I have a set of wheel which I had built in 1980 or so... Campy NR hubs, Ambrosio Elite Durex rims, DT spokes. I had never had any problems with these wheels until I changed tires about 5 years ago, and started getting flats quite often. The punctures were always on the rim side of the tube.





The rim tape was 10 or 11mm Velox. I started riding another set of wheels so had not messed with these since then. I wanted to use some wider tires (700x28) so decided to give these another shot. I replaced the rim strip with the same new Velox. In 6 rides, so far, I've had 2 flats, one the first ride. Here is the location of today's flat:



Here is some 17mm Velox on the rim. Seems too wide:



Any suggestions?

What's that black quarter moon on the rim right where you have the puncture? (3rd photo, left of the "N").

If it's the edge of a spoke hole, it needs to be covered. Your rim tape seems wide enough, and this is the only spot I see, so maybe a small strip of filament tape over it will do the trick.

The spoke holes are offset, so are difficult to cover fully with the 11mm. Kind of have to zig-zag the tape from side to side to get them. I wonder if putting a second strip on of some kind (or filament tape all the way around) would be a good idea?

i've had more punctures due to slipping velox tape than for any other reason, except possibly thorns. offset spoke holes make it even worse. the tape seems to slip, exposing the spoke holes.

recently i've resorted to using johnson and johnson narrow adhesive tape (two wraps). so far so good!

huey

I'd chuck the Velox tape, and use 3/4" filament tape, or 2 turns of narrower tape overlapped in the middle. It's critical that the holes are completely covered, or why bother at all.

Good idea on the johnson and johnson stuff... even have some of it here. I'll try a couple of layers over the velox and see how that does. The J&J is kind of thin (thickness).

ya, 100 psi blew through one layer...

17mm Velox looks fine to me. I have had two plastic tapes fail on me on the same ride, so I don't consider anything other than Velox now. In your case, a little inconvenience re mounting tires sure beats having to fix flats resulting from failed rim tapes, I would think.

Or you could get a little creative and trim a little piece lenght-wise from both ends of the 17mm tape with a really sharp blade.

Same here. My solution is Rox Ultralight rim strips, available at Excel Sports online and other fine shops. Cheaper than Velox, too.

Too much buildup of rim strip material can make it difficult to mount tires with tight beads. And that can cause more rim strip movement.

I got the tire on fine, and rode 5 miles with no problem. The J&J is thinner than the Velox, so not much buildup.

Thanks for the pointer to the Rox strips. If I continue having problems, I may give these a shot. I will take extra weight over flats any day though

Has anyone ever tried the spoke hole plugs, such as the Velocity ones shown on Excel Sports?
https://www.excelsports.com/main.asp?...jor=1&minor=38