What’s wrong with gorilla tape? It sticks great, you can rip it to the perfect width for any rim bed, and you can find it at 11pm on a Saturday night.
Only drawback I see is weight, which is worth it to me for the ease of use and reliability of it.
I was going to ask the same question about gorilla tape.
I just set up my first set of tubeless wheels (Hunt rims for CX use). The wheels came with tubeless tape installed…but the tires were pretty darn loose on there, and burped just by pushing my thumbs against the tire. I added two layers of gorilla tape to tighten things up. Was this a bad move in any way? I should add I’m 188lbs, and made it through a cross race sunday at 26/28 psi without issue…
Possibly this.
That’s my experience as well
Maybe. Something that puts my well being at risk, I wouldn’t use gorilla tape. My hypothesis of why we see so many “tubeless failed” posts on here is because folks aren’t using the 3 required things for a working setup. If 1 wrap of tubeless tape wasn’t enough, add another layer of tubeless tape.
What makes tubeless tape better than gorilla tape?
I’ve done good setups with official tubeless tape and gorilla tape too. I’m no pro, but I think it’s possible to do both right and both wrong. It’s more about the person and process.
Is gorilla tape similar to duct tape? Never used gorilla tape but I’m picturing duct tape.
Very similar to duct tape. Other than weight, what is better about tubeless tape?
Exactly. I’ve set up 7 different wheel/tire combos with gorilla, with four different sealants, never an issue. Never burped a tire or had one blow out. This is the first “failure” I’ve had and I’m not entire sure I can even nail down what caused it yet.
1 Like
Oh ok. Thanks! Wanted to be sure I was thinking about the correct thing.
I doubt duct/gorilla tape was made for high pressure. Thinking of how it would get pushed into spoke holes and maybe rip apart.
Duct/gorilla tape seems more spongy and would create less consistent space where the bead sits due to it’s softness.
And maybe there is something in the adhesive of duct/gorilla tape that causes problems when mixed with sealants.
Too many maybes. I’ll stick with what the manufacturers says was designed to work.
Fair enough. I have had zero issues with it so far and will stick with it until given reason to do otherwise.
I do agree with @mcneese.chad that most of what makes for a successful tubeless setup is the user and attention to detail; regardless of tape used, the “feel” required to notice that a second layer is needed, or that the strip is too wide or narrow, etc. is what really matters.
I’ve used stans tape, and found the process miserable. It doesn’t stick to itself unless it’s warm, is very delicate and easy to bunch up or pinch when installing a tire, and expensive. I eventually got it to work, but I won’t be using it again.
Gorilla tape is super easy, one layer usually works, and it’s cheap. I’d sleep better at night using Gorilla Tape if they put money back into bike racing the way that stans does, but at the end of the day I am going to go with what I have found to work reliably.
For clarity, Gorilla tape had a MUCH better and stronger adhesive compared to typical duct tape. Gorilla seems a bit thicker than many duct versions as well. It really is a beefed up version in a couple of ways.
1 Like
Yes. That is part of the appeal to me. You put it on and it stays on. No accidentally removing it when changing a tire.
1 Like
If you don’t drain your compressor regularly or have an in-line dryer you could have been blowing a significant amount of water into the tire when you were inflating it.
Nah, all good there.