Originally Posted by
wintermute
Wow! Thanks for the very informative post! I thought this was the place people came to for help with their bikes, not the place to go for insults. You're a class act!
I'm pretty decent at working on my bikes...except for wheels - I'm pretty much useless when it comes to wheels.
You seem to have laid out the facts, discovered the problem and then written the solution in your initial post. Replace the rim tape.
It seems pretty obvious. If you are hesitant, fill your sink up with a bit of water and blow up the tube and put it in the water and see where the air comes out. Line that up to your rim and then with your tire (in the future, if you line up the logo or something with your valve stem you have a point of reference) and see if there could be something else causing the puncture like a sharp cut in the wheel material or perhaps a piece of glass stuck in the tyre.
Likely problem is bad rim tape.