Tubs - Glue or tape

canoas

Have a friend who says Effetto Mariposa Tub glue tape is stronger and better than rim cement with heat dissipation and of course easy to apply than cement. I always thought glue/cement was better than tub tape, especially if you are bombing down mountain decent's and need hard braking for heat issues, less chance of tyre coming off (though extremely rare, much more likely on tubeless than tubs). Whilst tubs are kinda rarely used these days, there are some wheel bargains out there, especially rim brake wheels. I brought a recent pair of carbon rim tubs for a bargain price, new, and used have Conti Competition with cement, I just love them better than clinchers or tubeless. Cement can get messy and annoying to get off etc and prepare, I might switch to this tape when tyres need changing........any feedabck between both tape & glue would be great!

pippi_langsamer-2

Not used tubs for years, but always used glue/ cement from a tin. I don't think the bonding characteristics (or heat dissipation), are likely much different, but my sole reason for not using tape was the difficulty in removing the stuff "when" you needed to.

No doubt things have changed, and maybe tape is now much better when trying to remove, but the old stuff just made a right mess leaving glue and fabric behind on the rim. With glue, you don't even need to remove the stuff- at least for a few applications/ tyre changes. After the initial glue application, a thinner layer thereafter when changing tyres was enough to partially dissolve the older glue and form a new (even stronger) bond.

Is glue messier? Potentially, but IMO it also allows you to seat the tyre better as it remains partially tacky for a short period of time as you fit the tyre onto the rim.

I also used to use some electrical tape and masked-off the side of the rim circumference right up to the outside edge of the brake-track. Saved a lot of mess with glue on the carbon rims when trying to get the glued tub over onto the rim and that tough final tight bit. Electrical tape is good as it deforms enough to let you follow the curve of the rim well in one go.

sungod

i've used glue for years, once you've done your first couple of wheels it's easy imo
rarely get glue on the brake track, maybe a dab if i'm hurrying, but it's easy to remove with acetone

long ago there was in-depth testing of different glues (including vittoria and conti) and tape (tufo) for road use (as opposed to cx) by people at kansas university

the winner on every test was vittoria mastik'one...

better adhesion, including at high temperature
lower coefficient of rolling resistance

another plus side with glue is you can carry a spare pre-glued (well dried) tub, i use one of the really light tufo ones, if you get a flat just pull off the flat tub, fit the spare and under pressure the old glue will easily stick well enough to ride home (no heroic braking/cornering though)