Tubeless Tape

Some really good tips in here. I especially like the gorilla tape patch for spoke replacement, and using a new piece for glue removal. 

I've not had to shorten my ARD yet but it's only been a couple of months.  Assuming that since I'm running mine with a 2.8 which is the widest they advise using the ARD with, if anything is prone to rattle my setup will be. That said especially with the gorilla tape being thicker, the ARD fits fairly snug on the rim bed so I guess we'll see.

Thanks for the ARD side conversation. I plan to install front/rear on a 2.5 DHF, 2.3 Aggressor (soon to be DHR2), so we shall see. My initial test-fit looked to be big, so I will likely cut them down to snug them up right off the start.

Those will not work or they might. No tubeless bead on the tire. Its not worth the hearing loss...or worse.

I'm  new to this thread - 

I've been on tubeless since 2010 and started with split tube then ended up ditching the tubes and running Gorilla tape.  I always run schradder valves but that's a different discussion.

I've previously used 25mm wide Gorilla tape on a 30mm ID rim.  The tape partially covers the bead seat  and it generally seals up fine.  Removing tyres can be a PITA as the tape bunches up against the inside of the bead therefore pushing the bead into the drop centre can be difficult on tight tyres (like the WTBs i've recently changed).

I changed a set of tyres over the weekend and used 3 wraps of electrical tape which is 18mm wide (maybe 19mm) and it doesn't cover the bead seat (only the drop centre).  I am hoping that as the bead will not interfere with the tape it will last longer than the wider Gorilla tape and I can change tyres without having to re-tape and re-installing the valve.  Ideally I want something that will last a while.

Has anyone tried Tesa 4289 tape as this looks good.

I've been doing a lot of wheel and tire swapping this year and despite all of my previous bitching  about Stan's,  I've been having very good luck. 

The secret? 33mm tape on 30mm inside width rims. I know. I was dubious as well but a guy at corsa convinced me to try it  and I'm glad I did.

Basically with the wider tap the sealing is happening at the edges of the tape, where the bead of the tire sits. What this means if you can actually be pretty sloppy when installing it, just stretch it some and make sure the edges are reasonably smooth.  

The middle section more directly above the spoke holes doesn't  matter since the sealing interface is a sandwich of rim/tape/tire and that bit has a lot of pressure squishing the sandwich together.  

I'm like 4 for 4 using Stan's 33 on 30mm rims. I'm still not saying it's great tape but it's easy to get which counts for a lot these days and this approach has been reliable. I still try to stretch it onto the rim with as much tension as I can apply.

Posted by: fartymarty

Has anyone tried Tesa 4289 tape as this looks good.

Just ordered some, will try it! At $7/roll it looks promising.

Ditto.  £4 + £7 postage!!!

4289 is same as Stan's supposedly? Then again, at <$1/ft name brand tape isn't all *that* expensive. I've got a 33ft roll of DTSwiss tape here that was $25 full retail, my other roll of Orange tape was cheaper.

@Kenny Yup tape wide enough to cover edge to edge is how I've been taping for the last few years too, lasts through several tire changes.

Gorilla tape was a complete waste of my time, wish I'd skipped that era.

Gorilla Tape works great, if you're taping your buddy's rim and he's not going to reimburse you for tape costs and you're not going to have to clean up the wasteland of adhesive left behind.

"You just taped ONE RIM, and it costs HOW MUCH for a metre of tape?__" kinds of conversations can be easily avoided by keeping a roll of Gorilla Tape on the rack for just such a situation.

I'm hoping that Tesa 4289 is the same as Stans. I like how easily tire beads slide on it. Limited widths available though.

ProTip: 1 wrap of  Gorilla Tape then 2 wraps of electric (each wrap to a sidewall).

I find it fascinating how different peoples impressions of Gorilla Tape are. Same product, virtually same use, totally different impressions. 

Personally, I use it. If I happen to have Stans and I’m doing a new rim then I use that but otherwise it’s Gorilla Tape all the way. 

🤷🏼‍♂️

I ordered some 4288 from ULine and it arrived next day.  12 60 yard rolls for less than the cost of one new from Dunbar.  Yeah, 4288.. I'm interested to see if the stretchier it is the easier it is to stick to the rim.

Reductimat, I'm assuming you order the 1" or 2" rolls of 4288 from Uline? Then double wrap (for 1") or cut the roll to size first (for 2")? If it works out, it would definitely be the bulk way to go.

Posted by: ReductiMat

I ordered some 4288 from ULine and it arrived next day.  12 60 yard rolls for less than the cost of one new from Dunbar.  Yeah, 4288.. I'm interested to see if the stretchier it is the easier it is to stick to the rim.

cheap! may have to give this a go. sounds like the thinner 4288 works better than the (stans) 4289 because of said ability to conform to the rim. 

damn, people are making fat margins rebranding a roll of tape...