Making Rim Tape for a Bike Wheel using an old Inner Tube
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- In this video I demonstrate how to turn an old inner tube into a rubber rim tape strip for a bicycle wheel. I prefer rubber rim tape rather than adhesive backed tape because it keeps the spoke nipples very easily accessible for future service.
If you have any questions about this procedure, please leave a comment below.
I hope you enjoyed this video. Please COMMENT and subscribe!
Thanks for watching.
So happy this worked out! I was able to help a friend replace tubes/tires on an old bike he bought. The tape fell out and he couldn’t find replacement liner quickly to finish the project. This did the trick perfectly…thank you!
Nice! This trick can be a good time-saver since it saves a trip the bike shop.
I had never thought of using inner tubes for rim tape. I use old inner tubes for all kinds of things, but as of yet not this. That was a really well made video thank you.
You're right, old inner tubes have infinite uses! Thank you.
Inner tube are tough to get on but make great grips on hand gns
Today I figured this out for myself and wanted to see if anyone on UA-cam thought of this before. And yes you do. This is such a great method! I love DIY solutions for my bike. Gonna watch some other video's of your channel to see if there's something else to know. Thanks! and Subscribed 👍
Great minds think alike :)
@@cjhoyle 😂
Awesome video, CJ! I've used black electrical tape when I didn't have rim tape handy but changed it to cloth tape as soon as my Amazon box arrived or I could stop by the local bike shop. Your method is a really good replacement for rubber strips! I think I still prefer cloth, though.
The white stuff is just talc. It's to keep the inside of the tube from sticking to itself. It's fine to leave it on. In fact, I store spare tubes in zip-loc bags and add a little talc in the bag then shake it. When removing or installing the tube it's easier to manage because it won't stick to the inside of the tire - or rim strip - as much.
Thanks John. I do understand the important role that the white powder plays when it's on the inside of the inner tube. I removed it for 3 reasons: 1) Once the inner tube is cut open it can make a mess and get onto clothes and furniture, etc. 2) For this rim tape strip, I actually want it to stick a bit to the inside of the rim. If there was no friction, the hole for the valve stem wouldn't stay in the right spot. 3) I didn't want the white powder to contaminate the vulcanizing bond between the two surfaces.
Great video. Short, concise and to the point. And good advice
Thanks.
Hi CJ, I just wanted to say that I learned a lot from many of your bike mechanics videos. Your creativity is truly inspiring!
Thanks a lot, I'm happy to have helped you learn!
Thank you brother! Saved me time and money. And I think the quality and access is superb. So excellent it's not a hack!
Very inventive and creative and helpful to one new to the world of bike rim tape. Thanks for creating and posting this video...Much appreciated. Happy trails and may the bike god bless you with only very few and far between bike tire issues. Cheers!
haha thank you!
The best, simple idea I totally forgot about, thanks!
It's nice and clean and looks like it's was shop manufactured. Absolutely using this thank you
Thanks you, glad it was helpful.
Dude, this is awesome! Especially the tip about using the vulcanizing stuff to bond the ends! I'm working on an old bike and the rim strip is pretty worn, but my local bike shop is closed today... so I'm going to use this technique with the many tubes I have lying around lol.
Nice! I hope this technique worked as well for you as it has for me.
@@cjhoyle it really has! Several months later they are still holding up like a champ 🎉
An ingenious solution! Will definitely be giving this a go. Thanks!
Thanks!
Did it work?
Nice Video straight to the point. I'm going to try out that electrical tape tip.
Thanks, best of luck.
Wow. That's a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
No problem, thanks your watching!
That was great, and it was helpful the part at the end about the electrical tape. Thanks!
No problem, I'm glad it was helpful!
dude this was awesome, gonna try this, I have so many old tubes that i have patched that I want to recycle once again.
Great advice easy to follow and straight into how to go about task no waffling 👍
a very eco friendly solution, will give this a try one day
That's a good idea there cj thanks.
Excellent! Always good to save the pennies and recycle.
Thanks. Plus one less thing to go to landfill!
I've used electrical tape as rim tape many times, but if the tape is a low quality one it will "dry" and the edges start to lift and poke the inner tubes. I punctured some innertubes to figure it out. Your idea seems better.
Ya for sure. Once I started using this trick, I stopped using electrical tape!
Same problem and I just use this method in a while, tip for classic rims is I put a silicon tape on every spokes inside then wrap it up with this method. No more inside punctures
Thanks. Agreed, very good idea. I will try that in the future.
Thank you.
Thanks for the ideas!
Thanks Good no Very Good Idea. Going to try it today.
Thanks, best of luck with yours.
You are awesome. Thank you
Thanks!
thank you so much
that's very useful information
No problem, glad you found it useful.
Genius.
Thank you.
Thanx bro, I was thinking the same. :)
Awesomeness
Thanks!
I should've done this years ago. All the bike shops are usually 3-4 hours away from me and the tape thing just doesn't seem to cut it. Probably because I'm being stingy and light with that. The high psi of the tube actually molding the shape of the spoke nipple and causing a blow-out.
Awe ya for sure. For me it's not so much the money that this trick saves, it's the effort of going to the bike shop to get it. Plus, you're repurposing something which would otherwise be thrown out by many people.
So how much do we streach the tube to fit into the area that tube tape would go. Or does it need to fit kinda loose more than kinda tight
Only a small amount of stretch. I basically use a strip which can wrap the whole way around without stretching, after overlapping the ends to fuse them together, it adds a small amount of stretch.
thank you
Good idea!
Thanks!
how long it can last.. any experience?
damn, are you saying I just thrown in to a bin 10 bucks , hope it still there :)
haha
I had a trip to a bike shop and a mechanic replaces my old rim tape with electrical tape. But since then inner tube always getting flat. Nothing sharp on the rim side, but common that I noticed on those inner tubes is that they're getting very small cut with the sticky component of the electrical tape that oozed out on the side on the rim. Could that makes the rubber weak and eventually tear off?
Hmm, I wouldn't think the adhesive from the electrical tape would cause that type of issue.
@@cjhoyle This is purely based on my experience. I could be wrong. Right now I remove the electrical tape completely and use a rim strip and it solved the problem.
I have the same problem for front & rear wheel even though I have rim tape, how should I fix the issue?
U just saved me $ thank u sir
Does it actually protect it ?
yup!
Ok I might try it while I'm waiting for my order to come in the mail
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Why oh why do I buy all this sh*t I don't need?
thank you :-=)
No problem.
You look like a british tv actor
I always use electrical tape. Those weird colors you never use like yellow. Three times round and done. If I need to replace a spoke I just cut it off and put new on. I always find the rubber rim tape not as good long term.
Interesting. I've actually never had any issues with the rubber tape myself, but you're not the only person to have mentioned this. Maybe I've just been lucky!
@@cjhoyle
He may would say that the ruber may damage after a while but i use electrical tape and after a long time they look good as they was.
2 or 3 roung are good for electric tape
What about just black tape
2:35
God i love you
haha thanks!
Would this work in the long run for a 700C tire at 100 PSI?
i mean if the tire with 100 psi can hold the air, whats that rim tape more?
Basically if you want to secure you can apply electrical tape after the dyi rim tape
Can i use gorilla glue to bond the end of the handmade strip?
I've never used gorilla glue before, and I don't know how well it bonds to rubber.
:)
👍
That is way too much work. Electrical tape ftmfw
I explained in the video the disadvantage of that approach.
Why would you cut it in half?
LOL cut out the strip *Without* cutting it in half so you dont have to glue. It back together.. 🤡
Doing this assumes you have an innertub which already has the same circumference as the rim tape you are trying to make. It would need to be from a smaller tire than the one you are installing it from. For example, an uncut 26" inner tub would be too loose for a 26" rim.
Nice 👍