I've tried everything with the tape and sometimes it sticks to the rim and sometimes to the tire when removed. I'd rather it stay on the rim when I change a tire on the road. I've tried with some success to put a thin layer of Fast Tack on before putting the tape on. I usually leave an inch or so without glue or tape opposite the valve stem.
Even though I and my wife tour, train and race on tubulars, I always shutter when too much is made of them. They're lighter, probably roll better, can definitely take higher pressure (Tufos are rated for 220 psi) and usually feel better with higher pressures. I don't think I would want to ride most clinchers with 160 psi but often ride my Tufos with this pressure and pump them up once a month.
And gluing on tires is not a religious experience. It's a fifteen minute job and with a pair of coveralls and surgeon gloves, pretty clean too. My wife can change a tubular quicker than a clincher and she has yet to pinch a tubular by using a tire iron to get the last inch or two on the rim.
I think if an order of fifty or more tires were made, we might be able to convince Tufo to make a classic looking tire. I'd like a 28mm tire but 25mm would be ok and would fit some but not all modern bikes. Some of today's superbikes have such close clearances in their rear triangle that only a 23mm tire will fit and God forbid if you break a spoke or get a rim out of true -- you walk home.
Jim Cushing-murray Rocky Mountain Tufo Frisco CO (it is actually warm up here today)