Wheel creaking under tension
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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?
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?
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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
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
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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.
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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
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
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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
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
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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?
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?
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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.
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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.
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