Drilling holes in carbon frame

Paul Kiernan

I've got the feeling this is a really dumbass question but .....

Would drilling holes in a carbon frame to run DI2 cables be a really bad idea?

Just talking about a couple of 6mm holes in the headtube and a few around the bottom bracket and downtube area:eek:.

ford2600

I've just reported your offensive post:D

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

I've got the feeling this is a really dumbass question but .....

Would drilling holes in a carbon frame to run DI2 cables be a really bad idea?

Just talking about a couple of 6mm holes in the headtube and a few around the bottom bracket and downtube area:eek:.

victorcarrera

Well bottle cages are about 6mm and the front mech braze on rivets need about 4mm. Some headtubes will already have holes for cable clamps right out of the factory. If you want it to look neater though you might want to bore them at an angle so making them bigger and oval. I doubt very much existing internal cable routed frames prompted a redesign of the frame structure. I imagine it would be difficult to fish the wires out at the other end though as any one I have come across has a tube connecting the two holes.

youtheman

Drilling holes in your carbon frame will have a result somewhere between 'no adverse effect' to 'fatal crash'. And only a finite element analysis of the bike by the manufacturer will be able to tell you which end of the scale it will be.

There is no way I would ever consider introducing 'stress raisers' or 'man made defects' in the only component that is is keeping me from hitting the road at 70 km/hr (or whatever max speed you are likely to achieve).

codie

Giant have extra holes with some of their 2012 frames last year to make them Di2 compatible.Do you know anybody with a Giant Tcr.Maybe you could copy.I would imagine that you wouldn't get a smooth finish after drilling which could cause cable friction later on.Also I would imagine warrenty would be void with the manufacturer.

Beasty

If you can afford Di2 you can afford a new frame with the holes already in the right places ...

fat bloke

Beasty wrote: »

If you can afford Di2 you can afford a new frame with the holes already in the right places ...

My mother has been giving me that line for years and I've never understood it.

"If you can afford to buy X, then you can afford to buy Y".

I find it completely and utterly counter-intuitive. -My purchase of X is precisely and exactly WHY I can now not afford Y. And, in fact, the more expensive X is, then the increasingly UNlikely it is that the man can simultaneously afford an expensive Y. People generally have finite financial resources. Would you say to someone "Well if you can afford to pay your mortgage then you can afford to go on holidays"?

:pac

Paul Kiernan

Ha. It's not even for my own bike. The missus has problems with her left elbow and has real difficulty making the front upshift. Rose have 10% off for 3 days bringing the upgrade to about €800, less what I can sell her shifters and mechs for.

The frame in question is a Dolan Mythos which cost £250 so it's not the end of the world if the warranty is voided. It is the end of the world though if the frame falls apart on a fast descent. And the life insurance people would be asking some really awkward questions:rolleyes:.

I wouldn't touch the forks or the stays so it's hard to imagine what part could fail if I just drill around the BB area.

at1withmyself

I assume I'm stating the obvious but Shimano supply external kits which can be very tidy if fitted correctly. You'll already still have the lugs on the frame so this wouldn't make too much difference.

victorcarrera

You could just put a bar end shifter for the front mech on the right hand side for her.

Junior

You could ping Dolan Bikes on Twitter a message, they are normally fairly good at replying ?

feck sake lads

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

I've got the feeling this is a really dumbass question but .....

Would drilling holes in a carbon frame to run DI2 cables be a really bad idea?

Just talking about a couple of 6mm holes in the headtube and a few around the bottom bracket and downtube area:eek:.

pk not been an expert or anything but i would say it's not a great idea , the holes that's already in your carbon frame are reenforced for that purpose .if you have a warranty on the frame drilling holes in it would put paid to that.
but then again its your bike but ask for an expert advice on this before you committ.have fun be careful.:cool:

Beasty

fat bloke wrote: »

Would you say to someone "Well if you can afford to pay your mortgage then you can afford to go on holidays"?

Well to a lot of people paying their mortgage is a necessity. However to most (and I would count myself an exception to this;)) Di2 is not ...

Donelson

There are penty of engineering books that can give you a reduction in strenght for a give whole. If it's single digits you could consider it, you would be eating into your safety factor, but at least you could weigh it up.

2 Wheels Good

Out of curiosity googled "Drilling holes in carbon frame"
Found one thread with a person who did, one thread who warned against, and another person got it drilled by a dealer so try contacting Dolan, they may be able to do it. As it said on the thread, it helps to know where to drill

NeedMoreGears

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

it's hard to imagine what part could fail if I just drill around the BB area.

I'm not sure it's all that hard to imagine the fail point - it's whereever you've drilled the hole(s). One hole is a significant stress raiser. "A few" is more again. Remember they've made that frame as light as possible anyway so it's already carrying relatively high stress. Personally I wouldn't do it.

CheGuedara

Just as an option B suggestion - there are external wiring solutions for Di2 systems, and they're supposed to be tidy looking if time is taken setting them up. Could be a way to get the grouppo you want without drilling and creating question marks over the frame it's gone onto.

Paul Kiernan

at1withmyself wrote: »

... Shimano supply external kits which can be very tidy if fitted correctly....

I'm fitting it myself:D.

victorcarrera wrote: »

You could just put a bar end shifter for the front mech on the right hand side for her.

That's what I call "thinking outside the box". Di2 would be more fun though.

NeedMoreGears wrote: »

Remember they've made that frame as light as possible anyway so it's already carrying relatively high stress.

The bottom bracket area is massively overstrengthened so that someone like Mark Cavendish won't break it in a sprint. I take your point though.

morana

go to Fairwheelbikes.com and to their tuning forum and all your answers are there.

Paul Kiernan

morana wrote: »

go to Fairwheelbikes.com and to their tuning forum and all your answers are there.

Interesting site that!

Mind you, when I put everything into my Rose basket and it tipped the scales at over €850 I started thinking maybe a few steroid injections straight into the elbow joint are a better option.

triggermortis

I wouldn't drill it until I was happy I knew how to drill into the material and how to re-introduce strength into where I had drilled. Composite material is a strange mix of science and magic and can easily be f###ed up if you don't know what you are doing