One Loose Spoke
#1
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One Loose Spoke
Hey everyone,
I wanted to ask some advice about this one loose/loud spoke on my bike. I'm just starting to learn about bikes so apologies for any wrong terminology.
I bought a Fuji Track at a local store. I love the bike and have already upgraded a couple of things on it but there's an issue... one spoke on the rear wheel is loose and makes a loud sound where it rubs. I took it back in for the free included tuneup and mentioned this issue and specifically showed the guy how loose the one spoke is. He said he'd make sure to true the wheel carefully and I said that the wheel was true, the issue was just this one loose spoke making noise and probably getting slowly damaged. So he said that he'd make sure to look into it.
Anyway I went and picked it up today and after about ten minutes of riding the sound and looseness came back! I'm pretty disappointed... and not sure what to do next. The bike store guys are very nice but don't really seem like they know what I'm talking about when I go in there. I don't want to just tighten the spoke myself because so many people have told me that if you don't know what you're doing, you can crack your rim doing this.
I'm wondering if this wheel just has an undiagnosed issue or if, being a 28H track wheel, it's just not quite up to the abuse I'm putting it through on my commute as a 180lb guy going over pretty bad city streets.
So, the question is, what do I do? Go back to the original LBS? Go to a different one? Try something at home? Get a new wheel? I'm lost.
Thank you!
I wanted to ask some advice about this one loose/loud spoke on my bike. I'm just starting to learn about bikes so apologies for any wrong terminology.
I bought a Fuji Track at a local store. I love the bike and have already upgraded a couple of things on it but there's an issue... one spoke on the rear wheel is loose and makes a loud sound where it rubs. I took it back in for the free included tuneup and mentioned this issue and specifically showed the guy how loose the one spoke is. He said he'd make sure to true the wheel carefully and I said that the wheel was true, the issue was just this one loose spoke making noise and probably getting slowly damaged. So he said that he'd make sure to look into it.
Anyway I went and picked it up today and after about ten minutes of riding the sound and looseness came back! I'm pretty disappointed... and not sure what to do next. The bike store guys are very nice but don't really seem like they know what I'm talking about when I go in there. I don't want to just tighten the spoke myself because so many people have told me that if you don't know what you're doing, you can crack your rim doing this.
I'm wondering if this wheel just has an undiagnosed issue or if, being a 28H track wheel, it's just not quite up to the abuse I'm putting it through on my commute as a 180lb guy going over pretty bad city streets.
So, the question is, what do I do? Go back to the original LBS? Go to a different one? Try something at home? Get a new wheel? I'm lost.
Thank you!
#2
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I assume that by loose you mean that the spoke has little tension in relation to the other spokes, right? How loose is it, e.g, can you wobble it a few cms side to side, or does it just sound an octave below the others when you pluck it? What is it rubbing on? Perhaps another spoke?
I'll also assume that the bike shop guy did check it and tightened it up. This would explain the noise free short ride after picking it up.
So here's my wild guess: I think the nipple on this spoke is stripped to the point that it slips after tightening. Do you happen to have 13 gauge spokes? If so it is likely that they used a 14 gauge nipple in the build. This will thread on fine but won't hold tension for long.
I recommend that you try to tighten it yourself - just get it close to the others by feel. Make sure that you mark this spoke for identification so that you can monitor it. If it loosens quickly, take it back to the shop and have them replace the nipple.
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
I'll also assume that the bike shop guy did check it and tightened it up. This would explain the noise free short ride after picking it up.
So here's my wild guess: I think the nipple on this spoke is stripped to the point that it slips after tightening. Do you happen to have 13 gauge spokes? If so it is likely that they used a 14 gauge nipple in the build. This will thread on fine but won't hold tension for long.
I recommend that you try to tighten it yourself - just get it close to the others by feel. Make sure that you mark this spoke for identification so that you can monitor it. If it loosens quickly, take it back to the shop and have them replace the nipple.
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
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#3
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The store should take care of it if the bike is still under warrantee, which it sounds like it is. At some point learning to do this yourself will save you lots of time, headaches and $$$$'s. For this though let the store figure out if something is wrong or it's just the spoke/spokes need going through. If they see you have been working on it yourself and something is defective with the wheel they can claim it's your fault. Lot's of info on YouTube and the net on how to true, build and find problems with spoked wheels. Working on your wheels isn't all that difficult but you just need to understand the basics and have plenty of patience in the beginning.
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#4
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Thanks for the responses
Yes, it has less tension than the other spokes. I can move it a few centimetres with my finger. I think it's rubbing on the spoke it crosses; I can see where the black paint has been abraded away at the crossover. I think you're right that the guy at the shop did tighten it and then it loosened back up. I just tried to spin the nipple and it was finger-loose.
I don't have calipers to measure spokes with, but from what I read online these wheels are not the best, so maybe there was some kind of manufacturing error. I'm going to just give it a couple of quarter turns with the spoke wrench and then see if it goes back to finger-loose tomorrow when I ride it.
Yep, I'm just going to take it back to the store if it persists another day.
I'm in the process of watching lots of bike youtube and reading the whole Sheldon Brown website, I love how many things on a bicycle you can fix or tune yourself with simple tools and enough knowledge!
I assume that by loose you mean that the spoke has little tension in relation to the other spokes, right? How loose is it, e.g, can you wobble it a few cms side to side, or does it just sound an octave below the others when you pluck it? What is it rubbing on? Perhaps another spoke?
I'll also assume that the bike shop guy did check it and tightened it up. This would explain the noise free short ride after picking it up.
So here's my wild guess: I think the nipple on this spoke is stripped to the point that it slips after tightening. Do you happen to have 13 gauge spokes? If so it is likely that they used a 14 gauge nipple in the build. This will thread on fine but won't hold tension for long.
I recommend that you try to tighten it yourself - just get it close to the others by feel. Make sure that you mark this spoke for identification so that you can monitor it. If it loosens quickly, take it back to the shop and have them replace the nipple.
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
I'll also assume that the bike shop guy did check it and tightened it up. This would explain the noise free short ride after picking it up.
So here's my wild guess: I think the nipple on this spoke is stripped to the point that it slips after tightening. Do you happen to have 13 gauge spokes? If so it is likely that they used a 14 gauge nipple in the build. This will thread on fine but won't hold tension for long.
I recommend that you try to tighten it yourself - just get it close to the others by feel. Make sure that you mark this spoke for identification so that you can monitor it. If it loosens quickly, take it back to the shop and have them replace the nipple.
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
I don't have calipers to measure spokes with, but from what I read online these wheels are not the best, so maybe there was some kind of manufacturing error. I'm going to just give it a couple of quarter turns with the spoke wrench and then see if it goes back to finger-loose tomorrow when I ride it.
The store should take care of it if the bike is still under warrantee, which it sounds like it is. At some point learning to do this yourself will save you lots of time, headaches and $$$$'s. For this though let the store figure out if something is wrong or it's just the spoke/spokes need going through. If they see you have been working on it yourself and something is defective with the wheel they can claim it's your fault. Lot's of info on YouTube and the net on how to true, build and find problems with spoked wheels. Working on your wheels isn't all that difficult but you just need to understand the basics and have plenty of patience in the beginning.
I'm in the process of watching lots of bike youtube and reading the whole Sheldon Brown website, I love how many things on a bicycle you can fix or tune yourself with simple tools and enough knowledge!
#5
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I assume that by loose you mean that the spoke has little tension in relation to the other spokes, right? How loose is it, e.g, can you wobble it a few cms side to side, or does it just sound an octave below the others when you pluck it? What is it rubbing on? Perhaps another spoke?
I'll also assume that the bike shop guy did check it and tightened it up. This would explain the noise free short ride after picking it up.
So here's my wild guess: I think the nipple on this spoke is stripped to the point that it slips after tightening. Do you happen to have 13 gauge spokes? If so it is likely that they used a 14 gauge nipple in the build. This will thread on fine but won't hold tension for long.
I recommend that you try to tighten it yourself - just get it close to the others by feel. Make sure that you mark this spoke for identification so that you can monitor it. If it loosens quickly, take it back to the shop and have them replace the nipple.
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
I'll also assume that the bike shop guy did check it and tightened it up. This would explain the noise free short ride after picking it up.
So here's my wild guess: I think the nipple on this spoke is stripped to the point that it slips after tightening. Do you happen to have 13 gauge spokes? If so it is likely that they used a 14 gauge nipple in the build. This will thread on fine but won't hold tension for long.
I recommend that you try to tighten it yourself - just get it close to the others by feel. Make sure that you mark this spoke for identification so that you can monitor it. If it loosens quickly, take it back to the shop and have them replace the nipple.
Good luck. Let us know what happens.
#6
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I never said nor implied that the shop built the wheels nor do I feel that the shop made the error, which likely occurred during during the wheel build.
#7
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I've had good experiences with maintenance by the dealers shop and some poor experiences. These days I keep a supply of extra spokes and nipples, do my own truing and rely on shop monkeys to mess with my bike to the least extent possible.
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My point is there would be basically zero chance of a single nipple of the wrong gauge ending up on the wheel in a production line environment.
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As a mechanic I remember many odd things on new cars from the factory, as an engineer I saw many a strange thing happen on a production line, and today editing translated production issue reports in our international manufacturing world it sometimes seems remarkable that so much we build is actually so right.
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OMG, that is SO funny, I nearly fell off my chair laughing!
As a mechanic I remember many odd things on new cars from the factory, as an engineer I saw many a strange thing happen on a production line, and today editing translated production issue reports in our international manufacturing world it sometimes seems remarkable that so much we build is actually so right.
As a mechanic I remember many odd things on new cars from the factory, as an engineer I saw many a strange thing happen on a production line, and today editing translated production issue reports in our international manufacturing world it sometimes seems remarkable that so much we build is actually so right.
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If you can imagine something going wrong in a production environment, then somewhere it already is.