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Old 04-17-14, 06:39 PM
  #11  
Drew Eckhardt 
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Mountain View, CA USA and Golden, CO USA
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Bikes: 97 Litespeed, 50-39-30x13-26 10 cogs, Campagnolo Ultrashift, retroreflective rims on SON28/PowerTap hubs

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Ok, I tried the Kapton tape (two times around in the truing stand plus 2" of overlap).

It ROCKS.

I didn't need tools to mount a brand new 25mm Continental GP4000S on a Velocity Fusion which was tighter than the Kinlin XR300 I used in the last wheel I build. A used GP4000S was fine on the back wheel too.

Unlike strapping tape it peels off with no residue, and strength should be uniform length and width-wise.

I used the 3/4" tape. I tried trimming the first one to width but that was too much work and didn't seem to affect the tire seating correctly. Next time I'll see how the 5/8" goes.

Out of curiosity I looked at cost - 622mm is 24.5 inches, so with a couple inches of overlap each wheel takes 156 inches and there are 8 wheels in a 36 yard roll which is $1.50 a wheel or $3 a pair.

That's less expensive than anything else except packing tape - Velox is $3 a wheel, and the 36 yard roll goes 3.6X farther than a 10 yard roll of Stan's for about the same price.

The first 26 miles were trouble free and with nothing to abrade the tube or fibers to fray I expect it'll last.

FWIW, this is the same stuff American Classic, Fun Works, and other companies sell for tubeless installations after applying a comfortable (3-4X) markup. American Classic suggests a base layer + 2 wraps, Fun Works 2 wraps. YMMV.

Last edited by Drew Eckhardt; 04-17-14 at 11:55 PM.
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