Swapping the rim on a wheel w epoxy glued spokes?

[fenderbender]

Could a blow torch do the trick and if so would I be able to reuse the spokes?

[531colin]

I suppose the epoxy seemed like a good idea at the time.???...

[georgew]

Having just had to rebuild with new spokes a wheel that had been built using what seems to be aluminium nipples which were frozen to steel spokes, I sympathise. It's usually not worth the bother to redeem the spokes. Cut them out and buy new ones is usually the answer.

[hubgearfreak]

i've also experienced the curse of aluminium nipples. how annoying are they

[greendragon]

fenderbender,
again I have to say I'm not a specialist, but please check (via the 'interweb'?) the safety implications first.

If it really is epoxy resin, blasting it with a blowtorch may give off some very nasty fumes indeed. Even the less noxious polyester (styrene-based) resins produce some fairly dodgy breakdown products, but I think you may find that the epoxies are much worse. I seem to recall that the polyesters aren't used for constructing large items like car bodies and boat hulls, not only because they are less strong than epoxy, but also because they are much more inflammable. So,if you blowtorch polyester at least it will merrily burn away. (And melt, and run around, burning, making an unholy mess.)

But epoxy is more fire resistant, so it produces all sorts of evil, carcinogenous, pyrolysis products. (If I remember aright.) And may well leave such a mess on the spokes that you'll wish you hadn't bothered anyway.
So I agree with the other posters - just invest in new spokes instead. As a tight old git myself, I fully understand and applaud the desire to recycle and 'make-do-and-mend' ; but there are some circumstances where it's going to be less 'green' than buying new, and this is one of them.

[fenderbender]

Thanks for your replies and tips! It's more the hassle of getting the right spokes and lacing the wheel I'd like to avoid.
This wheel came with a bike I bought and has some flexy but rather spendy DT Revolution spokes(xtr hub, Mavic 217 sup rim). I guess if they jam in the new nipples I could just slap some more glue on and be done with it...

[gilesjuk]

Never use any sort of glue on spoke nipples. How on earth are you supposed to true the wheel later on? Wheels do generally stay true, but if you have a crash it might need some tweaking.

If you have the wheel built properly the nipples won't undo. The tension will keep them in place.

You might be better just to cut the spokes and replace them. The threads will be all gummed up.

[fenderbender]

'Chill Winston', I was only being ironic about fixing a shabby work with glue. Like I said, these hoops came with a used bike I bought. Thanks for caring tho'!

[Mick F]

My experience with epoxy glue is that it's not heat-proof.

I tried to repair a plastic outlet pipe on a car radiator with Araldite. I worked a treat until the rad got up to temperature.
The Araldite went soft - but still sticky - and the water leaked.

Therefore, try warming the rim with a heat gun or hairdryer as see what happens.

[fenderbender]

That's what I though. I'll give it a try before I start snipping. Once the thread are out I'll try and clean them with some steel wool and more heat. Cheers!