How to : Custom cut your Disc Wheel COver

Nice craftsmanship!

Have you put the cassette back on? Any clearance issues there?

Thanks for the lesson: I'm probably getting one for my Spinnergy wheels and they're 45mm deep section, so I'll need the advice.

I need to get a new cassette for the wheel, so I havent put one on yet. It has a 9sp cassatte, and I am moving it to a 10sp for my tri-bike. Im too lazy to keep swapping out the one from my training wheel.

Nice job, looks like it came out great.

Great work.

Thanks.. yeah, I really like the look of it. Soon as the rain lets up, I want to try it out!

Very nice work.  I don't trust my own craftmanship to do it myself, but yours looks great.  Put it to good use this season! 

Interesting stuff, thanx for posting!

Care to share how much the materials cost you?

Nice Job :-)

Keep us posted on the results.......

It was $78 shipped from www.wheelbuilder.com . MUCH less than the cost of a real disc. Its been raining here for days now... next nice day, and I am riding it!

That's pretty cool.
For 78 bucks I'll probably try it out.

It looks like it might take me more than a couple of hours to complete.

You should let us know how much time you it cuts off your 20K & 40k rides or whatever test distance you ride.

If you are installing it on a standard "box" rim... then it would probably take you maybe 30 minutes to trim. The are made for that wheel.

If you arent too handy, they will cut it for you for an extra $25 or so.

Took me 2 hours, and I really didnt think it was very difficult. If you typically do the wrenching on your bike, this is a job you could do yourself. You just need some patience and a steady hand.

Nice work! How much help was the cat (who is so cute, BTW!)??

Just to add to your directions, since I could see a bafoon like me doing this... but when you tie the string on to the axle, tie it loose so that it rotates around the axle as the pencil does.

Actually, by virtue of tying it to the axle it spins no matter how tight you tie it. The axle freely spins, so anything tied to it does so as well. It's idiot-proof! :D


Lauren... my cat says thanks! He enjoys the comliments.

You mentioned that you did the drive side disc and then used it as a template for the non-drive side. Since the two sides of the wheel are dished differently, making the effective diameter a bit different, did that give you any problems?

Nice work, very clean. Just one more thing to add to the wish list.

They are dished differently, however... if you line up the centers of the covers, and then trace, it works perfectly. It looks very clean.

Aikido - The disc basically attaches through 10 fasteners that attach through the spoke gaps. They are basically just some short screws and caps which end up "clamping" the cover to your wheel. To be honest, yes... its possible it could come a little loose, I am thinking about using some tape though to hold the cover steady. If the weather holds out, I will issue a report after my first ride on it. I have a Duathlon in 1.5 weeks, so I am hoping i can get the darn thing outside for a test!

Another tip (since you have a duo coming up) - consider putting on your backup/trainer rear wheel when you transport your bike. The cover makes it difficult if you have roof rack (no place for the rear strap to go w/ the cover) and can be an issue with crosswinds at highway speeds. If you have a rear rack it may not be as much of an issue.

Oh, yeah... already planned on it. I have a roof rack and there was no way I was going to put on disc up there.

Something to think about, you could add a small drop of temporary lock-tite (the blue kind) to the end of the screws so the nuts will not loosen on their own.

How much overlap does your cover go over the rim?