I’ve tried a few times to convert a regular spoked front wheel to a deep wheel by adding a fairing a` la Hed Jet wheels.
I used spray insulation foam to try and sculpt the fairing. It’s ugly as sin and a bit on the heavy side but I’m sure it’d work ok, it’s just too damn ugly to ride in public. I’ve found making it presentable is the biggest hurdle.
I’m wondering if anyone here has tried making a deep ft wheel. If so how did you go about it? Any pics?
Try a search. I remember last year someone did a step by step how-to with pictures. It looked rather nice too.
Funnilly enough, I was considering this myself.
Since it’ll be non-structual, a sheet of cf would do to make a deep V rim. Creating a bulge could be difficult.
There was a recent thread regarding turning a Hed3 into A 3D disc. Could use that as a starter.
The big question is, would it be cheaper than buying a Hed or generic far-eastern rim?
There was a guy that made a round tube frame into an aero frame this way. It looked quite professional. The wheel is an interesting concept.
I made a deep rim fairing back in the mid-90’s. It looked OK, but I made the mistake of making it about 10Cm deep (so with the original rim it was deeper than a 1080), and couldn’t handle it in crosswinds worth a damn (I now ride a 60MM Cosmic Carbone).
Use polystyrene sheet (think For Sale sign, but w/o the print). Plenty of local plastic suppliers have it.
Make a “doughnut” for each side of the wheel (the OD should be where you want it to sit on the rim below the braking surface, the ID depends on the depth you want).
Glue (ShooGoo or wetsuit cement) the wedges to the rim. Let dry for 24hrs.
Cut slots from the ID where the spokes through, end them with a small circular hole so the sheet doesn’t tear (Xacto knife works well for this). Note the point where the spokes exit will move toward the OD of the fairing when you join the two sides and they have to curve.
Use clear tape (packing tape) or white electrical tape to cover the slits. You can cut the slits past where the spoke go through and then just seal both sides.
Use tape to join the left and right sides of the fairing (the tape goes on the outside, you could also try gluing the edges). It will form a nice curve.
You can experiment with this by buying a sign at Home Depot and just doing a 90deg. section of the wheel so you can see the issues involved before getting a large sheet and doing this for real. Good luck.
Found this
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1859251;search_string=howto;#1859251
Seems like a lot of work though.
Like the idea of having little blocks inside the fairing to screw the halves together.