masi61

I’m trying to quiet the last few random noises on my (now vintage) titanium road bike with Dura Ace 7800 components.

I’m getting an occasional high pitched tick tick sound seemingly from the front end of the bike. Mostly it will happen once when I stand up to climb then not recur for a while. I do have new wheels made from a used (but great condition) Dura Ace 24 hole front hub and a NOS Dura Ace 7800 28 hole rear hub. I even used the lighter weight DT Swiss butted spokes (Revolutions?) with aluminum spoke nipples laced onto affordable DT Swiss R460 rims and running them tubeless with Panaracer Race A EVO3 tubeless tires which I am liking a lot. My LBS mechanic/master wheelbuilder has stress relieved and re-trued the rear wheel twice now and double checked the front which didn’t seem to need any attention after the first 400 miles or so of use.

He mentioned that sometimes the interface of the hub shell and the dust cap can click or tick when dry. He said something about how it can be worthwhile to disassemble the hub and make sure these dust caps have a light coating of thick oil or grease in addition to the normal bearing cone and locknut adjustments. I wasn’t sure if the 7800 series hubs are different enough from the old standby 7400 series Dura Ace hubs in their use of oversized aluminum axles and proprietary parts. I can’t verify right now the exact cause of the ticking sound I’m getting but investigating these dust caps is part of doing my “due diligence” in trying to sort out my vintage bike for best performance.

If anyone can share any first hand knowledge of servicing Dura Ace 7800/7850/7900 hubs and could discuss specific maintenance issues you have run across that would be great.

BTW: I have posted this in C&V instead of bike mechanics because the 7800 hubs are 20 years or more and 4 or 5 product cycles removed from current production.

RobbieTunes

Most common here is an overtightened skewer on those axles. Rule that out first.
You may also have hubs that someone put Ti axles in, which do bend a bit under an overtightened skewer.

Determine if they are the sealed bearing (part of a DA wheelset) or ball bearing (hubs alone).
The hubs are different from the 7400 series, but not that different from the 7700 series.
(Note the DA7700 hubs are not the same as found in the WHS7700 wheelset)

Either way, should not be a ticking on the front hub.
Best way to check is without load, or on a stand.
Then localize it to one side or the other if possible.
I'd put the wheel on your hand, palm up, and spin it, reverse and repeat.
Any ticking due to a hub issue should present when one side is up or the other.
You can try lubing the dust cap circumference, but there may be a slight crack in the dust cap or something.
I don't mess with hubs other than to rebuild them as scheduled or noticed.

That's all I know and I'm sure no expert. Others here will chime and show me as wrong. They always do.

T-Mar

The problem could be the wheel, something else or possibly even a combination. The OP has multiple bicycles. The first thing I'd be doing is substituting another front wheel to see if the problem goes away or persists. That should tell you if it related to this particular wheel or not. If it does disappear, as a doublecheck, try the suspect wheel on another bicycle and if the click surfaces, then you can start focusing on the wheel as the source of the issue. Due to reflections of soundwaves, there can be an auditory illusion of the origin of the noise.