Need to redo one of my DT Swiss M1700 wheels but looking at all the different manufacturers offerings, there are wildly varying reviews on all of them. These range from the best ever to the worst, non-sealing rubbish...
Any real world recommendations please?
I've used Stans, WTB and a couple of others. For my fatbike wheels I used black electrical tape. I don't think it makes much difference, especially if you fit tape that's slightly wider than the internal rim diameter anyway.
Tessa 4289 tape, £8 for 66m
I've used Stans, WTB and Muc-Off with no snags. All seem comparable, for me it's leaving the wheel overnight with a tube in it pumped up hard that seems to ensure the rim tape really gets pushed on.
Scratch that, go with jimmy748, that's a bargain if you're using a lot (I have found rim tape doesn't store that well).
specialized make rim strips that are reusable. i’ve found them to be very good. and cheap.
edit https://www.freeborn.co.uk/specialized-2bliss-ready-rim-strip-29-x-31mm
I like the Newmen rim strips
Currently using Gorilla tape after an emergency spoke replacement meant I had to strip off the existing rim tape. Couldn't get WTB tape to stick to the rim for love nor money.
I used Muc-off rim tape very recently on the basis it was the best value on Amazon. Was easier to use than Stans (slightly more stretchy) and decent adhesion, all worked and did the job. Would recommend.
I think prepping the rim and applying correctly are the key, you need to put some effort in to make it work but will be worth it and should last a long time.
Damn just bought some Stans.
I didn’t realise Tesa did it. Though I was wondering if there was any industrial tape that would do the job.
There is and now I know. Thanks.
Had very good results with Tesa 4289 so would recommend.
Waiting on some Tesa 4288 from ebay, got this version as it did the rim width I wanted/couldn't find 28mm in 4289.
Plus 1 for Tesa tape. @Bullet I've about 50m I don't need if your passing J25 M25... 🙂
@Kryton57 thanks for the offer but no plans to go that way for a while. Sounds like the TESA tape is the way to go though 😀
Electrical tape is better than any of the official bike stuff and cheap as chips. If you’re feeling fancy you can splurge on some Gorilla Tape which is what Enve used to recommend for their bikes (I believe they even used to ship with it prec-cut to the correct width at one stage.
Just put a few wraps on (as much as you need to cover all the holes and go for it. Never failed me
I have used tesa/satns but found the muc off tape easier to apply and more resitant to damage when changing tires
Gorilla tape....
Gorilla tape 🦍
Gorilla tape works great at sealing but it is ****ing horrendous to take off, I'll never have it on a bike again. (the clear stuff is better but doesn't come in nice widths)
Quality PVC electric tape for me, 2 wraps of. Weighs nothing, costs nothing, comes in lots of widths (and colours!) and works fantastically. I've tried pretty much everything else and I'll not go back.
That rim is pretty much on the cusp of where you can use the width to your advantage, with taping- I think it's a fully welded rim, and the inner valley is probably wide enough that you can tape just that, and not the edges. It's a bit unintuitive after years of it being so important to get right across the rim, but it's way better ime- simply because the tyre sits on the metal not the tape, and so when you change tyres, it can't push the tape over, no matter how sticky it's all got. IME that's not the case with anything else- sooner or later it'll get glued to a tyre and damaged when you change it.