# I discovered something strange



## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

I am strange! No, I already knew that. What I discovered is Gorilla Tape in black, and only black will work for what I'm about to say.

First use for this tape I discovered is that it will repair tube leaks...that's correct. I patched a tube for a test, installed it on a rim and inflated the tire to 130 psi, I don't use 130 psi but I wanted to see if the patch would hold, it did and is still holding air 3 days later. This tape is far less expensive then the Glueless patches I used before even though those aren't expensive to buy, but for the cost of 2 dozen patches I have a roll of tape that could make 20 dozen patches. Long term report will follow after about 3 months to make sure its permanent and not a temporarily patch.

Second use for this tape. I needed some rim tape, I couldn't find the width I needed locally which meant I had to order online, so after some wondering I decided to try the same Gorilla Tape (in black) that I eventually used for the above mentioned flat repair. So I laid the tape down like I would do with any normal rim tape, cut a hole where the valve stem hole was and installed a tire and tube. It works great for that too. I dismounted the tire a week later to see if the tape was holding and not allowing to dimple into the spoke hole...no problem there either. This stuff is as light as rim tape but far less expensive.

I also started wondering about something else, how would this tape work as a tire liner? I may poke at and see if it's tougher than Mr Tuffy, but it probably won't be as tough as the liner I use from Panaracer called the FlatAway, but it would be far less expensive.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Also works for tubeless, at least somewhat. People have been using it as tubeless rim tape "ghetto style" for a number of years now.


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## road addict (Sep 23, 2005)

I keep some in my saddle bag and have used as a tire boot to get home


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## cooskull (Nov 30, 2013)

krisdrum said:


> Also works for tubeless, at least somewhat. People have been using it as tubeless rim tape "ghetto style" for a number of years now.


There's just one slight problem problem with this: The tape is really thick for road tubeless applications and will make tire changing on many tubeless rims more difficult or even impossible. 

Tired of splurging for Stan's tape? Use Kapton tape instead.


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## Roland44 (Mar 21, 2013)

road addict said:


> I keep some in my saddle bag and have used as a tire boot to get home


Same here, more times than I care to admit.


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## Chader09 (Jun 10, 2014)

Several others do the same.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/search.php?searchid=899938


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## TiCoyote (Jun 28, 2005)

I think that what you have actually discovered is that things that are branded for "bicycle use" (tools, lubes, clothing, food, etc.) are unnecessarily overpriced.


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

TiCoyote said:


> I think that what you have actually discovered is that things that are branded for "bicycle use" (tools, lubes, clothing, food, etc.) are unnecessarily overpriced.


Correct you are. I discovered this a long time ago, which is why I don't spend more than $18 for a jersey, or $32 for a tire, why I make my own energy drink, and why I buy powered Gatorade, which is why I only buy things I need on steep closeout prices.

I did attempt to drive a tack through the Gorilla black tape and result was I won't be using it for a flat protection liner, the tack went right through it quite easily like it does going through a Mr Tuffy except the Mt Tuffy was maybe a bit more difficult, the only flat liner that I couldn't get a tack to go through was the Panaracer FlatAway liner. But at least I found a cheap rim strip and a cheap tube patch which by the way is still holding air.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

cooskull said:


> There's just one slight problem problem with this: The tape is really thick for road tubeless applications and will make tire changing on many tubeless rims more difficult or even impossible.
> 
> Tired of splurging for Stan's tape? Use Kapton tape instead.


Yeah, never said it was a great idea, just that it worked.  I think there is a reason most folks have moved away from the ghetto set-ups, at least on Road/CX bikes.


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

krisdrum said:


> Yeah, never said it was a great idea, just that it worked.  I think there is a reason most folks have moved away from the ghetto set-ups, at least on Road/CX bikes.


For regular clincher wheels the tape is no thicker than rim tape. By the way, I got the idea for the rim tape from a professional wheel builder who uses it on all his wheels that get sent out nationwide, and he doesn't build ghetto wheels.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

froze said:


> For regular clincher wheels the tape is no thicker than rim tape. By the way, I got the idea for the rim tape from a professional wheel builder who uses it on all his wheels that get sent out nationwide, and he doesn't build ghetto wheels.


This was specific to tubeless "ghetto" applications. Compared to Velox, agree, no difference. Compared to other tubeless tape, big difference.


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

krisdrum said:


> This was specific to tubeless "ghetto" applications. Compared to Velox, agree, no difference. Compared to other tubeless tape, big difference.


I wasn't even talking about tubeless, heck I don't even own a tubeless wheel system so I don't know what the heck is going on with those, of course I could go to the internet and check but I'm not interested in that wheel system.


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## cooskull (Nov 30, 2013)

froze said:


> I wasn't even talking about tubeless, heck I don't even own a tubeless wheel system so I don't know what the heck is going on with those, of course I could go to the internet and check but I'm not interested in that wheel system.


Fair enough, but there is a growing trend to make rims that are compatible for both tubed and tubeless. In several years having a rim not be tubeless compatible may be the exception rather than the rule.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

froze said:


> I wasn't even talking about tubeless, heck I don't even own a tubeless wheel system so I don't know what the heck is going on with those, of course I could go to the internet and check but I'm not interested in that wheel system.


No, but I did. I've seen and heard of folks using Gorilla Tape to convert standard clincher rims to tubeless compatible. At least with some success. Granted that was before alot of the new tubeless compatible rims were on the market and proving themselves to be superior for that application.


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## trailflow (Sep 7, 2014)

When you patched the tube did you use multiple layers of tape wrapped around the hole or just 1 single patch. How big was the patch ?


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

trailflow said:


> When you patched the tube did you use multiple layers of tape wrapped around the hole or just 1 single patch. How big was the patch ?


I bought the 1" wide tape and cut it about an inch long thus a 1" square. But before you rush off buying this for a flat repair wait till I test it a bit more. The first test FAILED after about a week of holding air today! However, I did something a bit weird and deviated from my usual method of repairing flats...I didn't buff the tube first just to see if by chance this stuff was super sticky enough that I would no longer have to do that step in a flat repair. So I need to find another junk tube and retest it by buffing first and see if it holds longer.

Using it as a rim tape seems to working great though.


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## trailflow (Sep 7, 2014)

As long as its good enough to get me home incase of emergency. I will do my own testing aswell. Thanks for the heads up.


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

trailflow said:


> As long as its good enough to get me home incase of emergency. I will do my own testing aswell. Thanks for the heads up.


It will get you home that's for sure, but my other Park and Specialized Glueless patches never ever fail, they last the life of the tube which could be as long as 5 years, but I do buff the tube first with those patches unlike what I tried doing with the Gorilla black tape.


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