garth

A mechanic, store owner that I respect told me that I am really missing out if I stick with Velox rim tape for my road bikes. He says that it is thick, so that it makes mounting tires harder. It absorbs moisture weighing things down. He says it weighs much more than strapping tape, and is less reliable for double walled rims as well. A tire mounted with strapping tape will have more air and less rim tape reducing rolling resistance. Has anyone experienced this?

Garth

joejack951

Strapping tape is only very strong in tension. It's puncture resistance (what rim tape is designed for) is about as good as any other packaging tape = not very good. The only use on a bike I've found for strapping tape is for holding the brake cables to the handlebars on my road bike.

TomM

I am not a mechanic but doesn't rolling resistance affected by tire pressure not the volume of air contained in a tire?

Mchaz

Yup. More volume can help with the amount of vibrations absorbed by the tire, but I doubt the slightly increased volume from thinner tape would make a noticable difference.

zip22

my guess is he was talking about the weight

i have also heard that strapping tape has negatives. like getting old and breaking, and being a pain to remove.

dobber

When is tape expected to work in compression?

I found strapping tape to be a suitable substitute for rim tape. You can overcome the problems with removal by place a layer of electrical tape beneath it.

But for a couple bucks, you can get proper rim tape. I make a point of keeping a couple rolls handy.

joejack951

In the next line of my post I mention that strapping tape, like other normal tapes, has low puncture resistance. I didn't mention anything about compression.

CBolt

Are you guys talking about the tape that has threads running lenghtwise? or the thick plastic stuff that comes on new bikes? Two layers of electrical tape works for me.

TomM

I am assuming it's the plastic stuff. I was surprised to see plastic on the rims of my new bike last year. The electrical tape sounds like a good idea.

HillRider

There are several substitutes for Velox or other "real" rim tapes but Velox works so well, is easy to apply and remove and never fails that the "advantages" of any substitute are hard to see.

Strapping tape is very strong lengthwise but weak laterally (sideways) so a couple of layers are the minimum. It is hard to apply and worse to remove. Electrical tape is pretty weak overall and tends to leave a sticky residue. Yeah, any of these work after a fashion but why bother?

well biked

First of all, I'll say I really like Velox and use it on all my rims except two. The two rims I don't use Velox on are Mavic X517's, set up with the Stan's tubeless sytem for my mountain bike. The first thing you do with the Stan's system is get rid of your old rim tape and put strapping tape (filament type) on in its place. The purpose is to get a fairly good seal at the spoke holes, although it's far from a perfect seal. Then you put the rubber rim strip on, mount the tire on one side, add the sealant, etc., etc. The reason I bring this up is that I installed this sytem three years ago on these wheels, and have used at least three different sets of tires on these rims with this system. The same strapping tape has been in there the whole time, I've added sealant periodically as the instructions suggest, but it's been pretty amazing to me that the strapping tape has held up as well as it has. And although I haven't ridden with these wheels much in the last several months, before that I put thousands of miles on them, all off-road, and have never had a flat with the Stan's system! So as a small part of this system, strapping tape definitely does its part.........and I realize this little story does very little to prove or disprove the merits of strapping tape in a more conventional setup. But I can tell you from experience it will stay put for three years, even with liquid latex sealant sloshing around on it.

Chongo

I found it works fine for mountain bike wheels, but not for road wheels because of the higher pressure. And yes, it is a pain to remove -- especially if it's wet.

powers2b

Get a new mechanic.

Enjoy

cyccommute 

Here's another: The fiberglass used to give it strength coming loose and puncturing tires. I've talked with someone who used strapping tape who had this problem and, taking his sage advice, never tried it.

Velox tape, and other rim tape brands, have an adhesive that isn't too sticky so it doesn't leave a lot of residue behind. That's the major problem with using tapes that are meant to be sticky like duct tape and electrical tape. The adhesive layer is very think and tacky. In the high pressure environment of a tire, the adhesive will be squeezed out from under the backing and end up on the tube and tire making cleanup a nightmare. Stick with Velox

capwater

Velox (or even Performance knock off) is so cheap. Find other things to worry about.

Olebiker

If he is having trouble mounting tires because of rim tape he is using tape that is too wide. I wouldn't trust this guy with any of my bikes.

2manybikes

Velox does not stretch as much under high pressure. It's better with high pressure tires.

Velox is thicker and provides a better cusion if there is a burr or a spoke head that is sharp.

The adhesive on the Velox is made so you can easily remove it to repair a broken spoke or a stripped nipple, and yet you can re-use it later with no problems.

The packing tape I have seen breaks apart and leaves pieces of tape and strong glue behind when it gets old, and one tries to remove it.

garth

Well I did it. I decided that using one layer is a better experiment than two, because I want to get the full effect of lighter weight and more air. Boy is it easier to mount a tire. So far it's been inflated for an hour and no flat. (just sitting on my wall). Here is the essence of my experiment. My ridding buddy has regularly been able to beat me by 150 feet on a five mile sprint (time trial type deal). First I started taking two cups of strong black coffee before our 25 mile rides. Immediately I was able to reduce his lead to 70 feet and sometimes even pull even. I did the strapping tape and eliminated the stem nuts at a total saving of 25 grams. (for both wheels). My calculator puts a one ounce saving off the revolving weight of wheels at 40 feet per five miles (our usual morning challenge). The same calculator shows no appreciable gain of speed for one ounce off the weight of the bike itself (even on climbs it shows no real advantage). I know that there are a million variables in a weekly race between two human machines. (mood, diet, health, luck, sleep....). BUT when two guys are so equally matched, one starts to look for any little advantage that there is to find. There are days when he is doing everything he can to get an inch and I am doing the same. It's days like this when one wishes he an extra millionth of an available horsepower which might translate into one extra turn of the cranks in a five mile race.

Garth

cyclotoine

i used cloth athlete's tape, seems to work fine

San Rensho 

2 layers of duct tape works good too.

Rev.Chuck

Many shops have a cabinet, in the back, with Voodoo dolls in it for the guys that bring in damaged wheels with packing or duct tape on them. A nasty hassle they be.

Roll'n Thunder

I've never seen/used the voodoo doll method, but I have seen more then one service manager apply the oft used "Idiot tax" when calculating the bill of a duct/packing tape user.

Sluggo

Strapping tape works for a while, but it splits eventually, because there are no woof threads to hold it together. When that happens, you get a flat and you need to replace your tape.

Al1943

I use Velox on all of my rims but there is one downside, that's the part about soaking up water and holding water in the nipple/eyelet area. I always avoid water on the road for a variety of reason.

If you want to beat this guy you need to work on aerodynamics, body postion primarily, equipment secondarily.

Al