I've just purchased some new tires and decided I wanted to try going tubeless for the first time. I removed the old tire and noticed it looks to me it's already taped from the factory? It's very uneven with it being lined up in the center near the valve stem hole, half of the rim it runs to one side and half on the other. As well the valve stem hole isn't very well cut out. Should I just run it like this or should I try and remove it and run my own tape?
by jersthecool
14 Comments
That looks terrible. Remove and tape yourself.
This is a rim strip to keep the tube from popping. You will need to slide this off and tape the wheel with actual tubeless tape.
That’s just to protect the tube from the spoke holes, it’s not actually tubeless tape.
You’ll need to install actual tubeless tape.
This isn’t tubeless tape; it just stops the tube from popping out of the spoke holes. Peel it off and apply some proper Tubeless tape, and you’ll be fine. There are plenty of tutorials online, and it is worth sizing up on tape (if your rims are 25 internal, get tape a couple of millimetres wider, like 28mm), which gives you a better seal around the bead.
Did Stevie Wonder put that tape on the rim?? Good lord what is going on with these people nowadays. Everything is half assed.
Wow, really?
To add to everyone telling you to tape it yourself, please please please use actual tubeless tape DO NOT use gorilla tape, will it hold? yes, but when it has to be re-taped the shop/mechanic is going to charge you a good chunk more $$$ for all the time they have to spend removing the duct tape adhesive. Do it right the first time.
after reading the comments im confused if i fucked up. 😀 my new bike had tubeless ready rims and tires, i just removed the tube, screwed in the valve and filled 100ml of sealant into the tire. its tight so far but the tape that was in there also looked like OPs tape but black?
FWIW tubeless tape is wildly easy to install. It adds like 15min to the job.
I don’t know why tubeless setup sucked so bad 10 years ago. It felt like there were a million articles with hacks and solutions that maybe worked.
Isopropyl FTW
FWIW ive been using gorilla tape with no issues, but if you’re a weight weenie, go ahead and use tubeless tape
Remove that strip and tape it with tubeless tape of your choosing.
Teravail has been my go to for a number of years now.
Used to use Stan’s because it’s easy to find, but Teravail goes down so much easier.
No, that’s not tubeless tape.
That’s not tubeless tape