rduenas

Your chainline is perfect. Your chain is practically new. Your cog is an EAI Superstar (therefore supposedly quiet) which is broken in. Yet your rear wheel still makes a lot of noise? Also the chainring doesn't make nearly as much noise as the cog.

Well this really isn't a riddle because I don't know the answer. Is this just in the nature of fixed gear bikes and am I just expecting my drivetrain to be more quiet than it can possibly be?

andrewssohip

grease your chain? if you were out in the rain or something that might do it, is it clearly a drivetrain kind of noise or could it be your hubs? what hubs are you running?

dervish

im w/ andrews....grease ur chain
all new stuff w/o grease can be noisy

kyle!

Some drivetrains are just noisy. As long as there's nothing obviously out of line I wouldn't worry about it.

rduenas

I lube my chain more than anyone I know. My hubs are Formula hubs.

There's a lot of rub marks on my cog, which I assume means it's broken in. But it looks almost as if it's been rubbing on the outside more than the other. I thought it might be my chainline, but i've eyed and measure everything and it's perfect.

kyle!

What chain?

rduenas

Kmc

rduenas

That's what I figured

K_phomma

Or the chain ain't worthy

~Stuart~

loosen the chain slightly, might be too tight

MIN 

that might be the problem. overlubing leads to dirt accumulation in between the links and therefore, noise.

andrewssohip

+1000000000000000000000000000

might actually be the real problem, loose chains are faster and quieter!

Philatio

if your cog is "broken in" too much, that just means it is worn. how many miles are on it? it's reasonable that if you put a new chain with an old cog that it will be noisy.

thadcombs

Clean your whole business really well, lube it, make sure your wheel is in the dropouts straight, and your chainline is as good as you can get it.
If you have noise still, it's probably ok.
My bike makes noise with the Izumi NJS chain, EAI cog, Dura ace NJS chainring, and a pretty friggin straight chainline.
Some noise is normal, think of it as your bike purring!

Captain Bad

On a related note:

How often should you clean your chain?
What do guys use to clean it? Soap and water? Solvent (mineral spirits, acetone, etc...)?

beard

really bad chains -> soak in acetone then lube it up nice and good. then take a rag and run the chain through it.

other than that.. when i buy a new chain i usually use something like triflow/white lightning/etc then run a rag over it so it doesnt get all gooked up.

ps: i clean my chain when it needs to be cleaned - not on a time schedule. more like an inspection type deal. terrain/weather will obviously make it worse. so if you're riding mostly clean / dry days, the maintenance will be less. atleast, thats my opinion.

musicsucks

I just threw a new chain on my bike, which is decked out in fairly medium parts (cool chain, surly cog, ultegra chainring) and it's super quiet. I don't know why i'm so stoked about this, but having a quiet bike makes my day.

kringle

That's most likely exactly what the issue is, new chain and old cog. The old cog is shaped to the old chain's shape.

sp00ki

i just want to take this opportunity to say that i was riding into the office at 2am (long story). the roads were empty. i could hear my tires on the road reverberating through my fork, but no chain whatsoever. it was beautiful.

pdxJenn

yah, i'd go with clean the chain and relube it just to make sure it's not overlubed up.

if that's not it, the whole old cog new chain could be it.

but kmc chains are meh anyways I'm not one to speak since that's what I run, I've had the one on my bike almost a month now, and it's already stretched and needs a link taken out.

but if it's non of that different chain is what I would try.

piwonka

yeah.
if everything else is ok then make sure your chain is not too tight. you should be able to see some slack in it and probably move it up and down atleast 3/4".
also, your chain will have a tight spot in it somewhere as you rotate the cranks around because the cranks aren't perfect. find that spot and make sure it's not too tight at that point.

bbattle

Ride next to roadies that have Chris King hubs. You won't hear anything from YOUR bike.

Or, get one of their new Singlespeed hubs and tell everyone how much you paid to be so loud.

East Hill

East Hill

lanOGiro

Lube your chain. I'm usually a cheap ******* but when it comes to lube, I get the top of the line stuff and it makes my sh** ride like the wind blows. Helps me come up behind girls and cop-a-feel... i mean...

yellowjeep

Don't use lithium grease on chains. Like others said old cog/new chain is likely the issue. Loosen the chain so there is about 1/2 inch of play upper or down if there isnt already.