Removing Gorilla Tape glue from rims?

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 TobyA 12 Jun 2021

A ridiculously specific question - but wisdom of crowds, long tails, and all that...

Last week I drove a couple of hours to go bikepacking in the northern Pennines only to find on my arrival there that my front tyre was now flat and when I found the hole it wouldn't seal with either just sealant or a plug. I went hill walking instead which, while nice was really what I had gone for.

I had actually already bought a new tire to replace the now flat quite elderly one, but when I tried removing the current one a couple of months ago it was such a fight I ran out of time so just I gave up: adding more fresh sealant and pumped it back up again. But my original diagnosis that it was a) old and b) pretty knackered I suspect was right all along and the failed bikepack showed this. So today, I actually removed the old tire and decided while I was at it I'd remove the old rim tape as well and start fresh for the new tire and hopefully get another 4 years of trouble free riding out it.

But removing the wraps of Gorilla Tape that I had used as rim tape has left lots of glue on the rims - particularly under the hook of the rim, where the bead of the tire sits. I think this might have been in part why it was so hard to get the old tire off the rims. Is there anything which is likely to help me get all the glue off beyond elbow grease and bloody-mindedness? Some kind of solvent? White spirit or meths maybe?

Tubeless tires - bloody brilliant 99% of the time. Deeply deeply annoying the other 1%!

Post edited at 21:10

 Yanis Nayu 12 Jun 2021
In reply to TobyA:

Acetone? Disc brake cleaner?

 Hooo 12 Jun 2021
In reply to TobyA:

It's basically gaffa tape glue. Soak in white spirit, lighter fluid or tar remover for a while until it's soft. Wipe off as much as you can then clean the residue with isopropanol.

 top cat 12 Jun 2021
In reply to TobyA:

I just. Or rather ' just' .......rolled it off with my thumb.  X2 fat bike rims so a fair amount to do.   Tried various solvents but they just made a sticky mess.   Didn't use gorilla tape afterwards!  

 a crap climber 12 Jun 2021
In reply to TobyA:

Scrape as much off as you can with some sort of stiff  piece of plastic. Scrub the rest off with a bit of rag and plenty of white spirit

 The Potato 12 Jun 2021

A bit of wd40 or gt85 works great too and easier to wipe off than white spirit

OP TobyA 12 Jun 2021
In reply to The Potato:

> A bit of wd40 or gt85 works great too and easier to wipe off than white spirit

Oh! That sounds easy, I may well try that first. Thanks!

OP TobyA 12 Jun 2021
In reply to top cat:

What did you use instead? I set mine up tubeless I think 5 years ago, and despite some reasonably hard usage, until I damaged the sidewall on the back tire last summer and it needed replacing, I think I had had zero flats or other problems. So in that sense the Gorilla Tape had done a fine job up to now. It was my first time ever doing tubeless so overall it went well. I have since done it on my gravel bike as well, but have had a few more problems on that wheelset.

In reply to TobyA:

Lighter fluid is my go to goo remover. No residues like WD40 or GT85. Just pure petroleum spirit that evaporates.

 The Potato 13 Jun 2021
In reply to captain paranoia:

Methanol evaporates the quickest, then Ethanol, sometimes too quickly though.

In reply to The Potato:

They do. But they're not as effective solvents for goo.

Not that keen on handling methanol, either.

Post edited at 18:35
 top cat 14 Jun 2021
In reply to TobyA:

One set of wheels I used very expensive Surly tape ( not many options for an 80 mm rim) but on a second pair I used the clear gorilla tape.   Same company but a very different product.   No idea if it is any better in the long run than the black super tacky gorilla tape,  but wheels are holding air well.........And much cheaper !

TC


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