G'day all, sorry for the crappy editing, the return key aint working in this post :( Anyway, I need some advice from any experts in structural adhesives. I am sick of replacing broken spokes in the front wheels of my racing trike and after shooting the breeze with a couple of guys over a few beers, it was suggested that I get a couple of aluminium cones made up and weld them to the hub and rim. Thinking of welding onto a alloy bike rim scares me - buckling/holes/etc - so I was thinking of bonding the cones to the rims. So I guess my question is, what would be a suitable adhesive for bonding alloy/aluminium given the application?

Edited March 16, 201313 yr by coln72

 

But seriously would you want to use anything BUT proper welding on a wheel? A pro should do it without issue,

That shit needs to be tig welded by a pro... Tack around the rim in the professional fashion. Thn weld and quench, weld and quench.

Edited March 16, 201313 yr by GJM85

mmmmmmm, Lotus must know nuthin then. The Elise is held together by glue ;)

Devcon?

We use Hysol alot. Made by a company called Henkel.

 

We glue aircraft together with the stuff.

No More Nails !

 

Whatever it is, I reckon it needs to be more flexible than an epoxy.

Red - sounds like the stuff. can't sneek some down here can you ;) Altezza, does No More Nails stick alloys?????????

I'm not sure what sort of trike this is, but getting decent chunks of alloy sourced and machined would be reasonably expensive? Also you're probably going to need decent areas/prepped pads for the adhesive to stick to (I would have thought?). While the lotus is glued together, they would have designed it that way from the start. Is there anywhere you can source a non spoked wheel from that's all ready to go? It might save you a bit in the long run.

Not in a 16" (349mm dia) wheel :( with a drum brake hub. Looking at a minimum spend of $200 per wheel to go from 32 spokes to 36 spoke hubs and rims which may or may not fix the problem I have.....

Ah bugger. Any ideas why the spokes are breaking?

A fat arse 64kg hybrid trike using wheels designed for a 30kg odd human powered trike.......

Seriously, the trike has been designed to corner hard and the wheels are the weakest point. Inexperienced riders don't help either. 60kmh and full lock is not a good combination.

Ah :) I was going to say spoked wheels can be quite strong when they're designed for the job they're supposed to do but.... that doesn't help :D

Contact a couple of panel shops Colin.

Most rear qtrs, roof turrets etc when replaced(on current cars) are glued not spot welded. Might be a good place to start.