So, I'm expecting my warranty replacement frame later this week and need to protect from stone chips and the likes.

Can anyone recommend the best place (read cheapest) to buy copter tape from?

either get the proper stuff from justridingalong.co.uk or go down to bnq and buy some window repair tape. it's ok, not as good as copter tape but not the same price either. horses for courses.

I've just used some clear Duct Tape and it appears to be great (and near-on invisible) – plus you get a mile or so of it on a roll… Can't find it in the UK though, which might be an issue…

I bought 15m of the stuff for the same price as you can buy a few patches at CRC. Somewhere on STW posted a link to the website but I'm struggling to find it.

A mate of mine runs this company :

Racers Tape

I've used the stuff and it's pretty darned good.