Rim Tape Movement ???
 

After six rear flats in the last three weeks on our Burley Rumba we puchased over the winter, I am asking for some advise. After purchasing in November and one rear flat on a 5 mile test ride in the winter I removed the 700 x 28 old Conti gum wall tires last month before riding season and installed new tubes and new Conti Ultra Sports in 700 x 25 because that was the original size tire for the bike.

Up until last week I had five flats on the rear tire always about 15 - 20 miles out with the result being one small hole in the tube on the rim side. After reading many posts I realized for sure I was in the wrong tire. I bought two new Conti Ultra Gatorskins in 700 x 28 and more tubes. I showed my rim to a mechanic and we found a area where the rim tape had only covered about 95% of "one" spoke hole. I felt like we found the problem. Installed new Velox rim tape on the rear wheel new tubes on front and back and the new Ultra Gatorskins.

Went for a ride yesterday, again 15 miles and a rear flat but this time only a mile from the truck. After calling a couple of fellow riders on my drive home I stopped by a road racers home and we carefully dismounted the tire and tube to pay attention to locations and positions to find the cause. Suprise, the new Velox "adhesive" backed rim tape has moved over to the natural center radius of the rim again and exposing "two" partial spoke holes and I have two small holes in my new tube this time.

I went to a bike mechanic this morning and he sold me a roll of 22mm Velox, It fit beautiful until I got about six inches from where I started and I was out of tape. It is obviously for a 26" rim. Now it is going to be in the 70's today and I am pulling my hair out.

If you are willing to give me advise, here are some answers to some of the questions you might ask:

1. Team weight is about 350 lbs.
2. Rims are Bontrager Fairlane (spoke holes in rims are all off center to the one side)
3. Never had a flat on the front, it still has the original Velox rim tape.
4. No, I never tried glue in addition to the self adhesive. Please advise.
5. The tape is 17mm wide, the 22mm that I tried this a.m. fits perfect but not long enough.
6. No. I have not ran electrical tape on the side next to the rim tape. Please advise.

Rumba Team

I've had two punctures due to rim tapes, both because of poor quality tapes. Both happened during fast descents.

Have you tried double layering your rim tapes?

For no more than it costs I'd buy 3 rolls of 22mm Velox and redo both wheels. Ideally you'd like for your rim tape to cover completely from flange to flange.

Good Idea, should I overlap the tape or lay the splice piece in the perfect length?

I'm not sure why your roll of 22mm wide Velox tape came up short; it's usually packaged in rolls that are 2 meters / 78 inches long. The 22mm tape 'should' work.

That's what I thought too but I can't remember using 22mm Velox for anything but 26" mountain bike wheels. At any rate, the OP's experience is what it is. Any problem that you can solve for $4.00 or $5.00 isn't much of a problem.

Overlap

i had this problem also with velox tape. i went to the lbs with the problem and got an alternative. its similar to a large rubber band that stretches around the rim, but has no adhesive, and it works beautifully...id go to your lbs and ask for something like that. i know vittoria makes some, but i dont know any others.

You and I are going to disagree on this one.

What tire pressure do you run?

Creeping
 

I've had rimstrips creep also.My current effort at controlling this is I clean the rim bed with low odor mineral spirits to remove the grease/hand oils that are left after I build a wheel.

I've thought about trying to trim a 22mm rim strip roll down to 19 or so, but I can't decide on a good method.I don't like it up in the hook bead area.

Another choice . . .
Throw away the rimtape!
Install Veloplugs. Pop a Veloplug in each rim hole.
Lighter and less messy than rimtape. Re-usable. Easier to mount tire as Veloplug takes up less room than rimtape.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

I can't remember where but I read that those work great for Velocity rims but not for anything else.
Either BF or Serotta forums.

120 psi front and back

:( really? bad experience? after putting mine on, i actually was not very trusting of it because of the way it sat, but havent gotten a flat from the spokes poking through since doing it. i was getting them twice a week with velox tape.

Could you post a photo of the rim? With a ruler for reference? Something is odd here. My initial reaction is "get the right rim tape", but after 5 flats, if you haven't done that...

Using the Veloplugs on Velocity Aerohead rims on tandem and on Topolino rims on single bike.
Plugs can be expanded a bit as it has 4 tabs that can be tweaked on the underside of the Veloplug to fit rim holes. It is a perfect/no-fuss-fit on Velocity rims.

Michelin and other plastic rim tapeswork fine as long as you install them carefully then leave them alone. They are a use-once product. They can fail eventually if you crease them, normally when you try to take them off then reinstall (they change colour from green to white). Velox or Ritchey lightweight cloth tape also works fine. Insulating tape is OK for MTBs but not for road bikes. It's no big deal what you use as long as it covers the rim holes properly.

That's what I thought but please think twice if using them with Mavic Open Pros. We had two rear tubes explode on us on back-to-back weekend rides on a brand new wheelset. Both standard thickness tubes had splits over 16 inches long. I think it was because the Veloplugs weren't covering enough of the eyelets' edges. Luckily, we kept the tandem upright both times but the experience certainly shook our confidence. Popped the Veloplugs out and replaced with Velox and no issues in 100+ hilly miles since then. I'll probably try the plugs on my non-eyeleted road bike rims.

Jeff

Rear tires with off center spokes can be problematic with any kind of rim tape as it is
easier for the tape to just off enough to let a tube herniate through a small gap. Wheels
with irregular bottoms can be a problem as well. I went through a series of flats til I figured
out that the hitherto successful polyurethane tape was stretched enough to let edges of
several spoke holes show. Pssss. Using 22mm tape one must be careful not to let one edge of
the tape get too close to the hook edge of the rim where it can interfere with tire seating
and resultant lift offs of the bead and booms. I used up most of my stock of repaired tubes
(5-6) in discovering these eventualities. A 19mm tape would be a good compromise.

IMHO, installing anything other than cloth tape like Velox in the appropriate width for the spoke bed on tandem rims is imprudent.

The only exception that would come to mind is if you happen to buy a tandem wheelset that comes with one of the lighter-weight plastic rim strips pre-installed, e.g., what you'll find on a Rolf Prima Vigor tandem wheelset. Frankly, you don't want to do anything to those wheels other than mounting tires and riding them, lest you risk voiding your warranty.

We've been known to be 'imprudent' at times and are still alive to talk about it!
vc rider . . . you certainly had harrowing experience using the Veloplugs on Open Pros! Different solutions for different rims! Experience is always the best teacher.
Years ago, in a pinch, we've used nylon strapping tape instead of rimstrip; worked great.
That's why this forum is a good info source, most of the time!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

all the velox 'should' be 2m long. frankly, i cant imagine many 700c wheels where 22mm would be appropriate. at the most you should be looking at 19mm and it should usually be the 16mm or smaller. i've never had a velox failure when i've done it myself, but i've seen a lot of rubber bands fail. my campy wheels came with the michelin plastic ones on them and have been good so far.