Rim strips?

I'm doing my first IronWoman biathlon on the 27th and a bit paranoid about getting a flat during the cycling portion. I was looking at putting in some type of flat restistance race-ready tubes but bike shop mentioned putting on rim strips? Completely clueless on this recommendation--rim strips alone or with the new tubes--no rim strips--no new tubes? any thoughts? I'm usually very happy with my normal tubes but I had a flat last night on the cycling course and now I'm worried. The biathlon is intimidating enough without having to stress about a flat tire! Thanks!

~AG~

Why did you have a flat last night? Did something poke through the tread, or was the leak on the inside of the tube? What kind of rim strips do you currently have, and what condition are they in? Velox cloth rim tape is tougher and more secure than the rubber ones. If you're running rubber strips currently, consider changing to velox. If you've already got velox, and it's in good shape and you haven't gotten any tube punctures on the rim side of the tube, then leave well enough alone. You'll definitely want a new tube since it's flat - don't bother patching since you want reliability in a race.

the flat was definitely caused by a piece of glass (found and removed). bike is 3 months old so the rims (AlexRims DA16) are in good condition. have no rim strips/tapes now on the bike and really hadn't thought of putting them on, until the bikeshop mentioned it. New tubes going on but is it worth getting flat resistance tubes AND putting on the tape/strips? I guess you can never be protected enough!
Barb

I automatically thought of Mr Tuffy strips but they aren't rim strips because they go btwn the tire and the tube. I swear by the mtn biking because you know when you get a new bike and you are all excited to ride it? Yeah...well that was me, 5 miles into the desert with TWO flat tires from goat heads.

For the road I'm not sure. Not sure if they make them that small ?? I would be interested in finding out...

Sounds like someone may have given you bad terminology. What they really meant to suggest was tire liners. Rim strips protect your tube from the spokes - they sit between the rim and the tube - tire liners protect your tubes from road debris - they go between the tube and the tire. If you really do not have rim strips you should probably put some in (or velox plugs), some of those holes in your rim can have very sharp edges.

I had tire liners (Mr. Tuffy's - I don't care for Slime Liners too much) for years on my touring bike and went flat free for 15 years, but I tried them on my rain bike (skinnier 650 tires) and they actually caused a flat in a few hours.....

If you decide to go with tire liners, put them in now, so that you have time to ride the bike and make sure they are going to work for you before you are at your race.

wait.... You mean there is nothing on the rim? no rubber strip, plastic thing that looks like strapping tape, or white tape that looks like medical/cloth tape??
Unless your rims are completely sealed- no holes where the spoke were installed- then you should be running something! With no rim strips I'm surprised you haven't had problems until now.

edit to add that I forgot about the velox plugs..

thanks for all your replies. There is rim tape on the inside of the rims, but I'm assuming that the LBS was recommending something a bit stronger just to make sure that nothing would pop through during the ride. I did end up ordering some flat restistance tubes that I'll have them put on just to have the added insurance. I normally don't panic about flats-they happen, you stop, you fix, you continue to ride..but this biathlon is one of 12 things that I promised to do when I turned 60.-- 6 more things to do and I can move on to 61! Will keep you posted as to the outcome...again, thanks for all your help.
~AG~

AG: I recently got RaceXLite rims with Vitorria Corsa tires. The tires are puncture resistent.

Silver talked me into using light weight rim tape. It's very thin and needs to be applied to the rim carefully.

In applying it, I missed a small area over one of the spoke holes...and BAM, blow out three nights later.

I favor the thicker fabric rim tape...and I'm convinced that the Kevlar tires are worth the extra weight - given the two holes I have in them...but without a flat.

Kevlar tires don't have to be heavy. My Maxxis are 205 g.