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Current wheels were already taped and my previous bike pre-dated tubeless by a decade, so please forgive any stupidity here.
I've just bought some Hope 35W wheels. They come with a roll each of standard cloth tape. Question is, do I need to put this under the tubeless tape or is it not necessary when going tubeless?
The other questions is - does duct tape work as tubeless tape or am I better off using something like Gorilla tape?
Cheers,
JP
There's no need for the cloth tape. Duct tape may well work. Give it go, do a couple of rounds and pump it up. If you slather the rim with soapy water when you pump it up you'll see the air coming out as it makes bubbles. I just use a dustpan brush dipped in soapy water. No more bubbles and tyre stays inflated over night? You've won.
Cheers!
JP
Isn't gorilla just a brand of duct tape? It's pretty reliable IME, but prob any similar duct tape would work. Quite easy to cut to the right width with a Stanley knife if your roll is too wide etc.
What has not worked for me is black electrical tape, although that's usually narrower than 35mm so something you might try on a road or cx rim. Some folk report good results with it though.
Only problem with duck/gorilla tape is taking it off afterward to say fix a spoke.
I use tesa 4289 tape, which is stans tape in all but name and price!
66m is about 12 quid. Stans is the same for about 10m..... just ebay it.
Gorilla tape isn't standard duct tape. It's much heavier in its construction and presumably its ability to retain air/seal your rim. The adhesive is also more... adhesivey.
The Tesa tape mentioned above +1
+1 on tesa tape, if you’ve had to remove gorilla tape then it’s a timely business and my fingers and nails were broken and red raw. Never again
OK - thanks everyone.
JP
Whereas conversely I found Tesa tape to be a total ****ing ballache, even when warmed, and have never had any issues removing Gorilla tape. Just slowly pull it and it leaves barely any residue. Which comes off quite easily with IPA anyways
You might find that standard duct tape starts to delaminate over time. Happened to me. No issues using Gorilla handy roll on my Hope 35W rims.