Classic & Vintage - lugged CF frame came unglued

the seattube came unglued at the BB on my '83 Peugeot py-10 fc. i dont feel safe riding it anymore but i love this bike. Can you find glue/epoxy strong enough to glue these things together? i take it i'd have to take the whole frame apart and reglue it all , which brings up unsticking all the other joints, any ideas on this? Have these frames been reglued succesfully(by a pro or not) or is it spent?
Thanks

Why vintage carbon bikes will be hard to find 15 years from now. Seriously, most of these resins were two part exothermic catylized stuff, heating won't debond it. Best chance would be locate the last repair center for Vitus, maybe they would attempt it. but the assembly system is not exactly the same.

You had good service, the currently sailing Volvo Ocean race boats are coming unglued and are just months old and cost millions.

Why vintage carbon bikes will be hard to find 15 years from now.Gonna be a HUGE gap in bicycle history when all the carbon and aluminum bikes start biting the dust.

I just re-bonded my Aluminum Vitus 979 (circa 1986). Used a 2 part high strength epoxy I picked up from Sears Hardware. Its Devcon brand Titanium5 Epoxy, 2500 psi tensile strength with 5 minutes of working time and 1 hour handling. It took several attempts before I finally got it right. I'd recommend something with a little longer working time, 5 minutes is not much time before it hardens

To make a long story short, I had to separate the seat tube completely from the BB lug and clean the lug of the old glue (I used a dremel to grind it off). You will also need to somehow clean inside the seat tube/BB lug interface (degrease it as a minimum). I used a small bottle jack and some pieces of 2x3 to jury rig a way to seperate the seat tube from the BB (this is where you will have a problem with your CF tubes). I mixed and applied the epoxy with a thick coating (don't be skimpy) to the BB lug and then lowered the tube back onto the BB lug. Then I used a ratcheting tie down strap throught the BB and the top of the seatpost clamp and clamped it down as best I could. 1 hour later I re-installed the BB, crank and seatpost and did a quick test drive. I've since put more than 500 miles (hills and flats) on the bike and it seems to be hold up.

Hope this helps.


Good luck.

look, check out this:

http://users.uniserve.com/~peterguy/vitusmain.htm

they can rebond vitus for a fairly small price, they can probably rebond your bike too.

im probably gunna send it do those guys.

how would you get the tube out with out taking every tube out? Thanks.

how would you get the tube out with out taking every tube out? Thanks.

If you're referring to the separation of the BB lug from the seat post tube, I was able to wedge some scrap wood between the BB/downtube junction and place a bottle jack parallel to the seat tube and jack up the toptube/seatpost clamp. There is enough flex in the aluminum frame that nothing got cold set. I wouldn't call it very pretty but it worked. Your problem (if you use this method) is that you may be compressing the CF in the wrong direction possibley crushing the tubing (not really a problem with aluminum on the Vitus, plus I had nothing to lose).

Good luck.

Damn, Dude! You have more b*lls than I ever will. I've glued and bonded a lot of things over the years, and I am pretty sanitary in the work I do. Still, I wouldn't trust my best work when it comes to regluing a critical frame component that might fail catastrophically...heck, that could ruin my modelling career!
That said, I guess you did it and lived...I reckon that Al-to-Al bonding might be more forgiving and the glues/techniques more established than CF-to-Al...anybody have firsthand experience with the type of epoxy (or what?) used in the industry for bonding those joints? I have read that there can be nasty galvanic action between the materials when the carbon fibers are in direct contact with metals...but of course I forget the details. (I don't have to remember such trivia since I have "in Steel We Trust" on all my money)

Gonna be a HUGE gap in bicycle history when all the carbon and aluminum bikes start biting the dust.

Not all CF bikes are built in the same manner.

I have read that there can be nasty galvanic action between the materials when the carbon fibers are in direct contact with metals...but of course I forget the details. (I don't have to remember such trivia since I have "in Steel We Trust" on all my money)
The electron exchange will cause the metal to corrode. The typical "safe" solution would be to wrap the interface with an inert material such as mylar or fibreglass. Other contraversial methods include annodisation of the metal or relying on the adhesive to form an isiolation barrier.

Another issue is differences in thermal expansion. Many manufacturers use titanium lugs for this reason. Others adopted the use of CF lugs which pretty much eliminates both problems altogether. And of course still others went to full one-piece or subassembly construction thus eliminating lugs altogether. Of course lugs are but one place where CF bonding has to occur. There are other places such as dropouts and BB shells, cups, headtube/seattube reinforcements, attachment points for shifters, derailleurs, bottle cages, etc... Proper prep of the materials need to be maintained in those locations too.

Gonna be a HUGE gap in bicycle history when all the carbon and aluminum bikes start biting the dust.

"Bicycle history"? Once a bicycle becomes "historical" it's scrap.

Gonna be a HUGE gap in bicycle history when all the carbon and aluminum bikes start biting the dust.

I have two 20 year old Raleigh aluminum bikes, and no signs of not being around a lot longer. And yikes!!!, they are bonded aluminum, which I have read on the internet will last only 6 monthes or so.

I have two 20 year old Raleigh aluminum bikes, and no signs of not being around a lot longer. And yikes!!!, they are bonded aluminum, which I have read on the internet will last only 6 monthes or so.

I've got one of them too (originally a Scott Tinley tri-lite, now a technium Pro due to severed rear chainstay)! I think the bonds and the addition of that lock ring thingie around the tubeset and the lug make for a better (albeit ugly) bond. The bonding on the Vitus was really asthetically pleasing, IMHO.

unworthy1:
As far as trusting the bond, I've got about 800 hard miles on it now and there are no signs of impending failure. When it originally failed the seat tube would slide up and down on the lug and the crank would hit the front derailuer, when that occured I'd take it easy and head home. I've also been inspecting the BB area for signs of failure. I've researched this problem and its common with the Vitus and other owners have re-bonded their bikes with pretty good success.

hear in the hydrology lab we use "West System" epoxy which was purchased at a marina. It was expensive however but has more than a 5 minute working time and when it hardens it happens rapidly and it steam and gets real hot and smells funny. The stuff is incredible though. I have no idea how it would work in this application but it is an "industrial" epoxy I think.