Originally Posted by
msu2001la
Thanks for all the tips. This thread has been helpful and also built my confidence enough to give these tires another try... maybe.
I do have one more question:
I noticed on my front wheel a small nick in the rim tape right on top of one of the spoke holes. I have a feeling the nick was caused by using a tire lever. I couldn't tell if the tape was actually cut through or if it was just a dent in the tape, but the front wheel was not leaking any air with my previous tires, so if there was a hole it got plugged up with sealant (or the nick was something that happened as I was removing the old tires).
Should I replace the tape? I've never installed tubeless tape and I'm worried I'll just make it worse, but I suppose I need to learn to do this eventually anyway. Also I cannot imagine how frustrating it would be to get the tire finally seated, only to find a leak at one of the spoke holes.
If I'm replacing the tape should I just assume that the width that came pre-installed on the wheels is the correct width? The tape that is on there covers the spoke holes in the center channel, but does not extend all the way to the edges. On the interwebs I'm seeing tape installs that go all the way to the edge, but also some forums suggesting this isn't always needed and narrower tape covering the holes is better.
Any suggestions?
You say your bike has stock wheels that are tubeless ready. That’s good. What brand of rims are they? Do you know the interior rim width from the outside of the tubeless shelf on each side in milliners? This is a helpful measurement to have. It helps with making a good choice for tubeless tape. If the dimension is, say - 18.5mm then the tape should be 3 or 4 mm wider in order to cover the rounded inner part of the extrusion better and still nearly to the rim shelf or to cover the rim shelf. Your choice might have to be dictated by trial and error. Obviously your goal is to mount the tire in a confidence ins;Irving way where the air loss from day to day is hopefully better than your typical latex tubes set-up.