i have a set of the old hed double bend carbon extensions with the aluminum insert for the shifters glued into the ends.
they turn up too high for my liking, so if i cut them off at the second bend, is there a somewhat simple way to get the aluminum tips out and can they just be reglued into the ends again?
Got pics?
I think I know what yer talking about but want to confirm.
these are the ovals, but same thing. the top ones are the double bends. the black tip at the end is the aluminum plug that’s glued in to accept the shifters. the shifters won’t fit in to the bare carbon ends, the aluminum tip needs to be reinstalled if they are cut.
It can be done. You would need to order some good epoxy (3m DP420 is a good bet), and possibly some glass beads (to maintain the bond gap and help prevent corrosion). The glass bead can be purchased from aircraftspruce.com, and the dp420 can be purchased at Mcmaster-Carr.com.
Use the following process:
Cut the ends
grind off the material over the aluminum plug with a die grinder or dremel (be careful not to remove too much material!)
scuff the plug and the inside of the tube with 60grit sandpaper
quick wipe with acetone (to remove any hand oils)
mix bead into epoxy (small amount)
apply epoxy, and set to cure.
You can get a good bond without the glass bead, but if you have carbon fiber next to aluminum, it will begin to corrode through galvanic action if there is nothing to help seperate them. If the pieces are both aluminum; no problem.
I’m not sure I exactly understand your question…but I used to have Hed aerobars with the tri-bend in which I cut off the 3rd portion and installed my DA 9spd (at the time) shifters w/o any alum sleeve. Around that time, I do believe the internal diameter on the extension were inconsistent (they has a lot of gunk inside of them…plastic and a mesh weave) which is perhaps why they put the alum sleeve at the end. But, in my case…it worked fine without. Good luck.
I followed just about the same process as outlined on my oval extensions. I went from the dbl bend to a single one.
Two things to note:
1- before this was done I used to ride comfortably with the extensions at the shortest position possible, now I have them just about as far out as possible. If you have long arms, it might not work.
2- when grinding the bonded carbon off of the aluminum extensions wear a mask and eye glasses. A carbon cloud will quickly form and will leave you coughing for a few days if you inhale it.