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glueing carbon fiber???

muddywolf

Chimp
Jul 1, 2001
35
0
somewhere in the desert
my dads got an old Vitus carbon road frame. one of the cable guides on the top tube came loose and is rattling. I was curious if anyone had any ideas as to what type of bonding materials would be safe to use?
just to be an ass I told him to duct tape it, but he didn't go for that, and I havent had time to call Kestral or find a phone# for Vitus, are they even still around?
thanks
 

oldfart

Turbo Monkey
Jul 5, 2001
1,206
24
North Van
You might be able to get a rivet on cable guide, drill a couple holes and use some pop rivets. I had done that on a Ti frame to get custom cable routing. Or the easiest is to get the stick on cable guides made by Jagwire for hydraulic brake lines. I don't know glues very well but I suppose a 2 part epoxy would work. Check with a boat shop. I'm sure they'd know what kind of glue to use.
 

Yeti_arc

Chimp
Jul 18, 2001
1
0
Portland, OR
I wouldn't try to drill a Vitus. The Aluminum on the top tubes is pretty thin and it could cause the tube to fail under stress (sprinting & climbing).
A 2-part epoxy is the best solution it get the cable guide to stay. Once that is glued back it probably will never come off again.
 

Carbonguy

Chimp
Jul 7, 2001
10
0
near los angeles california
There is a guy who repairs vitus frames in southern california but i dont recall his name off hand. I know alot of people use
"JB weld" to glue the steertube plugs in carbon steertubes some forks come with it. You might want to try something like that. What size frame is it let me know if you want to replace it with a 56cm Specialized carbon epec ellez is about a 90' or 91' its got carbon tubes and aluminum lugs kind of like the vitus but slightly stiffer. I would be willing to sell soon.
 

muddywolf

Chimp
Jul 1, 2001
35
0
somewhere in the desert
well I tried epoxy on a scrap from a carbon steerer tube, just to test the effect, weve been discussing it at the shop and had a feeling the epoxy might melt it, it didnt stick at all, hardend just fine, but didnt bond to the carbon. kinda strange I sanded part, left part smooth and cleaned both but no bond? my epoxy might be kinda old though. Im gonna hit the hardware store and see what I can dig up. thanks for the suggestions guys

also thanks for the offer Carbonguy, but my dads pretty short and rides a 50/53 I think and he's kinda loyal to Vitus, hes got like three of them now
 

greasemonkey

Chimp
Jul 4, 2001
23
0
WA
find a trek dealer, and see if they have some of the special (very nasty and toxic) two-part bonding adhesive that they provide for exactly such situations on their OCLV carbon frames. the adhesive comes in little kits containing a pouch of each component and very important instructions/precautions.

or, try "two-ton" epoxy. it works to fix delaminated carbon-laminate skis and snowboards, and it's easy to find at hardware stores. prep the area with rubbing alcohol. to affix the cable stop firmly in place while the epoxy sets, strap a large zip-tie around the frame and stop, and cinch it in place with a "third-hand" tool (used for pulling brake/gear cables tight)