I’m about to embark on helitaping my 1st bike up and want to do a decent job and get as near to total coverage as possible as I’m off to the alps with some uplifts and want to come back with the same condition bike really. Is there an easier way to go about it as I don’t really know how / where to start. Whats the best method? I’ve got 5, 10 and 20cm wide lengths. How do you deal with all those nooks and crannies?
Advice please?

It’s easy, apparently

Ah. Thats what I’m doing wrong. ❗

The bike needs to be clean and dry. Cut your tape into custom patches to fit where required. Clean the area to be patched with IPA or Meths. Get your hair dryer out and pre warm the area of the frame. Carefully peel the backing off and apply the patch warming it with your hair dryer. This will then get the tape nicely into all the nooks and crannies.

Dont bother, you’ll look at the chips,rub marks and dints with memories of your trip.

How are you likely to damage those nooks and crannies?

Cheers Mark. Hadn’t thought of the hairdryer. Am I better off cutting shapes and applying to the bike or stick the lot on and trim the excess length off the bike?

Definitely cut shapes. And don’t overdo it. Big vulnerable areas, yes; nooks and crannies, no.

Why don’t you cover the frame in padding, a bit like the stuff on box handle bars? That should keep the frame in tip top condition. Am sure some plumbers pipe lagging should fit the bill

Ive only done downtube underside/part sides and underside/sides of chainstays

For the mostpart I didnt cut out shapes, just peel off a little, stick on a little, peel back a bit more, stick on a bit more kind of thing taking care to keep it straight as you go.
If you get air bubbles gently relift and rework it to stick
I took a while over it, but couln’t be bothered doing more than bottom 2/3 of downtube/BB shell and chainstays

Only problem is my biketape/helitape? (from JustRidingAlong) seems to break/crack at the first sign of a rock strike. Maybe asking too much of it, don’t know?

Wet hands, wet tape, wet bike. Water mixed with a little baby shampoo and a 25/75 mix of IPA Water for the bits you need to stretch. I didn’t find any need for the hair dryer.

I found it a PITA on the Pitch, bendy tubes make it a nightmare to try and do whole tubes, so my advice would be just do the section of downtube exposed to the worst of the rocks, the headtube where cables rub, fork lowers and the outsides of the chainstays where your heels might catch. I’m tempted to take it off again as it looks shit.

Good vid here: http://vimeo.com/11849788 apart from annoying guitar punctuation. Use warm water and as mentioned above a hairdrier for the bendy bits.

avdave2

Wet hands, wet tape, wet bike. Water mixed with a little baby shampoo and a 25/75 mix of IPA Water for the bits you need to stretch. I didn’t find any need for the hair dryer.

By IPA do you mean isopropyl alcohol??

“By IPA do you mean isopropyl alcohol?? “
lol
Im going with the ale

“headtube where cables rub”
Or reroute cables/hoses so they dont rub (so much). ie so each hose goes from the lever on one side of the bike and loops round to the other side of the headtube. Might be a bit of a faff trying to bodge the cables/hoses to work with the cable guides if theyve been designed specifically to work so that cables/hoses go the same side of the headtube to the side of the bike the relevant lever is on?

Couple of bits here and there. Thats all you need. Or get what I have, a raw frame. It has no heli-tape on it at all. Boom. Sorted and stops the pointless over pampering…

By IPA do you mean isopropyl alcohol??

Both but be careful not to confuse them!

If you’re cutting shapes then make a template first out of old newspaper and make sure the shape is correct. Then make doubly sure when transferring the shape to the tape to cut out, that you’ve got the tape the right way round and don’t end up with a negative of what you actually wanted (i.e. sticky side on the wrong side…).

Hairdryer will allow you to stretch the tape to some extent to fit bends & stuff.

Hairdryer, IPA, and seriously clean hands (I always end up with fingerprints under mine, not too bothered but I’m sure some folks’d hate it)

Helitaping is a simple pleasure not to be rushed… Take your time, get some tunes on, let a little obsession into your life.

Helitape will stop cables from rubbing through alloy at high wear areas………incredible really…..

Helitape will stop cables from rubbing through alloy at high wear areas………incredible really…..

Exactly, I’m more concerned with the flat spots from cables (especially the braided hoses) more then pain wear

I’ve found it’s reluctant to take to the shot peened areas of my Trance frame, however will stay on with some persuasion.

As said, let the crannies get on with their own thing. They don’t bother you, so don’t bother them. Straighter tubes are easy if you just take your time, doing it quickly invites bubbles.

Although looking at the time of the post, you’ve probably done it by now!

I’m still confused about the IPA thing.
What is IPA??

Water mixed with a little baby shampoo and a 25/75 mix of IPA

Spray windowlene or the like on the clean frame then apply and position the tape moving all the bubbles out from under the tape. Works just as well as the made up mixtures and easier to hand.

As has been said you will not stop all the possible chips and rubs but if you can stop most. An inner tube wrapped round the rear stays is good as well. and I protected the underside of the downtube/BB with part of an old tyre. Sods law though that a bit I did not cover with helitape has chipped paint.

Also as has been said do not rush it. Take your time and have fun and get a nice job done. Another tip for you is not to have corners on your patches. cut the corners round not straight lines.

IPA is Isopropanol alcohol in my post. Available from the chemist locally or of Ebay I believe. It is a computer cleaner solution used to be used on disk and tape heads etc.

+1 on round corners NOT sharp ones

+1 on IPA – isopropyl alcohol – try your chemist and only get pure. Or maplins but it may be expensive there. It is not a computer cleaner solution – just a solvent that is very pure and better than ethanol which will also be denatured (ie not pure) to stop you drinking it.

+1 on hair drier. On difficult curvy bits stretch the tape so it contracts and conforms to shapes.

Never tried the wet method.

Couple of bits here and there. Thats all you need. Or get what I have, a raw frame. It has no heli-tape on it at all. Boom. Sorted and stops the pointless over pampering…

terrible idea. Always protect rub areas as cables can wear right through a frame. Polyurethane is much more resistant to abrasion than any frame material.

oh and the failure of the tape after a large stone impact is due to the plastic deformation tape outwards along the frame surface. Best thing to do on down tubes is not remove the tape but clean with IPA and add more over it as this is likely to get more strikes. The thicker the layers the more cushioning you will get. Use the damaged areas as pointers where to double up.

terrible idea. Always protect rub areas as cables can wear right through a frame. Polyurethane is much more resistant to abrasion than any frame material.

No it’s not. Have no cables rubbing and no helitape on the fame. It’s 2.5 yeas old and no wear marks. Sorted.

+1 for the wet method here. I don’t hair dry the frame as with the water its a bit risky (shonky hair dryer), but i leave it near a radiator for an hour before i start and use warm water. While its there cut your shapes but leave the backing on.

Wet method (bucket of water with a few drops of washing up liquid) makes it much easier to avoid bubbles, position the tape. Do flat bits first as they’re a doddle, then do the bendy bits, and once its all done (with wet you won’t need to get it all to stick perfectly straight away), move to none soaked location and hair dry the lot, starting with and focusing on curved areas. Spend > 1 hour going over the whole thing with the hair drier to really fix the tape to the bike.

And as said above resist the urge to cut perfect intricate shapes to fit shape of your frame and get 100% coverage, A) it’s not possible B) it’s not necessary.

Dont bother, you’ll look at the chips,rub marks and dints with memories of your trip.

+1. It was pleasing cleaning up my recently retired frame and looking over all the marks, rubs, dings etc. I knew it had had a good life when i discovered the head tube badge was dented!

No it’s not. Have no cables rubbing and no helitape on the fame. It’s 2.5 yeas old and no wear marks. Sorted.

Lucky you, I didn’t had a flat spot on a heckler top tube from cable rub. When the tape rubs through I replace it, I can’t replace the metal. Some times cable just move with the bike

“Have no cables rubbing and no helitape on the fame”

Some frames are much better designed in regards to cable guides than others. My Thorn Catalyst seems to have been very well thought out while my C456 seems a little less well designed!