YamacrawJ

Last Sunday, I went out to jump onto my bike for a trip to the grocery store: flat front tire. "The Armadillos have failed already?!" (I have gotten new Armadillo All Condition tires [sick of flats] and new wheels in the last 3 weeks.) I got out my repair stand, pump, and otherwise used my street tools and started in on a hot afternoon on the front stoop. The 'dillos are all right. There's a hole in the tube that correlates with a roughish edge on a hole on the rim, on the side. I try filing it down. (And after the fact decided that the next time I have her torn apart, I'll wrap sandpaper around my finger and have a go.) If I had some extra rim tape, I would have covered up the holeS with that. (There are holes all the way around the rim, maybe 8" apart and each hole is about 2 mm diam.) Lacking that, I got out fabric Band-Aids and put in 3 or 4, trying to keep them from interfering with a good bead connection up by the edge of the rim. I covered up the roughest holeS that I found. I'm starting to understand why people get their own components and build up/repair their own bikes, and why, with every passing iteration, the components get more expensive.
Next Chapter: Today, I stopped by the LBS to talk over the new wheels. Repair Guy said that he liked my Band-Aid fix a lot. He popped off the tire and tube and had a look. He didn't take out any of my Band-Aids. He didn't get out a file or sandpaper. He started cutting lengths of electrical tape and covering other holes. He said he would have used duct tape if he had it. "Has fibers."
What do you all think of this fix? Should I still try filing down the edges of all of these holes next time I have the wheel torn apart? In the meantime, I'm rolling on Armadillos, Band-Aids, and electrical tape!

genericbikedude

If it ain't broke...

2manybikes

Some kinds of duct tape are hard to get off when you need to replace a spoke. Some of them leave a mess of glue all over the wheel. Some comes right off.
Why not use rim tape? It's cheap and much better. It's stronger than the band aids, especially if it gets wet. It protects better than electrical tape. I'm not saying the others won't work at all......I'm just saying that rim tape works better. It comes off later too when you need it to. That's not a coincidence. It's been designed for bike wheels.

A guy in a bike shop using electrical tape, and recommending duct tape? Sounds like a newbie.

bostontrevor

Rim tape wouldn't be appropriate in this setting since he says that it's on the side and is trying to avoid interfering with a good bead seating.

My question is why the crap is your rim full of holes apart from spokes and the valve stem hole?

2manybikes

Maybe you're right, I thought he meant the side of a spoke hole. The only thing I can think of is on some old steel rims on 70' bikes, some have small holes on the side close to where the bead would be, possibly drain or condensation prevention holes? They look like some of them were never deburred. I can't remember how far apart they are. I don't remember them being that far apart.

But he said he got new wheels in the last three weeks. I'm having a tough time understanding this wheel.
I'm totally confused.

Yamacraw- what kind of wheels on what kind of bike ?

YamacrawJ

Thanks for your input and interest. Kind of Bike: Motobécane Nomade (road bike) - $5.99 from Goodwill. Exponentially more $$$ and TLC added to get her road-worthy. I'm guessing she's from the late 1980s, judging from the old bike licenses on her. Kind of Wheels: 27", Tires: 27" x 1.25". Repair Guy said they are, in fact, "old style" steel wheels, so you're all over that, 2manybikes. They have no appreciable "hook" on the edge to clinch tires. "Sometimes old style wheels have those holes." So, yay, I'm running on 20-year-old technology. I cringe every time I pump up the 'dillos to about 118 psi, but so far everything has held.
The day I got the new wheels, I agonized over whether it was time just to get a new bike, but this old girl is my commuter, and I don't want anything too nice that I can't beat up and can't recover from if she is stolen, so I decided to go with new wheels - new holey wheels. bostontrevor, you caught that the holes are not on the flat surface where the spokes attach. Nice, cloth rim tape is in place there. The holes are maybe 1/8" up the side, and like 2many said, some of them didn't get properly deburred.
I'm just trying to figure out if I should yank all the extra crap that's now in my wheels and file down the edges of the holes. I'm trying to anticipate the goo factor of electrical tape inside a hot bike wheel. However, if I file or sand around the holes to deburr them, would it then be a good idea to seal the worked-on area somehow? With some flat finish Rust-o-leum or something? Thanks, again, for your interest, input, and righteous indignation "...why the crap..." - thanks, bostontrevor - most therapeutic!

2manybikes

It's pretty easy to deburr a hole drilled in steel with a drill bit a few sizes bigger than the hole that is already there. Do it by hand, and just spin the drill a few times while pushing into the hole. It's easier and faster than sandpaper or files. If you have room on the wheel, you might not have room.Just be sure to get all the small metal pieces out of the wheels.
look at the weld seam too, maybe it should be sanded. If you have time to paint the unplated exposed steel you can, but I would not worry about it. I think that electrical tape over the clean newly debured holes is good for the tubes, and will come off OK.
If I remember correctly Bostontrevor has had good success using electrical tape on wheels. Yes?

Have you ridden this bike much? Do you know that steel wheels provide almost no stopping power in the rain?

mike

I question that the rim holes would cause the problem. Did you check the spoke nipples to make sure that the spokes are not protruding through the nipples. In fact, on an old wheel, it would be unusual if some of the spokes were not sticking up through the spoke nipples and into the tube.

You could file those down and put a thicker layer of rim tape on.

YamacrawJ

Thank you so much for your concern, 2many. I have, in fact, figured out that wet wheels = no brakes.
Mike, I think rough edges on the rim holes are the problem based on this observation: The original flat tube had a hole, not on the rim surface that contacts spoke nipples, but on the side, exactly correlating with a rough rim hole. These are not old wheels. They are brand new steel wheels - just way old style.
Thanks, All!

bostontrevor

It's too bad your bike shop hooked you up with steel wheels. Not only are they terrible in the wet, but they're heavy as all get out besides. There are quality 27" alloy rims out there.

YamacrawJ

Thanks for the guidance, boston. I need to take charge of my own destiny rather than stroll into the LBS and trust all of the decisions that they hand out. Live & learn. This forum has certainly taken me to school!

hubs

Safety tip: Don't use a folding tire. I had a folding 27" tire pop right off an old Motobecane rim ... Fortunately I had just put it on. Duh, me. Folding tires really need that rim hook, so I've read since!!!

2manybikes

Even among steel beaded tires I have found that the older style inexpensive tires may have a more pronounced lip on the bead and stay on the old steel wheels better than a newer style lighter tire that has a little less lip on the bead. I learned the hard way too!

mike

Well, son-of-a-gun. That is interesting. I suppose when you put a lot of pressure into the tube, even the smallest blemish can become a big problem. Kinda like having an eye-lash under you eye-lid - feels like a log in your eye.