Repairing Carbon Bottle Cage

disgruntledgoat

A few months of cobble use have revealed to me why the pros elect for old school metal cages, as the tab at the bottom of my fancy carbon bottle cage is basically hanging off! It's still attached by a few layers of fibre being held in shape by the lacquer, so it still holds bottles, but a few significant bumps will make a fully loaded bottle drop out the bottom, and we are blessed with many significant bumps here. I noticed the issue after shredding through the bottom of a bottle that had dropped through to rest on my big ring after a trip up the Kruisberg.

So, bearing in mind that I'm cheap, what's the best way to repair the cage effectively? The cage came with the bike (2nd hand) and I'm vain enough to want matching cages, not vain enough to drop €70 on a new one!

dgunthor

what about some araldite?

Hugues

Thin strip of flat aluminium. Bend tab on the bottom, drill a couple of holes to match the existing cage, colour with a Sharpie to match the cage and then put behind the cage and bolt the lot to the bike. Has worked for 5+ years on my old Campag Record cages.

disgruntledgoat

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19638276#p19638276]Hugues[/url] wrote:

Thin strip of flat aluminium. Bend tab on the bottom, drill a couple of holes to match the existing cage, colour with a Sharpie to match the cage and then put behind the cage and bolt the lot to the bike. Has worked for 5+ years on my old Campag Record cages.

Oh my that's good.

ex-pat scot

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19638276#p19638276]Hugues[/url] wrote:

Thin strip of flat aluminium. Bend tab on the bottom, drill a couple of holes to match the existing cage, colour with a Sharpie to match the cage and then put behind the cage and bolt the lot to the bike. Has worked for 5+ years on my old Campag Record cages.

Not a bad suggestion.

Or find a black wire coat hanger and twist a short L shape. Araldite it to the bottom.
You're only stopping the bottle from sliding downwards; it doesn't actually hold the full weight on the lower edge.

PhunkyPhil

I'd just buy new ones. I assume you had fancy carbon ones so they look the part on your bike and bodging a fix will defeat the original purchase point as it will look rubbish.

sungod

you could do a stronger than new repair with a bit of cf cloth and resin, with a bit of care it'd be hard to spot the repair unless you know what to look for

trickiest part i've found is getting the cf cloth to stay put while resin cures, for a cage tab you i think could do it ok with some plastic sheet (wax it as a mould release) and some clips

you can apply a top coat of resin once the first has cured to give a smooth surface

you'd ony need a small amount so unless you've an amenable source your cheapest option would be to buy a kit, that may not be compatible with your desire for low cost but you'll then be ready for when the tab fails on the other cage

Matthewfalle

I used araldite on a Planet X one that got caught in my fashionably baggy jeans one day.

Araldite the inside so that no one can see the repair, use insulting tape on the outside (it peels off perfectly leaving no residue and doesn't stick to the glue (old motorcycle club racer's trick for when repairing fairings).

Lasted eons now including cobbled riding.

Matthewfalle

I used araldite on a Planet X one that got caught in my fashionably baggy jeans one day.

Araldite the inside so that no one can see the repair, use insulting tape on the outside (it peels off perfectly leaving no residue and doesn't stick to the glue (old motorcycle club racer's trick for when repairing fairings).

Lasted eons now including cobbled riding.