Lightweight front wheel raising questions

[2old4this]

Last last weekend, I saw a CPO Lightweight Gipfelsturm SchwarzED front wheel on Lightweight's web site. Since my son and my previous Ventauz had a disagreement on who can walkover whom, and my son won, I ordered the the wheel.

I just received it and a little surprised

1- It came with new 25mm continental competitions. Do any of you use these tires that thick on the front?

2- This is a shocker, the tire is not glued; it is taped. I've never used tape, ever. My senses says don't use it, my friends say don't use it, but Lightweight apparently does. Do we have any scientific data that says tape is safe? Please no "I've been using it for x years. So far it is good."...

[beanbiken]

I run 25mm Comps front & rear, no issues. Sorry can't help you with science in regards to tape v glue. I am a Mastik One user.


Steve

[nick707]

1. i can use 22mm continental sprinter.
no problem.

[Mr.Gib]

Scientific data that tape is safe? What about scientific data that glue is safe? I don't think you are going to find any real data.

Of course tape is safe. In fact tape is a lot safer than a mediocre glue job. Just test it with your hands, the same way you would test a glue job.

[2old4this]

Just test it with your hands, the same way you would test a glue job.

The tire was mostly deflated. I don't know what made me do it, but I rolled it a little. It definitely rolls off easier than glue jobs I do. Admittedly, I didn't roll it off completely but it didn't resist as much as a glue job would/does.

[duvivr6]

1. 25mm competition is a great tire, cant go wrong here.

2. I would not be worried about the tape on the tubular, I have ran taped and normal glued tires and could not tell a difference which is which while riding. My "beater" wheels have Vittoria Rally's taped on and have given me many trouble free miles.

[Devon]

25mm is standard nowadays, or at least in my circles. With a lot of grand tour teams using larger than 25mm for classics now, I wouldn't even begin to describe 25mm as "thick".

[eric01]

If you don't think tape is "safe", then rip if off and glue a new tire. Last thing you want is to be second guessing during a descent.

[2old4this]

I was/am thinking that tape can't be safe as much as a good gluing job. However, I have no data to prove that. Now, that is bugging me.

Two-three years back, I've started switching the tires from Vittorias to Continentals, since where I ride, Vittorias do not last long for me (I used to get a flat at least once a month.) I loved the feeling of Vittorias but enough was enough (all that cleaning and re-gluing takes a long time.) I still wouldn't use Vittorias for wet weather (Corsa Evos have no wet traction for me but then again, this is California...) Nonetheless, tape is something to think about.

BTW, I've asked Lightweight what they are using. They've replied "Tufo Gluing Tape". I've got to do some research...

[Nefarious86]

Tear them off and use glue/mastic one if you're that worried about it. Obviously no amount of anecdotal information is going to satisfy your need for scientific answers on a forum...

[sawyer]

Is the type of scientific data you're looking for to take a view on the safety of glue not to be based on empirical evidence then?

What would be more convincing evidence that tape works than the fact that thousands, tens of thousands even, of people use it regularly in all conditions, across millions of miles without problems?

To be honest, particularly given it's a front wheel, unless I knew the provenance I would replace the tape.

BTW, I use glue ...

[Rick]

This got me thinking too:

Although thousands of people have ridden taped tubbies for hundreds of thousands of miles, how many and what fraction race 4-corner criteriums ?

Just wondering. I have seen quite a few glued tubs rolled off. Nowadays I use clinchers and don't race. But I always used to make sure to use Conti cement.

[TheKaiser]

We had a customer who came into the shop for years, who insisted that you didn't need glue (or tape) at all! He ran tubulars with no glue or tape, just a dry tire on a dry rim, and I would see him a few times a year without ever a report of a problem. It's always possible that he wasn't doing more than riding around the block, I just wanted to include that as an example of the "it must work because it has been done for years" argument.

Regarding Tufo tape, there is a lot of info out there in the cyclocross world about this product. There have been reports of delamination where the tape cleanly separates allowing the tire to separate from the rim. Search the Velonews website for Lennard Zinn's FAQ and you will find many articles on the subject.

Tape will also generally increase rolling resistance, as the less complete bond between tire and rim allows some "squirm" as the tire rolls. I am pretty sure Al Morrisson has pretty decent tire rolling resistance data on the topic if you search for that.

[mattyNorm]

The tufo tape is the only tape I have ever trusted to use on customers wheels and I have yet to have some someone come back (maybe that's because they're all dead though ). That being said I only ride glued wheels and only recommend gluing. If you don't trust the tape just strip it and reglue for the peace of mind.

[Grill]

25mm isn't a very aero option, but considering the Ventoux isn't an aero wheel, it doesn't matter. Pretty much the pro team choice these days, so my guess is they have a massive stock laying about so that's what they gave you. No surprised they taped it as a proper glue job takes a long time. Probably be fine, but you can always just glue it if it makes you uncomfortable.