Method of making a bicycle rim

1. A method of manufacturing a rim for a bicycle wheel, said method comprising:

wrapping plys of fibers in a resin matrix around a mandrel;

curing the plys to form the rim;

reducing a size of the mandrel to allow the mandrel to be removed from the rim; and

removing the mandrel from the rim.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein reducing a size of the mandrel comprises deflating an inflatable portion of the mandrel.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein reducing a size of the mandrel comprises disassembling the mandrel into two or more constituent members.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein disassembling the mandrel comprises removing a center section that, when removed, shortens a distance across the mandrel so as to allow the mandrel, after said curing, to be removed from the rim.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising shaping inwardly extending hooks from edges of the cured plys of the rim, said hooks extending around the rim that will hook into side wall grooves of a bicycle tire.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said hooks are shaped with a turning router blade.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said fibers are made of carbon.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fibers of a particular ply are arranged in a common direction and wrapping said plys further comprises disposing a sequence of plys on said mandrel such that the fibers in successive plys are arranged at different crossing angles.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising drilling holes to receive spokes around a circumference of said rim.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising coating a urethane polymer over the rim after curing.

11. A method of manufacturing a rim for a bicycle wheel, said method comprising:

wrapping plys of fibers in a resin matrix around a mandrel, the mandrel comprising multiple pieces;

curing the plys to form the rim;

disassembling the multiple pieces of the mandrel to allow the multiple pieces of the mandrel to be removed from the rim.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the multiple pieces of the mandrel comprise a removable center section that, when removed, shortens a distance across the mandrel so as to allow the mandrel, after curing, to be removed from the rim.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising shaping inwardly extending hooks from edges of the cured plys of the rim, said hooks extending around the rim that will hook into side wall grooves of a bicycle tire.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said hooks are shaped with a turning router blade.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein said fibers are made of carbon.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the fibers of a particular ply are arranged in a common direction and wrapping said plys further comprises disposing a sequence of plys on said mandrel such that the fibers in successive plys are arranged at different crossing angles.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein fibers in a first ply on the mandrel are parallel to a circumference of the mandrel and fibers in a last ply on the mandrel are perpendicular to a tangent to the mandrel circumference.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein said crossing angles are less than 90 degrees and greater than 45 degrees.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising drilling holes to receive spokes around a circumference of said rim.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising coating a urethane polymer over the rim after curing.