Fixing cracked carbon rims

wheeler585

Hi, ive recently just cracked my front carbon rim, sadly it has cracked on the braking surface,!! Was just wondering if anyone knows if this could be fixed or are they fooooked!!???

P.s the crack is about 1cm in length, can is be bonded some how or have resin injected into it, or am i just fooling myself!!

Monty Dog

You fancy doing a 80kph downhill knowing that your rim is cracked? The difficulty in effecting a repair is the nature of the crack - is it full thickness i.e. is the crack between the brake track and the fairing - can you flex the crack by hand?

wheeler585

ha no not really, i did think myself that the wheel is knackered, but there is a composite workshop near me, they do carbon repairs but with it being bank hol and all that i cant get in. if you press half way down the fairing, you can hear the carbon crunching slightly, its a slight crack, but obviously located in a really bad place.

Monty Dog

I repaired a minor delamination on a carbon rim - I'm still racing on it, but a full thickness crack is entirely different. By all means consult an expert but I expect I know what the answer is - but you might be able to inject some structural PU foam into the rim.

racingcondor

It may be repairable but I wouldn't risk a rim failure, especially on the front.

Like Monty I vote for salvaging the hub and spokes and replacing the rim.

wheeler585

Took the rim in today to fibrelite in stokesley, the guy there said its fixable and should be fine, the top of the rim where the tub gets glued on is fine, its just the side wall fairing that needs a 2mm wrap around it, plus a bit of resin injected in. Happy days!!