Viewing 18 posts - 1 through 18 (of 18 total)
  • Anybody done the duct tape ghetto tubeless method?
  • Wally
    Full Member

    u tube video of method
    Having perfected the 20″ BMX tube method thought I might give the more advanced method a go. Any advice from those who have tried it?

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    I have some stans rims sealed with duck tape, holding air fine.

    mocha
    Free Member

    does the stans rim tape have anything to do with the bead sealing or is it just to do with covering the spoke holes?

    lyons
    Free Member

    or look at ‘self amalgamating tape’. I’m going to try that myself when my new wheels come. It is often used to repair broken pipes temporarily, and make electrical joints waterproof etc. Good stuff.

    http://www.screwfix.com/prods/34666/Sealants-Adhesives/Tapes/Building-Construction-Tape/NN-Self-Amalgamating-Rubber-Tape-19mm-x-10m?cm_mmc=GoogleBase-_-Datafeed-_-Sealants%20and%20Adhesives-_-NN%20Self%20Amalgamating%20Rubber%20Tape%2019mm%20x%2010m

    A couple of layers of that should do it, plus its cheap and useful for other stuff.

    BluePalomino
    Free Member

    I have some stans rims sealed with duck tape, holding air fine.

    What sealant did you use?

    avdave2
    Full Member

    Lyons I’ve never tried any methods but having used self amalgamating tape a lot in the past you really have to stretch it to get it to work and you might find it ends up a bit narrow. I don’t know if the self fusing silicone tape might be better it’s 25mm as opposed to 19mm.

    Wally
    Full Member

    Having watched the video a little more closely I have just ordered on the bay 2 schrader screw tight schwalbe tubes £6 for 2. I will give the gorrila tape a go first.
    Always done ghetto with £2 removable core, but not screw on valves before, but I can see how the outside thread would help keep valve in place with this more minimalist method.

    Scienceofficer
    Free Member

    I used ‘elephant tape’ to do this tubeless method when I was first experimenting with DIY tubeless about 6 years ago.

    Its tricky to cut the tape the right width, leaving enough on both sides to adequately cover the spoke holes. Apart from that, its a perfectly fine method of sealing the rim, but thats all it does.

    Its completely useless at dealing with burping though, and I moved to DIY rim strips to prevent it.

    If you must use tape to go tubeless on a regular rim – you really need to do something about the burping IMO. Either use some bathroom sealant in the bead hooks, or perhaps that self amalgamating tape, to help prevent the bead coming off the rim.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    BluePalomino – Member

    I have some stans rims sealed with duck tape, holding air fine.

    What sealant did you use?

    Art shop latex.

    I didn’t watch the whole video…but a nice thing about duct tape is it rips easily in a straight line to any width. Only used it for a few months mind.

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    Scienceofficer, what do you reckon stops burping?

    its not a problem i suffer often (or at all for that matter) but have wondered how to prevent it none-the-less.

    I figured filling up the space between the rim bed and bead stopped it, as there was no slack on the bead to allow it move? The downside of course is that this makes the tyre very difficult to get on and off, but nothing some good tyre levers couldn’t cope with…

    devs
    Free Member

    Looks more of a faff than the 20″ tube method.

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    I put some Stans yellow tape on my rims yesterday, its not self almagamating. More to it than meets the eye though so worth watching the vids on notubes.

    righty
    Free Member

    i have with great success on a few sets of wheels still going strong after 6 months, i used duct tape and electrical tape and a valve cut from an old tube see here

    i never had to use washing up liquid, so from my experience he tyre rim combo has the most bearing on this stans and various contis were very easy for me

    uplink
    Free Member

    This stuff is quite good

    http://www.directa.co.uk/site/scripts/product_browse.php?product_id=1940

    Self-amalgamating tape is great but you really need to make sure it’s reasonably warm when you apply it & it could also do with being left for a few days before putting the tyre on

    Scienceofficer
    Free Member

    13th – You’re right, taking up the space between the rim bed and bead does help it to stay there a bit better, but IME non-UST or non-stans rim bead hooks don’t hold onto the tyre beads well enough under ‘high-force manoeuvres’. Typically these are on-the-piss-landings, hitting rooty or rocky stuff hard and fighting against the trail at the same time and hard,low cornering. In other words, exactly when you don’t want the tyre to suddenly go flat!

    From my observations, rims strips help to reduce the amount of times the bead unseats during riding a little, but mostly they act to stop air escaping when the bead does become unseated.

    imp999
    Free Member

    I’ve done 20″innertube Ghetto and also used Bonti rim strips.
    My thinking is that the tube strips seal against the tyre so that if the bead leaves the rim there is still a seal.
    The Bonti strips give the wheel a pseudo UST profile that fills in the area below the rim hook.
    My tyre’s beads “pinged” into place very positively when I inflated them. The down side was that I could not get them to fit my 17mm rims only my 19mm rims.
    However, never done taped rims.

    BluePalomino
    Free Member

    Watched the whole duct tape video now. I don’t see any obvious advantage over the 20″ inner tube method (except if you were desperate but had no tubes but some duct tape. In theory the 20″ tube method seems better anyway because the tube forms a single layer across the rim from bead to spoke holes to bead. Guess duct tape is lighter?

    firestarter
    Free Member

    the self malgi is good gear we used to use it for sealing up comms cable joints up the top of towers so it keeps off the water. after a while tho it hardens and goes brittle , normally takes a couple of years tho

Viewing 18 posts - 1 through 18 (of 18 total)

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