if nothing ever broke or went wrong it would probably be way too heavy, but yeah, you can have a bad run of it.
I went on a ride that was meant to be about 65 miles yesterday but it ended up being about 80 in the end, and I had to stop to fix four punctures. Three of them caused by a duff rim tape, as it happens.
I guess I have been using Michelin hard plastic rim tapes for over 35 years now. When Mavic launched their Module E2 rim the Michelin tape was pretty much the only game in town. I soon found that the blessed things would crack over the eyelets, and that this could give you endless punctures. To combat this I have routinely fitted these tapes with a couple of turns of insulation tape over them. The underlying rim tape still cracks but it needs to be very bad before you get a flat.
I'd ridden several thousand miles on these tyres without disturbing them, but they were tightly fitting folding ones; I don't like them when they are tight enough that they unseat themselves into the rim well when the tyre goes soft, as these have been prone to do. I'd recently noted a slow puncture in the rear, so I was sure to carry lots of patches, glue, and a spare tube. Part way through the ride the 'slow' puncture went 'fast' and I set to; I soon found a hole and short piece of steel wire, fixed it and was on my way again. Then it went down again. This time a hole on the inside of the tube. I looked at the rim tape but couldn't see anything too evil, just a little rucking of the insulation tape. Needless to say the same fault soon afflicted me again, then the next repair failed by the patch lifting; the tube is very stretched in the well of the rim, a narrow strip (about 8mm wide when the tube is soft) has to expand x2 to fill the rim over the rim tape, if the marks on my tubes are anything to go by. This extra stretching creates a peel load on an inside patch and they sometimes lift. I daresay the tube cuts more easily too.
I'd fitted these rim tapes about ten years ago and it turned out in the meantime the insulation tape had not only rucked, but also gone hard. The rucked edges were now sharp edges cutting into the tube. Disturbing the tyre a few times had caused enough fresh rucking to make trouble. I peeled the insulation tape off and sure enough the Michelin tape was cracked underneath; fortunately I had the scrag end of a roll of
soft insulation tape in my toolbag, just enough to patch over the cracks (there were about 15 in total).
I repatched the failed repair, and this time I did something dead cunning; I not only left the backing on the patch (which inhibits stretching and therefore peeling perhaps) but I also fitted the tube with a slight twist in it, so that the patch was against the tyre sidewall instead of the rim well. To get this to work, I had to fit the tube 'rounded out' and then fit the cover without letting any air out of the tube, else the tube would have resumed its normal position. This was a struggle, but I did it. This repair held OK.
But.... what a palaver. Granted I did also swap the rear cover (looking a bit worn) for the front as well as fix the punctures, but I guess I was sat by the side of the road faffing about with tubes, tyres and rim tapes for over two hours yesterday. I'd ridden the same bike hundreds of miles in company a few weeks ago, with no trouble. It just shows you can't take anything for granted.
It was also the first time I'd used my trusty SIDIs after a few good soakings. I'd dried them out and they seemed OK to start with, but part way through the ride the sole on one of them came off! Not the best day, reliability-wise....
hey ho...
cheers
