bmcer

I just discovered Effetto Mariposa Carogna tape for mounting tubular tires. I love the stuff!! No mess, no fuss, and the plastic cover tape does not tear at all when it's pulled our from under the tire. The only other such product I've tried was the Tufo stuff, and by comparison it sucked. No more messy, smelly mastic for me.

squirtdad

check out https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...y-tubular.html

DiabloScott

The usual complaint about tape is about changing a spare on the road... got a story about that?
And it's not "tubular rim tape"... it's tubular adhesive tape, otherwise some folks will be confused... or think you're confused.

ljsense

Yeah, I've used the Carogna too, and think it's nice stuff. Easy to mount, really strong, clean, and you can adjust the tire all you want to get it dead straight before pulling the backing away and activating the bond. I would recommend it for 'cross bikes no doubt.

As for changing a tire on the road, with great effort you can pull a Carogna tire off. The adhesive stays on the tire completely. So you have a bare rim, and a tire with a neat gummy layer permanently bonded to it. If you're able patch that tire, I think it would make a good spare. The stuff is still tacky.

Your options at that point are to just put down a little glue and mount the spare, or whatever else you'd do with a bare rim and a spare tubular.

I can't see ever using anything else for cyclocross. For my road bike, I still use regular old Vittoria Mastik. It's messier and more time consuming, but I've done the process a lot, and with road tires you're not messing around with umpteen million layers glue and Belgian tape and the tires tend to seat dead straight without much futzing around. So I don't mind carrying on the tradition. Mastik weighs less, if that matters. And it would seem to have a more direct bond rim to tire, without a mm or so of rubbery gel that might squirm a bit. Biggest factor, though, is that it's a lot less expensive.

But if you want to do tubular tires, and hate the thought of glue, I'd definitely give the Carogna tape a try.

bmcer

"Tubular rim tape, tubular adhesive tape, whatever terminology you're comfortable with so long as we both know what we're talking about The point is the stuff makes mounting a tubular easier than any other method I've tried. I stick to relatively bulletproof tires like Conti sprinter gatorskins or Grand Prix 4000's and the roads up here are kept pretty clean compared to CA, so I haven't had a puncture in the past year. However, I did have to pull one off a rim I'd just built with one spoke head in when it should have been head out. Little embarrassed that I didn't catch it until I'd mounted the tire and given it 48 hours to set up. Yes, it was difficult to get the first few inches rolled off, but nothing that'd blister a thumb. After that, the tire and tape pulled cleanly off the rim with less effort than a glue job. The tape came off with the tire, leaving a clean rim surface. On the road situation, I'd simply mount the replacement tire dry and take it easy on the way home. Even on a dry rim, a properly inflated tubular will stay put unless severely provoked. At least that's been my experience. YMMV

What I don't understand is why they couldn't have given it a better name than "carrion"

fietsbob

The tire maker covers the stitching with a glued on tape.

scott967

I've been using the Carogna as it's difficult to get glue in Hawaii (no one will ship it to you and only one LBS carried glue and that was Continental which I wasn't excited about). Have had zero problems with it just it's kind of expensive. The maker says to mount a spare dry and just be very careful going home in "limp back" mode. I carry sealant and have never had to change a tire on the road, don't even bother carrying one now. I have pulled tires and getting the tape off of the basetape is a bit of a chore. (I run Veloflex Arenberg 25s).

scott s.
.

mackgoo

I've been using tape for close to 20 years now. I've never had an issue. I use Tufo.

woodcraft

$20 to mount 2 tires? Ouch.

bikemig 

I've ended up with more old tubular wheels than I care to admit to. They keep showing up on old bikes, . It has been a long time since I've glued a set of tubulars and, in spite of the price, this tape seems like a good solution. There's a lot to be said for tubulars if riding an old racing bike.

mackgoo

I would like to find the best tape that facilitates changing on the road.