is still holding.

Duct Tape....gotta love the stuff!

Anyone got a story about how Duct Tape saved your ride?

crank_addict

Definite must have in the tool kit. Wrap it around a tire lever. Using as tire carcass patch is a given.

I'm really tacky, also use it cover marred up chain stays. The colors today sort of camouflage the old duct tape of years ago.

CroMo Mike 

Duct tape is great but it's time to make it better. The backing deteriorates fast in the rain or sun, the reinforcing fibers are junk, and the adhesive turns to goo. I even tried some 3-M Super Duct tape and it was only marginally better. In boat racing we use aluminum foil duct tape (HVAC tape) and clear poly weather sealing tape.

icepick_trotsky 

I thought ripped sidewalls were what dollar bills are for.

crank_addict

^yep, racers tape.

Years ago I found a roll of some super tape. MIL spec?? Here its being used on this bike that's always in the sun, rain, sometimes salt. Excellent stuff and have never had a reason to replace it.

The best part: I found it in a house that had a fire. The roll was stashed above a metal heat duct. The outer layers were scorched but I just peeled that away. Used it for all sorts of things, awesome for shipping large bulky cartons.

seedsbelize 

Gorilla tape is the new duct tape, for me anyway.

Chombi

If you ride English bikes, be sure to use "Gaffers" tape, not "Duct" tape....as the Brits seem to prefer such over the silver stuff we use over here as it maybe looks too "loud" for them(?), I guess......

Oldpeddaller

Ah, "Kidnap tape" - always used in the movies to secure the hero to a chair while the bad guys threaten dreadful thing. Glad to hear it's got other uses!

Velognome 

Used dollar bills before, but this tire was separated from the bead wire. A Benjamin wouldn't even hold that one together.

What surprised me most was the patch on the tube worked.

Gorilla Tape, Classic yes but not Vintage....yet

verktyg 

"Spare the duct tape... Spoil the job!" The Red Green Show






...and remember, if the women don't find ya handsome, at least they'll find ya handy!


verktyg

Chas.

USAZorro

I thought you looked familiar.

Road Fan

Wow! No. I found a roll that my dad bought when I was in high school in the late '60s. I'm still using it.

But that's for the other subforum, CA&S - Cheap-Axx and Stingy.

Road Fan

That stuff is way more $$ than duct tape! My wife ordered it for her school for setting up theatrical productions.

Fidbloke

Yeah... I've heard it called 'Gaffer' tape. It usually comes in black. Dunno why though. Oddly, the stuff you get for actual ducting repairs is often silver.
The name seems to change with the particular trade-group. I've seen the term 'Gaffer' tape most commonly used in car magazines.

A lot of the ex-REME chaps I used to work with, would refer to the black duct tape as 'Harry Black', as in "Sling us over that roll of 'arry black, will yer.?"
I am told that it is rather good for 'battlefield' repairs on Army helicopters...

davester

Duct tape can be useful for many things, but be sure that you never use duct tape on heating ducts. This is what was done for years, but a study done by Lawrence Berkeley Lab's environmental energy technologies division found that traditional duct tape adhesive fails after just a few years resulting in substantial leaks (or in the cases where only duct tape was used to join sections the joints all pull apart and the ducts fail completely). Such was the case when I bought my most recent house...the ducts were all coming apart and doing a wonderful job of heating up the crawlspace (but not the house).

SJX426 

There is a high temperature version that would work well not only for interior ducts, but for exterior use as well. More expensive or less cheap.

Both my daughters did Irish dance (both reached championship levels) and it is very popular to put it on the toes and heels of the hard shoes to avoid slipping on wood floors while dancing. Prevents significant injuries.

Don't carry it with me on rides and haven't' ever thought about needing it either.

09box

I am on the production team at my church and have used gaffers tape quite often in the past. I don't carry duct tape with me but have migrated to being a fan of electrical tape. Seems to hold up better.

davester

Even the foil UL181 tapes fail in relatively short order, just not quite as quickly as regular duct tape. The only really effective way to seal ducts is with mesh tape and mastic. On the other hand, that probably won't work too well for tire repairs.

Velognome 

You may have just jinxed yourself

gugie 

The OP wanted to hear some duct tape stories...so here's mine.

1978, spring break at Occidental College, buddy of mine borrowed a friend's bike, we flew up to SF, and rode back down the coast. Somewhere around Carmel his right rear rack stay breaks, almost destroys the rear wheel and ending our ride. I had a small roll of duct tape (never go on a tour without it, someone once told me), taped it to the seat stay, and we made it back to LA with no issues.

gugie 

Hmm, didn't know that. I thought the foil UL181 tape was code, just looked it up, and found that there's a few different acceptable types, including mastic, are accepable. Next time I have to seal a duct I'll do a bit more research! I'm just a DIYer on ducting.

bwilli88 

A gaffer is a person who lays out lighting cables and stuff around a sound or light set for video production. They want the tape to hold long enough for the production but have the ability to rip it off when the production is done with out having to clean up lots of goo. It has good stickability but will not hold anywhere near what duct tape will.

Velognome 

Thanks, now I'm patiently waiting SJX426's duct tape or rather "I wish I had some" tale......but it's still early

Grand Bois

Great stuff.

Velognome 

New cuz it blends with carbon fiber