Remarkably, in 30+ years cycling I've never had much to do with rim tape - wheels I've had to change tubes or tyres on seem always to have had an intact rim tape and I've just left it there. Until my Brompton got a front puncture. The as-fitted blue rim tape was twisted sideways in one place (and hence no longer effective) and not elastic enough to get back. So I went to my LBS who, not having a Brompton-size rim tape in stock, sold me a roll of Velox generic-size sticky rim tape. I put it on fine, and it stuck to the rim pretty well - but the pre-cut valve hole simply wasn't nearly big enough for the Schrader valve on the inner tube. I tried enlarging the hole with nail scissors but it all started stretching and fraying and I ended up cutting out the valve section altogether, relying on the stickiness to keep the rest in place.
I know we have Brompton experts here and I'm sure we have wheel-assembly (and hence rim-tape) experts. What should I have done?
Rim tape
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Re: Rim tape
Oh - I meant to reply to this.
In the hope it is at least vaguely useful for someone, I've bodged up Brompton rims with Velox sticky tape before, and don't remember a pre-cut valve hole. The tape was too wide for the channel in the rim, so I cut it in half (around the circumference), but then just started one end of the sticky tape next to the valve hole and unrolled the reel of tape around the wheel, ending up at the other side of the valve hole.
In the hope it is at least vaguely useful for someone, I've bodged up Brompton rims with Velox sticky tape before, and don't remember a pre-cut valve hole. The tape was too wide for the channel in the rim, so I cut it in half (around the circumference), but then just started one end of the sticky tape next to the valve hole and unrolled the reel of tape around the wheel, ending up at the other side of the valve hole.
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