# How to Glue Carbon Fiber



## cyberg101 (Sep 14, 2009)

Hey Bikers... 
I have a question. 
Yesterday after I crashed on a rock garden, my cable guide for the rear derailleur broke off the chain stay, with is made of carbon fiber.

What is the best thing for me to do? 
Take it to a LBS or fix it myself?

If fixing it myself is the answer, what are the steps and what kind of glue should I use?

I have added a pic to show what happened.

TIA...


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## Dremer03 (Jun 19, 2009)

I would think any high quality permanent glue would work well. I have always been a fan of Gorilla glue when it absolutely must hold.


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## GEARHEAD_ENG (Jul 22, 2009)

Sand the contact area of the cable guide and the chain stay with 80 grit paper (enough to roughen up the surface). Clean well with rubbing alcohol. Use a 30 or 60 minute epoxy and use a small clamp to hold it in place while it dries. Don't use 5 minute, the longer the drying time the stronger the bond. If that doesn't hold then you might have to reinforce the joint with carbon fiber cloth and repeat process.


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## cyberg101 (Sep 14, 2009)

Thanks guys...
I'll give a shot.
After I'm done, I'll let You know how it went!

Thanks again.


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## LordDRIFT (Jul 10, 2009)

Black zip tie. Done..

I can't see your pic BTW.. ignore my statement if it does not apply. But if you crash again Dr zip tie aint budging.


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## Lambdamaster (Nov 5, 2008)

LordDRIFT said:


> Black zip tie. Done..
> 
> I can't see your pic BTW.. ignore my statement if it does not apply. But if you crash again Dr zip tie aint budging.


I agree. Zip-tying a cable guide seems wiser than gluing it to the stay. 
Also, if you are intent on "gluing" it, I would recommend West 105 with colloidal silica. any glue should work though.. the surface of that stay is just plastic resin.
don't forget to sand and clean the back of the guide as well as the stay.


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## 006_007 (Jan 12, 2004)

I guess we dont wanna touch base with Fisher to see what they recommend? I would be really careful with what type of glue - you dont want to use something that may eat the CF / epoxy.


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## dr13zehn (Jun 20, 2009)

I agree with 006. 
I would contact Fisher first and see what they recommend. 
You may also be voiding your warranty by gluing the guide back on your stay. One more reason to give them a ring first, just so your covered.


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## herbn (Sep 17, 2005)

arn't those rivoted(sp?) inplace ? there is some glue too, my local bike shop uses jb weld and has the rivit tool, the rivits were a non standard size, they had to get from giant and they(giant) really were not all that happy to send them out. I made them an attachment for their riv nut tool. The piece that applies pressure to the rivit has to fit into the countersink in the cable stop, the thing that seemed sort of custom was that the rivit had a bit of an undersized head. I think giant wanted to do the job as a wuarrentee, that would mean shipping them the bike,possibly just the frame.i've heard of fuji owners getting free new frames for that.


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## Lambdamaster (Nov 5, 2008)

herbn said:


> arn't those rivoted(sp?) inplace ? there is some glue too,  my local bike shop uses jb weld and has the rivit tool, the rivits were a non standard size, they had to get from giant and they(giant) really were not all that happy to send them out. I made them an attachment for their riv nut tool. The piece that applies pressure to the rivit has to fit into the countersink in the cable stop, the thing that seemed sort of custom was that the rivit had a bit of an undersized head. I think giant wanted to do the job as a wuarrentee, that would mean shipping them the bike,possibly just the frame.i've heard of fuji owners getting free new frames for that.


rivet to a carbon stay?? not a good idea.


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## CaveGiant (Aug 21, 2007)

don't underestimate the power of contact adhesive.


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## cyberg101 (Sep 14, 2009)

Thanks to all the reply...

I'm afraid of doing the job myself and voiding the warranty...

It seems easy enough to do, but what if a ruin it?


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## Dremer03 (Jun 19, 2009)

I would just zip tie it to the frame if you are afraid,


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## GEARHEAD_ENG (Jul 22, 2009)

cyberg101 said:


> Thanks to all the reply...
> 
> I'm afraid of doing the job myself and voiding the warranty...
> 
> It seems easy enough to do, but what if a ruin it?


Like a few guys said above, call up Fisher and explain what happened. See if they have any suggestions on what to do. I would guess it wouldn't void the warranty to repair it, but it also wouldn't be covered since it wasn't a factory defect. You can try the zip tie, but I think that the first time you shift gears it will slip due to the cable tension. Could try a small amount of epoxy and a zip tie combo.


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## Dad Man Walking (Sep 7, 2004)

3 points....

To the zip-tiers. What he broke isn't a cable guide, it is cable end stop. It needs to be firmly attached so that it can not move. No cable tension otherwise.

To the riveters. It was not riveted on there...you can clearly see that in the photo. I suspect that it was glued on after the chain stay was laid up, before paint.

To the OP...follow gearhead's advise if you want to get back on the trail this weekend. If you are unsure about making the repair yourself or are worried at all about protecting the warranty, send it back. How much longer do you have under warranty anyway?

The custom carbon fiber builders routinely repair carbon fiber frames. I really don't think that a little part glued to the outside of one of the tubes is going to cause any problems, and epoxy is not going to "eat into" the frame b/c some version of it is what they use do hold the tubes together in the first place.


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## mtbikernc69 (Mar 23, 2004)

Sand it. Glue it. Ride it. Use a strong 2 part epoxy and clean up the excess. Any epoxy you use is probably not going to be an issue with original carbon/epoxy combo on the frame.


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## cyberg101 (Sep 14, 2009)

Just an update....

Used a 50 minutes Loctide Marine epoxy (cures even under water), and it holding up well (so far)...

Thanks for all the replies.


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## GEARHEAD_ENG (Jul 22, 2009)

cyberg101 said:


> Just an update....
> 
> Used a 50 minutes Loctide Marine epoxy (cures even under water), and it holding up well (so far)...
> 
> Thanks for all the replies.


Glad to hear its holding up for you. :thumbsup:


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