Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Bicycle Mechanics
Reload this Page >

Wheel creaking under tension

Notices
Bicycle Mechanics Broken bottom bracket? Tacoed wheel? If you're having problems with your bicycle, or just need help fixing a flat, drop in here for the latest on bicycle mechanics & bicycle maintenance.

Wheel creaking under tension

Old 12-20-21, 04:14 PM
  #1  
utoner34
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 173
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 125 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 9 Posts
Wheel creaking under tension

About a month ago making my bike started making weird noises when I was pedaling uphill standing, thus making high torque on the frame.

I have managed to replicate this sound off the bike, you can see in the video below.

Note that it only happens while rear wheel is rotated on specific angle, like its shown in the video.

Wheel is true. No cracks around spoke nipples. Its not the brakes making noises, the noise is the there with or without brakes. Everything else is tightened and cleaned on the bike.

I still havent tried lubricating spoke nipples with some oil.

Before I start lubricating, I just wanted to ask if maybe if familiar with this type of sound. Could spokes that are not tensioned enough compared to the others make such noises?

utoner34 is offline  
Old 12-20-21, 04:39 PM
  #2  
Andrew R Stewart 
Senior Member
 
Andrew R Stewart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 18,003

Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4172 Post(s)
Liked 3,792 Times in 2,271 Posts
Rear wheel issues and/or BB/crank ones from your test.

Common rear wheel issues are axle/bearing/securement in drop outs and spoke tension ones. Crank/BB ones can be bearing, cups in shell and crank arm fit on axle being typical issues there.

What I am unsure of is which noise you're talking about. There's a squeak and a click/tick that I hear.

An easily overlooked cause of wheel clicks can be the spokes get indented at their last cross (closest to the rim), where the spokes contact each other. Over the miles this contact point can wear and the spokes develop a notch and the two notches engage each other. With wheel flex these notches rub and move against each other, sometimes making a click sound. Placing a tiny square of a something hard (like an old credit card cut up) between that contact poing will tell you if that's the issue (and the notches are isolated from each other). Andy
__________________
AndrewRStewart
Andrew R Stewart is offline  
Old 12-20-21, 04:50 PM
  #3  
Iride01 
I'm good to go!
 
Iride01's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 14,810

Bikes: Tarmac Disc Comp Di2 - 2020

Mentioned: 50 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6100 Post(s)
Liked 4,732 Times in 3,262 Posts
My spokes sometimes make strange noises as I put lots of power into the wheels on an otherwise peaceful day. I've never thought it unusual. As long as you've checked that everything is secure, tensioned properly and no sign of cracks then don't fret about it. Though you might use it as a reminder to check your wheels periodically. If you are unsure, let a LBS with a good wheel person check them out. Usually that's a minimal cost as long as nothing is needed except a twist or two on a few spokes.
Iride01 is offline  
Old 12-21-21, 06:45 AM
  #4  
Oldandbold
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2021
Posts: 5
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I would suggest it's not the wheel, it's probably the BB or a pedal.
Oldandbold is offline  
Old 12-21-21, 09:15 AM
  #5  
utoner34
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 173
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 125 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 9 Posts
Originally Posted by Andrew R Stewart
Rear wheel issues and/or BB/crank ones from your test.

Common rear wheel issues are axle/bearing/securement in drop outs and spoke tension ones. Crank/BB ones can be bearing, cups in shell and crank arm fit on axle being typical issues there.

What I am unsure of is which noise you're talking about. There's a squeak and a click/tick that I hear.

An easily overlooked cause of wheel clicks can be the spokes get indented at their last cross (closest to the rim), where the spokes contact each other. Over the miles this contact point can wear and the spokes develop a notch and the two notches engage each other. With wheel flex these notches rub and move against each other, sometimes making a click sound. Placing a tiny square of a something hard (like an old credit card cut up) between that contact poing will tell you if that's the issue (and the notches are isolated from each other). Andy
I mean squeak noise. Only appears when I rotate the wheel at one specific point (notice how the squeak exist on start, then I rotate wheel slightly, squeak is gone, then I rotate wheel back at that point and squeak is there again), so it cant be the bb in my opinion. And bb cups rotate smoothly under my fingers when I remove the crank. Not pedals, I have changed pedals for test.
utoner34 is offline  
Old 12-21-21, 09:29 AM
  #6  
Andrew R Stewart 
Senior Member
 
Andrew R Stewart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 18,003

Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4172 Post(s)
Liked 3,792 Times in 2,271 Posts
One source of noises is when the bearing housings (at a BB these are the cups or cartridge "tube" that the bearings sit within) move WRT the shell, or the bearing's races on/in their seats. These types of noises are generally not going to happen if there's no pressure/forces applied in a direction that isn't a rotation of the axle. Or in other words the force to spin a BB axle is very small and often not enough to cause any slight movement of the bearings/axle/cups WRT each other (that's not rotational). So feeling the axle/bearing's spin says very little or nothing about how the bearings are secured in the frame.

Is the noise from your wheel or BB? we don't really know as we don't have the chance to do our assessments hands on. But the fix (sometimes long term, sometimes only temporary) is to take things apart, clean contacting surfaces, reassemble with the proper assembly isolating compounds (anti seize, grease, LockTite, carbon paste) and re test. For spoke notching issues (and I doubt that's what's going on here given the nature of the noise) the fix is to increase tension, replace spokes to keep a tiny piece of some hard material between that last cross so the notches don't engage each other.

Last I'll say that a squeak is not the usual metal on metal type of sound, like a bearing or cup slightly moving. Squeaks of otherwise stationary parts (like a non rotating crank or wheel) that are heard under pressure are often from a plastic or "rubber" part moving against a metal part. Do the hubs have an external "rubber" seal? Often a tiny drop of lube on this seat's contact with the dust cap is all it takes. Andy
__________________
AndrewRStewart

Last edited by Andrew R Stewart; 12-21-21 at 09:33 AM.
Andrew R Stewart is offline  
Old 12-21-21, 10:41 AM
  #7  
ThermionicScott 
working on my sandal tan
 
ThermionicScott's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: CID
Posts: 22,625

Bikes: 1991 Bianchi Eros, 1964 Armstrong, 1988 Diamondback Ascent, 1988 Bianchi Premio, 1987 Bianchi Sport SX, 1980s Raleigh mixte (hers), All-City Space Horse (hers)

Mentioned: 98 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3868 Post(s)
Liked 2,560 Times in 1,574 Posts
Nice video. Gets to the point and demonstrates the effect of the wheel position clearly.

To rule out the spoke crossings, try putting a drop of oil at each one and repeating the test.

You say that the noise happens "without brakes", which I take to mean without the brakes applied. But is there any chance that the rotor is warped and just happens to rub against a pad in that wheel position?
__________________
Originally Posted by chandltp
There's no such thing as too far.. just lack of time
Originally Posted by noglider
People in this forum are not typical.
RUSA #7498

Last edited by ThermionicScott; 12-21-21 at 10:45 AM.
ThermionicScott is offline  
Old 12-21-21, 11:47 AM
  #8  
utoner34
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 173
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 125 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 9 Posts
Noise happen with or without breaks applied.
utoner34 is offline  
Old 12-21-21, 06:53 PM
  #9  
Crankycrank
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 3,650
Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 835 Post(s)
Liked 1,055 Times in 740 Posts
Originally Posted by utoner34
Noise happen with or without breaks applied.
I think TS in post #7 was referring to having a slightly warped rotor that only contacts the pads in a small section of the wheel when the brakes are released. Check your rotor for trueness first.
Crankycrank is offline  
Old 12-22-21, 04:20 AM
  #10  
utoner34
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 173
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 125 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 9 Posts
But the sound happens even with brakes applied so this cannot be the answer.
utoner34 is offline  
Old 12-22-21, 07:08 AM
  #11  
andrewclaus
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Golden, CO and Tucson, AZ
Posts: 2,822

Bikes: 2016 Fuji Tread, 1983 Trek 520

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 669 Post(s)
Liked 725 Times in 422 Posts
I would start investigating by checking evenness of spoke tension. Grab a pair of spokes with each hand near the center of the spokes and squeeze them together, rotate the wheel by one pair of spokes, and repeat around the wheel. See if you can sense one spoke or one area that's different than the others. or if you can reproduce your noise that way.
andrewclaus is offline  
Old 12-22-21, 08:01 AM
  #12  
utoner34
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 173
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 125 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times in 9 Posts
I have just oiled all 28 spoke nipples and the noise is gone. I have check several rotations of the wheel. I havent worked so much in a long time. I need to take a rest now.
utoner34 is offline  
Likes For utoner34:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.