Tubular tape: A big mess in a little box

Triathlon Forum
1

I was on a little kick with the tufo tape a few summers ago and had one single left over half decent tire out in the garage with some tape still stuck on the base tape. Since it still seemed to have some life left and the season is half over, I figured I’d just glue it up and use it on my snazzy race wheel until cross season, no worries. So, I glue the thing up with some mastic on the rim and don’t bother with the tire since it has the handy tape plus a little dog hair for good measure. After sticking it on and letting it dry a couple hours, the bond was for crap and I decided to peel the thing off and break out a nice new tire and put plain old glue on the base tape. Wouldn’t you know the freaking tape is stuck to the damn glue on the rim and comes right off so I have to glue over the stupid tape and can’t seem to get it out of my life despite throwing away a half decent tire. Freaking stuff won’t go away.

Be careful what you wish for in sticky land.

2

I have a very nice Hed something or other carbon front wheel that is about 5 years old…for the past four it has been sitting with no tire, a roll of Tufo tape and now…dog hair…cant get this shit off for anything.

3

It’s a softer glue, which makes it gooey as hell, and a pain in the ass. Try some goo gone and let it soak for a bit, and then try to get it off.

4

Send the wheel to me Chip…pretty sure I have at least an ounce more patience than you…I’ll get it cleaned up.

5

When you try to put some muscle into it the side wall (below the brake track) flexes bad and I am always afraid I am going to crack it. Nothing broke the mess - MEK, Acetone, Denaturated Alcohol…I tried the MEK last and when that didnt get the mess to melt away I walked away…besides, I have Zipp wheels.

6

you should just throw it out then…in a cardboard box…with my name and address on it…lol
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7

Have you tried freezing glue?

I mean it works with gum in carpet/hair/dog.

I’m with Ken. In the interest of science, send it to me, I’ll test the wattage required to remove tufo tape in a walk-in freezer and post the results here.

8

I had a metal rim a while ago that the prior owner had used for cyclocross with the glue+tape+more glue method. It was so thick I couldn’t get a seal, so I bought some furniture stripper, brushed it on and let it sit, scrape w/ screwdriver then repeat process. It was not much fun and required thick rubber gloves and fresh air.

I ended up with a bare rim after all that. Not sure if you can do this with a fancy wheel, I don’t own fancy wheels. I’d as soon throw all the tape into the sea. Then blow it up.

9

i use a hiar dryer on the rim before pulling the tire and have found if i go slow it stays on the tire
i bought a used set of wheels covered in the stuff and it took time and acetone, but hten so does a few layers of glue

jim
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10

The hair drier/heat gun works well for stripping glue from aluminum rims. When heated the glue softens up enough to just wipe off leaving a nice base coat. If the tape is over glue it might just come off with the glue.