You tubeless guys, what tape are you using?

[simplemind]

Just had my first tape failure after a year of trouble free riding. Used the Orange Seal road kit and it was great... until it wasn't.

I found that the tape, and I used two layers, had "sagged" into the holes enough that it caused the top layer to come loose from the bottom layer. The one bottom layer didn't have enough strength to hold back the pressure and collapsed into the hole allowing fluid to escape through the valve exterior hole.

The Orange Seal tape is fairly stretchy and obviously doesn't have any fiber reinforcement. I know there is a lot of discussion on the web, but most of it is directed to MTB application where pressures are very low by comparison. What has been your experience and do you have recommendations?

[ColonelJLloyd]

Stan's, Pacenti, Velocity and (on a WTB Scraper) Orange Seal. Never had an issue with any of it. Stan's may be slightly thicker than the others so perhaps you'll be happier with it.

[crankles]

Stans on older wheels, Silca on the newest. No problems with either. The Silca *seems* sturdier, but the Stans stuff is holding up fine after 3 yrs.

[sales guy]

Stans/Reynolds/WTB- all made by Stans with different colors for the tape.
Personally, I don't like the Stans tape. It doesn't seem to lay or stick well on the rims. At least my experience says so.

A friend of mine tried Gorilla Tape on his fat bike and it's working fine.

[veloduffer]

I've only used Stan's, which has worked well on my cross bike, but I have nothing to compare it to.


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[R3awak3n]

I have used Stan's and Pacenti. Both with similar result. I usually buy the cheapest one I can find.

[jwess1234]

Enve tape for the Enve XC rims. Took a second round of sealant to make a slow leak go away (think it was around the tubeless valve area), but otherwise seems fine now--have run pressures from 35ish for trails to around 85 for road and has been fine.

No other experiences to compare to though.

[.RJ]

The tape supplied with Easton rims is a pain. Avoid.

The easiest to install that i've used is whatever came with velocity rims.

[JAGI410]

Rim prep matters more than tape brand in my experience. Clean with alcohol, stretch tape on, install tire with tube. Pump to decent pressure and let it sit for an hour or more. Let the tube push the tape down.

Whisky and stans tape are my go-tos.

Edit: whisky brand tape. Whiskey is for later.

[gdw]

I buy the cheapest name brand tape I can find on EBay and have never had any problems. Just buy the correct width and follow the instructions JAGI410 posted.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by JAGI410

Rim prep matters more than tape brand in my experience. Clean with alcohol, stretch tape on, install tire with tube. Pump to decent pressure and let it sit for an hour or more. Let the tube push the tape down.

Whisky and stans tape are my go-tos.

Edit: whisky brand tape. Whiskey is for later.

Same, ends seem to stay glued down, unlike Pacenti which comes up after time.

[simplemind]

Originally Posted by JAGI410

Rim prep matters more than tape brand in my experience. Clean with alcohol, stretch tape on, install tire with tube. Pump to decent pressure and let it sit for an hour or more. Let the tube push the tape down.

Whisky and stans tape are my go-tos.

Edit: whisky brand tape. Whiskey is for later.

Originally Posted by gdw

I buy the cheapest name brand tape I can find on EBay and have never had any problems. Just buy the correct width and follow the instructions JAGI410 posted.

Yeah, my LBS suggested NOT to use Orange Seal tape and use two wraps of Stan's tape. The also suggested inflating with a tube over night as you did, which is brilliant for two reasons, 1) as you said it presses the tape down, and 2) it stretches and gets the kinks out of the tire making sealing a bit easier when you add fluid.
I'll also switch from Merlot to whiskey.
Thanks for the tips!

[crimedog]

It's been a slow learning experience for me, most of which is MTB:

Gorilla tape - works ok at first, absorbs sealant over time and starts to unwrap. Easily damaged by tire levers. Spend more for purpose made tape.

Clear gorilla tape - a real pain. Had to trim it down, didn't seal right on after all that, gave up.

i9 tape - high quality but an extremely difficult install

Stans - just right. pretty easy to apply, holds up to tire levers ok, lots of sizes available for your rim



Assuming your tape doesn't absorb sealant like gorilla tape it comes down to tire lever resilience (assuming that you have to use one like I do with MTB tires) and ease of install. I'll be buying stan's from now on.

[unterhausen]

I've always used Stan's. My first couple of tries featured too little tension when I installed it, but I haven't had any problems with those wheels -- yet

[YesNdeed]

I've been using Stans for over a year, 2 layers, and I have to re-tape quite often. What I don't do is install a tube first, then seat the tubeless tire, as mentioned here. I will be trying that after next my re-tape. This is for a road setup, to be clear. I now use one layer of black Gorilla, then one layer of Stans. Works great, but I haven't given it a long term test.

Has anyone tried Scotch 8898? I'm due for a refill, so when looking for tape I came across it. Some say it works great. For $6.67 shipped, I figured I'd give it a try https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Film-S.../dp/B00C0Z21PK.