Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hi all,

Bought some new wheels, but want to fit cloth wheeltape to them. Velox appears to be the go, but I'm unsure on what width to pick.

Options are for 10mm, 17mm or 19mm tubes.

Thanks!

17mm is the magic number.

The Shimano blue plastic rim tape is 18mm wide. Stick with it.

biker jk wrote:The Shimano blue plastic rim tape is 18mm wide. Stick with it.

I've heard bad things about it. All good for descending etc?

boss wrote:

biker jk wrote:The Shimano blue plastic rim tape is 18mm wide. Stick with it.

I've heard bad things about it. All good for descending etc?

There's nothing wrong with Shimano rim tape. I've had three sets of Shimano wheels with the tape and no problems at all (C24, RS80s, RS20)

I have had no problems with it either.

The only gripe I've had with the blue shimano plastic tape is where it joined, as it can be quite rough and abrasive. I've had the heat welded plastic join wear through tubes near the valve stems causing flats. I ended up replacing with cloth, but I ran then for ages, with a piece of rubber tube as extra protection around the valve area

I'll stick with it then.

I had read that the tape deforms, leaving with imprints of spoke holes on the underside of the tube, which can cause blowouts.

I'll just put a little bit of electrical tape over the join.

Using 17mm tape risks exposing a spoke hole to the tube since the rims are offset drilled and the 18mm wide tape only clears the spoke hole by millimetres on the non-drive side.

boss wrote:I'll stick with it then.

I had read that the tape deforms, leaving with imprints of spoke holes on the underside of the tube, which can cause blowouts.

I'll just put a little bit of electrical tape over the join.

Yes, the cheap crappy plastic rim tape supplied OEM with some wheels can do that. But quality rim tapes such as those made by Shimano, Specialized amd Schwalbe don't fail. I prefer them to Velox anytime.

I've had several sets of Shimano rims with the blue tape. Once (only) I thought the join was causing punctures, so I put a bit of electrical tape over it. No more issues after that.

boss wrote:I'll stick with it then.

I had read that the tape deforms, leaving with imprints of spoke holes on the underside of the tube, which can cause blowouts.

I'll just put a little bit of electrical tape over the join.

Yes it does deform and leave imprints of the spoke holes ( certainly does on my latex tubes, which of course you are running as what would be the point of a standard tube in such a lovely wheel )... but a slight dimple / pimple on your tube isn't going to cause a puncture.
I had my C50's front wheel on the whole 2011 Tour de France ... some big descents there... not issues at all. I think people are commenting more about the after market plastic rim tapes you can buy.