[CR]Re: Tufo Tape

(Example: Bike Shops:R.E.W. Reynolds)

From: <Cushdelmar@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 12:28:33 EST
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Re: Tufo Tape

As the Southern California distributor of Tufo products, my comments are not entirely unbiased but let me give you my thoughts on the tape.

1. Tufo tape should only be used on Tufo tires. Tufo tapes was made with the pure cotton rim strip in mind and some other rim strips have a latex film over them. The other reason deals with how a Tufo tire sits on a rim when inflated. All of you users of tubulars know that most tubulars tend to try to turn themselves inside out when inflated when unmounted. You can put 160 psi in an unmounted Tufo and there seems to be only a slight twisting.

2. I don't clean the glue off of my old rims and many have put a layer of glue on first and this seems to keep the tape on the rim and not the tire. Of course, it isn't any fun trying to get the tape of the rim. I'd like to hear how others have accomplished this task.

3. When using the regular tape, if you do not either slightly dampen the rim strip or tape, it will be very difficult to center the tire. The tape sticks too well.

4. The regular tape is iffy on extremely hot days on long descents. The tire will not roll but it can rotate. On one of Pete Penseyre's rides in De Luz, I discovered that I had rotated a tire when coming down a 27% grade on a 120 degree day. I have also rotated a cyclocross tire during panic braking using both the tape and glue. Usually, what happens is you find you have a valve stem that is not straight but I've never had a valve stem shear. The extreme tape is supposed to solve the heat problem.

Cyclocross tires have lots of problems because you are mounting a wide tire to a narrow rim, running low pressure (often in the 30 psi range) and doing bad things to your tires. Nevertheless, I'd say that almost all of the elite riders in the World Championships were riding tubulars with the most popular brand being A. Dugast. The Dugast's are beautiful tires but cost in the $150/tire range. They come in two models: cotton and silk. I suspect they may be the last silk tires available.

All in all, the tape works great but because I'm cheap, I still use 3M Fast Tack. But I carry some tape in my spare tire bag because sometimes, actually, most times, the Fast Tack comes off with the tire leaving a bare rim. But I've done long rides with a tubular not glued on and never had a problem.

Finally, I know there are several dealers on this list who sell Tufo products so I'd encourage everyone to give them your business.