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Carbon wheel repair

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 2:54 pm
by g-boaf
I've got a set of carbon wheels that were damaged in an accident. They are pretty badly scratched up in the braking surface and have a couple of delaminations in that area, the front wheel has the worst one which is a section of the edge of the rim maybe about 2mm x 4mm chipped out of it completely, while the rear only has a very tiny one affecting just the top of the braking surface.

I was speaking to a bike shop today which did a great carbon repair on a friends bike, and they seemed to think it was possible to repair. Does anyone here have any experience in this area, ie, had such wheels repaired? I'd thought they were write-offs, but apparently not. :?:

I've also heard of Bike Addiction at Manly (Stan) who appears to be highly recommended.

Re: Carbon wheel repair

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:03 pm
by MichaelB
I'm of the opinion (without pics and based on description and assumptions) that I'd ditch the wheels.

Damage to the brake track area and mentioned delamination is a critical issue where the bead is.

If it was my bike, I'd be getting new wheels or replacing the rims. My life is worth more than that.

Re: Carbon wheel repair

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:11 am
by g-boaf
I've already got another set. I don't intend on risking my life, the speeds I sometimes do are pretty high, a wheel failing at those speeds would be painful.

They are being looked at and I'll find out. But I'll take the conservative approach as you suggest.

Re: Carbon wheel repair

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 8:35 am
by g-boaf
I got the wheels back yesterday - they have been repaired and quite well by the looks of it. I have no idea how they did it - but structurally it seems good, looks good too.

I might take them out this afternoon and go for a careful ride on the local track and see how they are.

Re: Carbon wheel repair

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 11:24 pm
by HLC
g-boaf wrote:I got the wheels back yesterday - they have been repaired and quite well by the looks of it. I have no idea how they did it - but structurally it seems good, looks good too.

I might take them out this afternoon and go for a careful ride on the local track and see how they are.
Probably filled with resin. I'd bin 'em.

Re: Carbon wheel repair

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 1:44 pm
by jacks1071
Out of interest could you post up some before and after pictures of the damage and the repair?

Re: Carbon wheel repair

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:52 pm
by MichaelB
g-boaf wrote:I got the wheels back yesterday - they have been repaired and quite well by the looks of it. I have no idea how they did it - but structurally it seems good, looks good too.

I might take them out this afternoon and go for a careful ride on the local track and see how they are.
The engineer in me asks "how can you tell whether the structure is sufficient" ?

Personally, my life is worth more than that, but at the same time, I've built up a pair of wheels with generic chinese carbon rims, so who am I to query.

Re the repair though, before I got the repair done, I'd want to know how they were going to repair it before I laid out any cash.