Rim tape..Will Electrical insulation tape do?

jc4lab

Have a Brompton with Marathon tyres but still get the odd punctures over bad bumpsa so want to replace the rim tape that covers the spokes on the inside of the tyre to see if that helps.
Will old electrical insulation tape do or do yoy need special rim tape..

dawebbo

Rim tape is a bit thicker than insulation tape, not sure if insulation tape would shield the drilled out bits on the rim sufficiently.

Rim tape costs about £2 anyway, so why chance it?

Herbsman

Having used it many times in the past, I can definitely say buy proper rim tape.

geoff_ss

Are the punctures happening on the inside of the tube? If they're not, then changing the rim tape won't help.

The only time I've had trouble with internal punctures was on the rear wheel of our tandem when we were in Spain. We'd spend most of the day climbing into the mountains from the coast and on the fast descents on bumpy roads in the afternoon we got a puncture somewhere. I cured it by using a stack of insulating tape, so it will work but proper rim tape is better - there's a thick sticky-backed one which I usually use - Velox?

Yossie

Yes - insulation tape works perfectly if you wrap it a few times round: I've used it for years with no issues.

John.T

If you are getting punctures on bumps they are probably pinch flats which are due to low tyre pressures, not rim tapes.

redvee

Yossie wrote:

Yes - insulation tape works perfectly if you wrap it a few times round: I've used it for years with no issues.

Another cheapskate here, mine is green/yellow striped at the mo. Got plenty of the stuff to use.

maddog 2

3M crossweave is much tougher

you can even run tubeless with it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-x-ROLL-19mm ... 29fcf873b0

nicklouse

so go for the lightest wheels you can afford, the lightest tube and tyres you can get and then add extra weight by using insulting tape.

rim tape is cheep and light and does not distort.

But anything can work.

ColinJ

I went for a ride with someone once whose bike started to have numerous punctures, and eventually he ran out of tubes and patches. It turned out that the insulating tape he'd used as rim tape had split and shifted in about 6 places simultaneously. He'd had no problem with it for 5 years or so, then suddenly - bam - it was useless!

He had to abandon the ride and get a train home.

PS It struck me later that we could perhaps have used one of the scrap tubes as a temporary rim tape for the remainder of the ride. Rip the valve out of it and lay it down under a good tube.

Herbsman

Good rim tape is cheap and does the job way better than electrical tape does.

Nuggs

+1 for proper rim tape.

Velox tape is good stuff and cheap as chips...

My guess is that it's not your rim tape which is a problem though. Either not enough pressure in the tyres (which would explain punctures when going over bumps) or you have some debris stuck in the tyres which needs removing.

What pressure do you run your tyres at?

anto164

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... odelID=426

Best rim tape i've ever used. It costs less than a replacement tube per wheel

maddog 2

if cheapness is the issue then nothing can touch my suggestion.

mz__jo

If you are getting regular punctures on the inside of the tube, check if they always happen in about the same place. If this is the case and there is no obvious cause check the joint in the rim. It could have pulled apart if it is a pressed joint (or cracked if it is welded). If so the moment you start to make the rim work (on hills or accelerating in traffic) the joint will move and wear holes in your tube quicker than you can imagine. Happened to me, punctures every 20kms on the flat going easy, every 4 kms if there were hills (on new tubes as well). In this case scrap the rim!
Proper rim tape (particularly cloth tape like Velox or Zefal) goes for years without wearing out.

mroli

My mate told me that he had had a problem with insulating tape recently - he had been doing a ride in the Cotswolds and had been braking heavily going down hill. Apparently what happened was that the insulating tape he had used as rim tape heated as the rims heated to the stage where it actually melted, split, the spoke came through and "pop". He didn't notice when he changed tyres the first time - only when he put a fresh inner in and "pop" again.

I have bought rim tape and am checking my rims!