Test: Effetto Mariposa Caffelatex Tubeless Strips

When I first built my Krampus in 2015, rim and tire options were limited. I went with Velocity Dually rims and Maxxis Chronicle tires. The tubeless setup was a nightmare, by far the worst I have ever encountered. It was so awful that I ran the same tires for almost five years even though I found them slow and heavy. At the time I though something in the 29x2.7 neighborhood would be the sweet spot for this bike.

The main setup issue was the rim bed diameter being a little small and/or the tires too large. I had to build up the rim bed with Gorilla tape and it was still a struggle to set the beads with the shop compressor.

Recently I finally decided to make a switch and purchased some 2.6 inch Teravail Cumberland Light & Supple tires. They sat for a while because I just didn't want to deal with the Velocity rims again.

I stumbled upon the Effetto Mariposa rim strips and thought they might be the ticket.

Out of the package the strips are dense and stiff, but somehow still very stretchy. The "M Plus" kit for 41-45 mm rims turned out to be a perfect fit on my Dually rims. Getting the strips on the rims is no easy chore; expect a pinched finger and a little cussing on your first rim. The second rim went more smoothly, but it's still like wrestling an octopus. A third hand would have helped.

Once installed both tires seated quickly and easily with a floor pump. The extra thickness was exactly what I needed.

A retail price of $38 for my kit may seem high. I have seen more than a few people compare this price to a $10 roll of Gorilla tape that can be used on many rims. But since you can easily drop twenty bucks on tubeless valves, I don't think $18 is too much to pay for an effective and reuseable strip.

Later.