Taping up your bike rime is a crucial step before starting with your tire installation process. When you buy a tubeless-ready tire, it essentially means that you’re getting a rim that is perfectly tapped and installed with the tubeless tire. But over time the taping gets wrecked resulting in flat tires and you need to re-tape the entire wheel again.
Rim Tape: A Brief Overview
A rim tape is a material made of cloth, PVC, or nylon and wrapped around the inner channel of the rim. For bikes with a tire tube, it actually helps the inner tube from being punctured by the sharp nipples of the spokes as spokes are screwed into the wheel. But for tubeless tires, which come with the same spoke holes on the rim, a solid taping acts as the shield to make the tire more airtight, so it doesn’t go flat quickly. Therefore, a solid, airtight taping is a must-do before you start riding your bike, and expect your wheel to last long before it gets flat.
To efficiently re-tape your wheel or simply put on a new layer of tape on your naked rim bed, you need to apply the right technique while working. Replicating the factory-like precision while taping may apparently look impossible at first, but with the correct technique, here’s how you can get the job done efficiently.
A Step-By-Step Guide on How to set up the rim tape
Choose the Right Tape - Choosing your tape is one of the basic to-dos where you don’t want to get messed up. The general rule is to find a tape that is a few millimeters wider than the size of the actual inner width of the rim. The tape should reach both the rim walls perfectly even after the middle portion is being pressed down hard to the drop channel. If you feel the tape size is not right, probably too wide compared with your rim width, you can trim it off with your knife to the right size. Using a branded adhesive rim tape is always recommended but in case you have a cheap one, try to overlap the taping two to three times for strong taping. Gorilla tape could be a decent cost-effective solution here.
Remove the Old Tape - Your bike may already have an old rim tape draped all around the rim structure that needs to be replaced. So, before jump-starting with the taping proceeding, let's safely remove the former one.
Clean the Rim - Now, when the old rim tape is being removed consider cleaning the rim bed. A thorough cleansing is required before applying the tape and a dose of acetone or isopropyl alcohol will do the job. You can also use methylated spirits to clean, but let’s make sure the rim becomes extremely clean to get itself dressed with the tape. Sometimes, you may encounter the old sealant, leftover lubricant are still stuck on it after you remove the old tape. For better results, let the rim hang to dry for some time once cleaned and give it a final wipe before starting the taping.
Tape the Rim - Once the rim is nice and clean, here comes the important task of laying down the tape on the rim bed. There’s a general rule - you start from the half-spoke holes located right behind the valve hole. When you find the place, hold your tape with a finger and start applying it along with the central rim channel. Just press the tape down on the central installation channel area without losing it when you’re applying the tape with your thumb or fingertip. The best way is to pull the 6 to 8 inches of the tape from the packet, stick the front portion of it on the rim and start applying it around the rim. Stick the tape against the rim’s central channel as hard as you can and repeat the same by holding the tension high. Ensures it stays right into the central channel perfectly. Check for the air bubbles and wrinkles once you’re done with the taping and use your fingers or any other blunt object to make it smooth.
Fit the Valve - Next, find the valve hole and poke a hole in it using a sharp soldering-iron-like object. Install the valve nut with the lockring properly. You can apply grease all over the lockring for easy removal in the future. Twist it hard later when the tire is being installed and pumped to make the tire nice and airtight.
Put on the Tire - You can just use your hands and grips to install the tire or use a tire lever to do so. Now there’s a cool hack for you to make your life easier: you can apply a thin layer of bead wax before putting on your tire to the rim for smooth installation. Use a pair of rubber gloves for a strong grip and install the tire nicely all over the rim. You can also use a tubeless sealant once the tire is being seated completely. Finally, use your pump to pump the air inside to maintain a recommended tire pressure. Go for a ride to adjust the tire and you’re all done.
Taping your rim doesn’t only help the tubeless system to get installed properly but it also helps your wheel to run lower tire pressure without getting pinch flats. With the manual techniques mentioned above, we have tried to walk you through how to set up the tubeless system on your bike along with taping.
