rim liners

Is anyone aware of any problems with plastic rim liners? I have a set of wheels with cloth tape
liners that's frayed and bunched up, exposing some of the spoke holes, and I wanted to replace them
with plastic liners (which I have on several other wheels with no problems). The guy at my LBS says
they no longer carry the plastic liners because with double wall rims they get blowouts in the spoke
holes. He also mentioned that Specialized (their main supplier) stopped making them, so maybe it's
just that brand that had problems?

- mark

Mark Vieselmeyer writes:

> Is anyone aware of any problems with plastic rim liners? I have a set of wheels with cloth tape
> liners that's frayed and bunched up, exposing some of the spoke holes, and I wanted to replace
> them with plastic liners (which I have on several other wheels with no problems). The guy at my
> LBS says they no longer carry the plastic liners because with double wall rims they get blowouts
> in the spoke holes. He also mentioned that Specialized (their main supplier) stopped making them,
> so maybe it's just that brand that had problems?

I suppose there is some truth to those claims but not all plastic liners are alike. Michelin made a
good one (hard and yellow) that had all the right attributes of stiffness and snug fit but with age
it slit lengthwise. I've always used Kool-Stop strips on my Mavic MA-2 rims and had no problem. They
last longer than the rims.

Jobst Brandt jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org Palo Alto CA

I just swapped the tire on a rim with a yellow Michelin liner. The liner had distended (herniated)
into the spoke holes, though not enough to completely rupture. I've not had that problem (or any
other) with Velox (cloth) liners. I'll be using Velox in the future.

Rob

jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org wrote:
> Mark Vieselmeyer writes:
>
>
>>Is anyone aware of any problems with plastic rim liners? I have a set of wheels with cloth tape
>>liners that's frayed and bunched up, exposing some of the spoke holes, and I wanted to replace
>>them with plastic liners (which I have on several other wheels with no problems). The guy at my
>>LBS says they no longer carry the plastic liners because with double wall rims they get blowouts
>>in the spoke holes. He also mentioned that Specialized (their main supplier) stopped making them,
>>so maybe it's just that brand that had problems?
>
>
> I suppose there is some truth to those claims but not all plastic liners are alike. Michelin made
> a good one (hard and yellow) that had all the right attributes of stiffness and snug fit but with
> age it slit lengthwise. I've always used Kool-Stop strips on my Mavic MA-2 rims and had no
> problem. They last longer than the rims.
>
> Jobst Brandt jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org Palo Alto CA

On Thu, 29 May 2003 12:46:17 +0000, Mark Vieselmeyer wrote:

> Is anyone aware of any problems with plastic rim liners? I have a set of wheels with cloth tape
> liners that's frayed and bunched up, exposing some of the spoke holes, and I wanted to replace
> them with plastic liners (which I have on several other wheels with no problems). The guy at my
> LBS says they no longer carry the plastic liners because with double wall rims they get blowouts
> in the spoke holes. He also mentioned that Specialized (their main supplier) stopped making them,
> so maybe it's just that brand that had problems?
>
There are some plastic rim strips that are OK, but most are not so good. The better ones are
fiber-reinforced; the biggest problem with them is that they will, in time, crack over the spoke
hole. This produces flats.

I really prefer cloth. I have some that are several years old, and have been used on a number of
rims, without fraying or bunching up. I wonder how old yours are? Maybe replacing them once a
decade, at $3 per, is not such a bad idea.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "Business!" cried the Ghost. "Mankind was my business. The _`\(,_ | common welfare was my
business; charity, mercy, forbearance, (_)/ (_) | and benevolence, were, all, my business. The
dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
--Dickens, "A Christmas Carol"

I've been using Schwalbe plastic Super HP Rim Tapes (http://www.schwalbetires.com/accessories.htm)
with no problem for about 10,000 miles, which isn't really long enough to judge by, but they seem
very sturdy. Unfortunately they're hard to get in the states any way but mail-order, so shipping
adds to the cost unless you're buying other stuff in the same shipment. You got to be very careful
if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there.

- Yogi Berra

On Thu, 29 May 2003 12:46:17 -0700, Mark Vieselmeyer wrote:

> The guy at my LBS says they no longer carry the plastic liners because with double wall rims they
> get blowouts in the spoke holes. He also mentioned that Specialized (their main supplier) stopped
> making them, so maybe it's just that brand that had problems?

I had the Specialized ones on both a road and mountain bike. On both bikes, the rimstrip melted from
the heat of braking and extruded into a spoke hole causing a flat. Prior to that, I tried Michelins
and they split at the spoke holes. I also tried the Kool Stops and were not overly impressed with
them either, as, over time, they had severe dimpling at the spoke holes. I switched back to Velox
cloth tape.

--
Mike DeMicco <blaster186REMOVETHIS@attbi.com

Why not use Velox cloth tape? It isn't a synthetic that will not decompose. If your going to ride
you might as well use something that will not hurt the environment. If you are that terribly
concerned about spoke-through punctures You might as well have the wheel rebuilt if you think it's
that bad... Velox worx!!!

NS

>Why not use Velox cloth tape? It isn't a synthetic that will not decompose. If your going to ride
>you might as well use something that will not hurt the environment. If you are that terribly
>concerned about
>
>spoke-through punctures You might as well have the wheel rebuilt if you
>
>think it's that bad... Velox worx!!!

Huh? I've used Velox tapes for years and they don't decompose. What are you smoking today?
Phil Brown

I'm talking in a compost pile. After you replace the old Velox tape after many years of riding... If
you throw the old Velox cloth tape away it will decompose in a compost pile fast, whereas the
plastic could last uncomposted for a thousand years or more. It's just more ecologically friendly
than plastics or Rubber-like products.

NS

With some plastic rim strips you risk the strip melting. This happens on tandems. The plastic
softens and you get the implosion of the tube.

On Thu, 29 May 2003 18:05:42 -0400, "David L. Johnson" <david.johnson@lehigh.edu> wrote:

>There are some plastic rim strips that are OK, but most are not so good. The better ones are
>fiber-reinforced; the biggest problem with them is that they will, in time, crack over the spoke
>hole. This produces flats.

Paul Kopit writes:

>> There are some plastic rim strips that are OK, but most are not so good. The better ones are
>> fiber-reinforced; the biggest problem with them is that they will, in time, crack over the spoke
>> hole. This produces flats.

I don't know that there are plastic strips with grains in them, only that Kool-Stop strips do not
penetrate even with an exposed spoke tip protruding to make a bump in the strip.

> With some plastic rim strips you risk the strip melting. This happens on tandems. The plastic
> softens and you get the implosion of the tube.

Kool-Stop strips can take the heat, although it may cause them to conform to the things they cover.
Since failing spokes are less of a concern these days, they once were, and lifting a plastic strip
undamaged is an advantage over adhesive tapes that easily break. It's still good to know the plastic
Kool-Stop will work if a spoke fails.

Jobst Brandt jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org Palo Alto CA

Paul Kopit writes:

>> There are some plastic rim strips that are OK, but most are not so good. The better ones are
>> fiber-reinforced; the biggest problem with them is that they will, in time, crack over the spoke
>> hole. This produces flats.

I don't know that there are plastic strips with fibers in them, only that Kool-Stop strips do not
penetrate even with an exposed spoke tip protruding to make a bump in the strip.

> With some plastic rim strips you risk the strip melting. This happens on tandems. The plastic
> softens and you get the implosion of the tube.

Kool-Stop strips can take the heat, although it may cause them to conform to the things they cover.
Since failing spokes are less of a concern these days, they once were, and lifting a plastic strip
undamaged is an advantage over adhesive tapes that easily break. It's still good to know the plastic
Kool-Stop will work if a spoke fails.

Jobst Brandt jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org Palo Alto CA

David L. Johnson wrote:

: There are some plastic rim strips that are OK, but most are not so good. The better ones are
: fiber-reinforced; the biggest problem with them is that they will, in time, crack over the spoke
: hole. This produces flats.

: I really prefer cloth. I have some that are several years old, and have been used on a number of
: rims, without fraying or bunching up. I wonder how old yours are? Maybe replacing them once a
: decade, at $3 per, is not such a bad idea.

The wheels are only a few years old. The rim strips are a thin nylon fabric tape, not like the velox
stuff. After taking a closer look, it seems the tape was too wide. The rim has a cross-section
something like:

| |
|o_o|
\_/

The tape was getting pushed off the "o" beads. I think I'll try some narrow Velox tape that fits
between the beads.

As for the plastic strips, the couple places I've checked locally don't carry them. I've found a
couple places on the web that have the Michelin ones, but I can't find any mention of the Kool
Stop ones.

- mark