Rojoracing Style DIY Carbon Wheel Covers

[RojoRacing]

Ok so this is happening today and I'll taking lots of pictures as I go along so maybe I'll actually post a DIY thread here for everyone to learn. This is going on the drive wheel of my Enve for use on the rear of the Trek but the process is the same no matter what wheel you want to make covers for.

Ok first thing you'll need to do is order some finished Carbon Fiber plate, this means it's cured carbon and not raw carbon weave. You'll need 0.008"(0.20mm) thick carbon, this is as thin as you can go but if you can't get it this thin up to 0.012"(0.30mm) thick will also work fine and be honestly be more durable and easier to work with at the cost a little more weight. The covers made out of 0.008" will weight 180 grams for both, that's not much. The only place I've found online that sells the size I need is ACP Composites which just happens to be down the street from me (lucky me) but also ships world wide. You'll need 24"x 48" to do both sides of one wheel.
https://store.acpsales.com/products...x-48-2x2-twill-carbon-fiber-sheet-gloss-matte


The carbon will have a protective clear tape on one side, that's you're glossy side, the other unprotected side is your matte finished side.


My original covers for the V20 I choose to have the matte finish facing out which I really like for the stealthy look but for these wheels we'll be exposing the glossy side. First thing you'll need to do is lay down some masking tape because it's nearly impossible to write fine lines on bare carbon. I'm using 3" wide painters tape, the wider the better because you'll need less runs of tape to cover the whole thing. If you can find a lighter color do it because pencil is hard to see on blue.


Next thing you'll want to do is start drawing the lines for where to cut. My covers are about 22" in diameter but each different wheel depth will need a different size cover so treat 22" as a ball park starting point. Find a center point where your lines wont run off the edges but try and fit them in the corner so you have large whole pieces left over. Also make sure to mark your center point after you find it so you can find it again, trust me I lost it a few times when making my first covers. If you're not totally sure what exact diameter will work best for your wheel then draw several lines in 1/4" increments , pencil lead is cheap. Do the same thing for the center hole cutout. If you're making cover for a non drive wheel with rim brake the center hole can be just large enough to fit over the hub. If you're making covers for a drive wheel or non drive wheel with disc brake rotor start with a small circle but make sure to do enough to reach out to 4.5". more on this later.


After you're done drawing all your circles so grab your handy heavy duty scissors, oh did you forget to buy some? I use these micro serrated scissors because they grip that slick glossy carbon as they cut but even quality smooth blades will get the job done. https://www.scissorsonline.com/8-straight-stainless-trimmer-serrated.html Yes you can cut the carbon with just scissors, this stuff is barely thicker then paper.


You'll want to cut out your covers starting with your largest circle because you can trim off more later but you can't put more back on. Measure twice cut once or be ready to start all over.

 

[RojoRacing]

Remember when I told you to mark your center point? Well good now you'll need to draw a perfectly strait and as fine a line as possible from the center out to the edge. It doesn't matter what angle you choose but I'd suggest going along with the length of the tape to put down. Now cut from the outer edge to the center and try to do so as perfectly strait as possible, if the line you drew is too thick is may be hard to cut a strait line.


Now cut out the center starting with you're smallest circle. Notice how I cut out the center then had to cut again on a larger circle you'll see why in the next.


Now you'll want to lay your wheel horizontal with the side you intent to cover first facing up. If you doing a drive wheel I suggest staring with the non drive side, it'll be easier to do the side with more dish first. If your doing a non drive wheel with a disc rotor start with the non disc rotor side for the same reason above. I set my wheel on top a plastic 55gal trash can because it supports the wheel near the tire and won't scratch the wheels or carbon as you work with it. Take your cover and drape it over the wheel making sure you line up the center hole as best you can. The cut edges with overlap each other giving you that perfect dishing with minimal waves just for your exact wheel, this is why we do this per exact wheel and not mail order like wheel builder doesn't with their plastic covers.


At this time you can lift the corner of cover and see how much of your rim you're covering. You need you covers large enough to reach the rim but not so larger that the tape gets into your brakes. Keep in mind you'll be attaching these with 5/8 wide electical tape so leave enough space so the tape stays away from your braking surface. Deeper rims or wheels with disc brakes make this step easier because there's more room to work with. If you're overlapping too much then trim your outer edge to the next line. You can see how much overlap I had and I could have trimmed to the next line but I'm not pressed to space so I left it as is. If your happy with the OD of your covers then make sure it's centered and then using masking tape secure it to the rim at 8 points.


This next step is mostly for drive wheel or disc brake users because there are more clearances issues on those wheels but for you rim brake non drive users it doesn't hurt to follow this step and make sure nothing rubs. With you one cover secured with masking tape mount the wheel to the bike and carefully turn it to make sure it doesn't rub on anything like your chain stays, disk brake hose, disk brake caliper or your cassette if you're doing your drive side. If you're doing the drive side or the rotor side you'll most likely be rubbing the caliper or cassette so you'll need to cut a larger hole in the center to clear you overlapped spokes. Notice in this first picture how I have no clearance and the following pic shows how much gap I have from the spokes on the inside because the cover is resting on the J bend portion of the spokes nearest the hub flange.

 

[RojoRacing]

If you didn't have any clearance issues you can skip this step. If you had rubbing then note which of your circle line will allow the cover to rest on the spokes where they sit the lowest thus maximizing you're clearance. If you're unsure then you can cut them off one at a time and keep checking, remember measure twice cut once. Now remove the cover and trim the center to a larger size. Then tape the cover back on and mount it to the bike.


Now you should have more clearance and if you look at the back side you'll see the cover lying on the flat of the spokes. Don't worry about the over sized center hole and exposed spokes for now, we'll get to that later and you'll never notice once we finish.


Now you can take a new fine tip sharpie(marker) and mark along the slit in the cover so you know how much to cut off. The more dishing or more of a dome you need the larger the piece you'll need to cut off is. So for your non dive side you'll cut off nearly a 1/4" at the outside but on the drive side it'll be barely 1/16" because it's almost flat with very little dishing.


Now with your mark in place you'll want to use your trusty scissors to cut along the line as carefully strait as possible. WARNING It's better to cut a little too much then not enough but I do mean just a little, like very little. If you don't cut off enough then the seams will but up to soon and cause the center of your disc to not sit against the spokes which may cause clearance issues with your caliper or cassette. If you cut off too much you can still make a perfectly functional cover but the more excess you cut off the more obvious your finished seam will be when you everything is glued together. This is the hardest part of the whole build unless you happen to nail it right the first time. Once you have it cut go ahead and tape the seam together with your masking tape with the tape on the finished(outside) with the side you plane to glue on inside. You can see the amount of extra carbon that I cut off via the light shining through the blue tape. That'll be the size of your seam but it'll be clear epoxy backed with carbon so black on black doesn't show up much as a seam when you're done so don't worry about it much. Plan D would be to toss your favorite sponsor decal over the seam to hide your handiwork which is why I said cutting off too much is better than enough.


Now with some of the scrap carbon you'll want to cut two 1" wide strips to epoxy over the seam to give it strength. 1" wide seems to be the sweet spot so I highly recommend you stick with that width. As for length make it about 1/4"-3/8" shorter then the length of your seam so you can keep is slightly away from both edges. Now with your foam sanding block you'll want to roughen up both surfaces you plane to glue together, don't go overboard you only need enough for it to look a little scratched. I recommend softening the corners of your strip as well as the corner of your covers seam just enough so it's not pointy and asking to be chipped with use. When done, wipe the to be epoxy'd area with alcohol so it's nice and clean.

 

[RojoRacing]

Position your cover so the seam is facing you and prop up the opposing side with a few small objects so the seam is in a relaxed state and not trying to stretch the tape and lie flat. Pull out your 5 min epoxy and apply a little to the strip, you have 5 mins so don't rush but on the other hand don't go make yourself a sandwich or take any phone calls once you inject the mixing syringe. Place the strip over the seam and with your fingers slowly work the epoxy from the center out the the edges along the whole length of the strip, you want the epoxy to spill out the sides a bit. Were still within the 5 min window I hope so take a clean paper towel soaked with alcohol and wipe off the excess epoxy you pushed out. With it looking pretty clean and still within our 5 min window you should still be able to slide the piece around a bit at this point but it's starting to set. Take your flat heavy something and lay it on top of the strip to keep it weighted as it drys. If your block is wider then the strip you risk gluing it to your cover so be sure it sit within the edges free of epoxy contact. You may need to babysit the piece for a few more mins so fully sets and you don't come back 10 mins later to find the heavy block carried it away a 1/4". I'd say once you have it set leave it there for at about 1 hour because some epoxies will take longer to fully cure. With mine I am able to have them on the bike and outside riding within the hour but better safe then sorry.


If this is the opposite side you plan to access your valve stem and inflate your tire from then you are done with the half and it's ready to be taped to the wheel, I'll discuss that step after we finish the other half with the valve stem access hole. Go ahead and peel away the protective plastic and behold it's glossy 3k weave glory while you enjoy a beer break because you've been at this for nearly 3 hours.

Grab a 4x4 block you don't mind cutting into and a 2" hole saw with cordless drill. Now you're going to drill two holes one right above the other to open an oval shaped hole so you can access your valve stem. You're going to do this right over the seam you just got done epoxying together because the extra carbon strip there makes this the strongest part of the cover. You want the hole saw spinning fast but you'll want to apply pressure very slowly so it kind of burns through the carbon and doesn't snag it with the teeth. Cut into the wood till you see saw dust and you're done with the first hole. For the next hole leave the drill bit portion of the hole saw in the hole you drilled into the wood but life up the saw teeth so you can re-position the cover to cut the second hole like the picture below. You're not drilling through the carbon with the drill bit the second time, you're only using the saw portion. Make sure your in position with the bit rubbing against the side of the first hole and centered on the seam then apply light drilling pressure just like the just time. Now with both holes drilled spend the next 30 mins with some sand paper and your foam sanding blocks and clean up the edges to give it a proper oval high school track shape.


The last step before taping on the covers is to sand all the edges of all the cuts so everything is smooth that way when you apply the tape you don't see any bubbles from hidden burrs.

 

[RojoRacing]

At least one more update with finished pics coming but I need to remove the covers from my bike to take mentioned pics so be patient.

 

[RojoRacing]

Reserved

 

[RojoRacing]

Reserved

 

[ccf]

Now with some of the scrap carbon you'll want to cut two 1" wide strips to epoxy over the seam to give it strength. 1" wide seems to be the sweet spot so I highly recommend you stick with that width. As for length make it about 1/4"-3/8" shorter then the length of your seam so you can keep is slightly away from both edges. Now with your foam sanding block you'll want to roughen up both surfaces you plane to glue together, don't go overboard you only need enough for it to look a little scratched. I recommend softening the corners of your strip as well as the corner of your covers seam just enough so it's not pointy and asking to be chipped with use. When done, wipe the to be epoxy'd area with alcohol so it's nice and clean.

Do the 1" wide strips go on the inside of the covers, or the outside?

 

[RojoRacing]

Do the 1" wide strips go on the inside of the covers, or the outside?

In the step previous the one you quoted it says to apply masking tape to the finished/outside of the cover. This is so you can apply the 1" strip to the inside so it'll be hidden when finished. Honestly it'll work on ether side but you wouldn't want to see the glued patch on the outside of you wheel now would you.

 

[ccf]

So far so good.



Awaiting taping instructions. How about curved reflective tape at the outer edge? Definitely need assistance with how to hold it down near the hub, though.

-Cliff

 

[RojoRacing]

So far so good.

View attachment 6124

Awaiting taping instructions. How about curved reflective tape at the outer edge? Definitely need assistance with how to hold it down near the hub, though.

-Cliff

You are basically there, leave those current pieces of tape hold it in place and then using electrical tape go around once doing your best to keep the tape 50/50 on the cover and wheel. Try to not stretch the electrical tape when applying it because it'll try and return to it's original length over time as soon as it gets warm in the sun. Just give it a shot, if you're not happy peel it off and try again. The covers on the vendetta's wheel are taped on with 3m scotchcal reflective tape because the covers are on there 100% of the time. The reflective tape is a lot more expensive then electrical tape so for the Enve wheels I applied reflective tape to the wheel separately from the wheel covers that way when I pull off the covers I still have reflective tape on the wheels and it only cost me $0.25 in tape to change the covers.

Are you working with carbon or something else? what thickness is your material?

 

[ccf]

Do you use any tape near the hub? Seems like it might flop around at high speed without something holding it tight there.

I ordered the 0.008" carbon sheet from ACP Composites that you recommended at the beginning of this post.

 

[RojoRacing]

Do you use any tape near the hub? Seems like it might flop around at high speed without something holding it tight there.

I ordered the 0.008" carbon sheet from ACP Composites that you recommended at the beginning of this post.

why did you cut the hole on that side so big? on the side with no rotor you have no clearance issues so you only need to cut the hole just big enough to clear the hub. Anyways I haven't uploaded the pics for this step yet but you just need some vinyl and then cut out a donut to fit over that exposed area. It may not sit perfectly flat but with some heat from a hair drier it'll lay down fine enough. Normally the vinyl donut is hidden behind the rotor or cassette.

 

[ccf]

I cut the hole that size so that the carbon would lay against the flat part of the spokes instead of the round part closer to the hub.

Should the vinyl donut go under the wheel cover?

BTW, when peeling the protective layer off the carbon, it cracked, preventing me from making the other side. Do you think that could be defect in the sheet or an error on my part? Seems to me that if it can handle the hole saw without cracking it should be able to handle peeling off the protective layer without cracking.

 

[RojoRacing]

I cut the hole that size so that the carbon would lay against the flat part of the spokes instead of the round part closer to the hub.

Should the vinyl donut go under the wheel cover?

BTW, when peeling the protective layer off the carbon, it cracked, preventing me from making the other side. Do you think that could be defect in the sheet or an error on my part? Seems to me that if it can handle the hole saw without cracking it should be able to handle peeling off the protective layer without cracking.

Having the cover rest on the flat part of the spokes is the method needed to gain maximum clearance for a cassette or disc brake caliper, it's not needed for the side that has none of that. The vinyl donut just lays over the cover and spokes after you have the cover completely attached to the wheel.

As for the cracked carbon I can totally see this happening if you aren't careful to support the carbon as you peel away the film which is very attached. Carbon this thin is strong against tearing but if you bend it the wrong way too far you can easily fracture it, so it just depends on how you were handling it. Send me the pics of the damage to my email that I PMed you and I'll have a better idea of what to recommend.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Amazing work. Do you make and sell these as well?

 

[Mathew Fy]

Jason @RojoRacing , I’m getting ready to make my own covers. I have the carbon fiber from ACP Composites.
I have a question about which vinyl you recommend. I may want to make donuts
But I really like what you and others have done to fill in the rear triangle.
I looked at https://www.rvinyl.com/Vinyl-Film-Types. There’s so many choices, cast vs. calendered, brands, etc. I’m thinking maybe a carbon fiber look to match the wheel cover or wait to see what colors the V20C will be.

 

[RojoRacing]

First, off I'm very surprised this DIY page and its pictures are still live, I would have thought the picture links would have died a long time ago but maybe this was after the whole photobucket debacle.

For enclosing the frame under the seat you'll use Coroplast(plastic cardboard) for the walls assuming you want to create a little storage box under there. You cut all the pieces to size then secure them with gorilla duct tape, don't use any cheaper tapes or you'll regret it in the long term. After you get the box built you can just skin the whole thing in vinyl just as someone would if they were wrapping a car door or hood. 3M's 1080 vinyl was the gold standard for high quality and I do use it for smaller projects where the application is going to be straightforward, I won't be experimenting and it's going to be viewed closely every day, like my phone case or the accents of my motorcycle. For rougher projects like the under seat box or the wheel cover donuts and valve stem covers I use VVivid because it's cheaper, still works good, and is always available on amazon quickly. I think I have a 2'x5' sheet of Carbon 3M and a 5'x 10' sheet of Vvivid. From your linked websites description I's bet everything I use is cast vinyl and I'd probably stay with that for such projects.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L9J4PXY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058DIDTY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sorry, @Frito Bandito I guess I never saw your message but I don't make them for others because they have to be made rather precise so I need the exact wheel model when I make it. I could technically make it close enough but then it would look slightly wobbling like the plastic wheel builder ones that others on here buy and I could never live with myself if I sent something like that out with the Rojo name attached.

 

[Frito Bandito]

No worries on the delayed reply Rojo. I totally understand on wanting to put out a good product since it has your name attached. Thank you for the links to the products as well. The Monokote on the wheel is holding up well, but those look awesome for the under seat box and rear triangle.