A few years back riding the TAT I stopped at a large motorcycle dealership to get a new rear tire, they offered free fitting with the purchase and a soda. The manager brought me a cold coke and said one of his techs would have the tire swapped out immediately…I relaxed in the air conditioning.
15 minutes later a very young looking tech came in smiling, “your new tire is on, and somebody had put Gorilla Tape around your rim, I took it all off, cleaned it, and added a rim strip!”
I looked at the manager and smiled, he smiled back…” you like that duct tape, eh?”
I nodded a yes and the tech went back and 15 minutes later he came back, “ok all done, again, with duct tape!”
Why do I prefer Gorilla Tape and why some don’t –
I ride a lot, therefore I change my tires a lot, I personally find that the duct tape adds a little more protection against the tube potentially rubbing against the spoke ends/ nipples on the rim when the tire is aired down. If, when I am changing a tire out and the duct tape is looking dried out, I peel it off and use a little brake cleaner to remove excess remnants of glue, then apply new duct tape.
I stopped using rim strips years ago as it can add time and annoyance on the trail if you get a flat, getting it to stay aligned with the center of the rim, getting the hole aligned and also them snapping.
I make a point of removing the duct tape from the wheels when I sell a bike if the new owner prefers the rim strip, I’ll spend that $2 to make the new owner happy.
Gorilla Tape, Duct tape, rim strips, a combination, some use electrical tape, if I can find it I have also used self-amalgamating rubber tape…all varied options
What are your preferences, and why?
rtwPaul 