Paul, thanks for sharing your cache of information! I concur that the 3M 8545HS, 7070UV and 7071UV are all the same thing, differing only in thickness. I can find the 8mil and 14mil stuff rather easily, but I wish I can find the 40mil stuff; Googling "3M 8545HS" didn't really produce any hits. The 40mil stuff will be great for protecting the chainstay from chain slap, because I found the 14mil stuff barely adequate (I ended up wrapping old inner tubes with bum valves around the chainstay).
As far as improving conformability, professional car protective film installers need to form the film around tight corners on cars, so they use a heat gun/hair dryer to make the film a lot more malleable. AFAIK, there isn't really too many such tight corners on bicycles, at least corners that warrants protection. On Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 9:00:28 AM UTC-7 Paul Clifton wrote: > I've been pretty curious about this topic for a while so I finally did > some digging around. Nothing anyone hasn't already said on this and other > threads, but I'm adding it just for additional info if anyone is interested. > > The basic protective tape seems to be 3M™ Industrial Protective Film > 7070UV: > https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/d/b40066699/ > There's even a link to a PDF at the bottom of that page that shows a > Bicycle Application Concept. It doesn't say anything about removing the > adhesive when you take the tape off, but since it is designed for that sort > of thing, I doubt it will harm paint. > > They also make a thicker version 7071UV, prob for stuff that gets hit > harder. > > Both 7070 and 7071 are available at McMaster Carr. They may be available > cheaper elsewhere but at least McMaster calls out the specific product on > the listing: > https://www.mcmaster.com/fastening-tape/heavy-duty-surface-protection-tape/ > > Digging into 3M's aerospace category gets to this amazing page about > products for helicopter rotor blades: > https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/aerospace-us/segment-solutions/rotor-blades/ > The stuff for helicopters is extremely thick and says it offers "limited > conformability" > https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/?N=5002385+3292668475&rt=rud > > I've also seem people recommend low friction protection tape, which is > meant for lining chutes in factories and fulfillment centers. It offers > impact protection as well: > https://www.mcmaster.com/fastening-tape/low-friction-uhmw-tape-8/ > It's acrylic, not polyurethane.Maybe I'll get some of the for my > daughter's scratched up plastic slide. > > But for my bike, I'd probably just go with the 3M 7070UV since it's really > designed specifically for protecting paint, but maybe not structural > elements, from minor impacts on land vehicles. > > I love tape. > > BTW - has anyone used the gaffe tape from McMaster? How does it compare to > the Gaffe brand gaffe tape? I hate bad tape. > https://www.mcmaster.com/fastening-tape/matte-duct-tape/ > > Paul in AR > > On Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 4:38:39 PM UTC-5 Roberta wrote: > >> Helicopter tape to put under the brake wire that runs along the bottom of >> the top tube, so perhaps 1 1/2 - 2" wide to allow for wire movement and a >> not too perfect tape application. I carry my bike on a hanging bike rack >> and currently protect the frame by putting inner tubes between the wire and >> frame, but that's becoming annoying. >> >> There's so many out there and I'm not sure which will work well and not >> effect the paint. My local auto supply place said they never heard of it. >> Neither did the LBS. >> >> Thanks, >> Roberta, AHHilsen >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f4904a7c-956c-43d6-9ce0-4b51d367e416n%40googlegroups.com.
