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Crazy mystery chirping screeching noise

Old 09-24-21, 01:04 PM
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Tripletail52
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Crazy mystery chirping screeching noise

Hi, My road bike is making a crazy mystery chirping screeching noise and for the life of me I can't figure out where it's coming from. It's really difficult to explain the problem to a local bike shop person as the noise only starts when I start cycling. Anyway they don't seem very interested.

I uploaded the sound here: soundcloud.com/steve-choi-859347784/sets/bike-noise

1. The noise didn't gradually grow louder. It suddenly appeared one rainy day and is still here.

2. It starts when I get up to a good speed. It continues even when I'm coasting.

3. Spinning the wheels when the bike is mounted to the stand does not create the noise. (So my weight on the bike must have something to do with it.)

4. It's not the brakes. The noise is separate from whatever noise the brakes make.

5. It's not the tyres. My bike has disc brakes and there's nothing rubbing against the rim or the tyres.

6. The noise is not constant. It can be gone for a few days and come back. It visits the bike when it wants to.

Am I hearing things or can you also hear it in the audio file? How do I get rid of it?? Somebody help me please!

Last edited by Tripletail52; 09-24-21 at 01:29 PM.
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Old 09-24-21, 01:18 PM
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I wouldn't be too dead set that it's not the brakes. Rim brakes? I've had them make chirpy like sounds when a warped rim rubbed against one of the pads. However if that sound is still there when you squeeze the brakes, then obviously that isn't the brakes.

Did you put a larger tire on it? Maybe it's ever so slightly out of round and the tire briefly hitting the seat tube or brake calipers or other frame part.

I'd think the above would be fairly rhythmic and vary with speed.

Might be wheel bearings going bad. How old and do you ever lube them?


If you have a pic or sound uploaded to a hosting site, then just write the share URL link in the plain text of your message and then delete the https:// from it and also put a space on either side of any . or dot. Maybe some other things to obfuscate it so the spam routines don't detect it.
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Old 09-24-21, 01:23 PM
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The only bicycle related chirpy sounds i expirienced so far came from chains that need some lubrication.

Edit: Didn‘t notice the coasting part, sorry.
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Old 09-24-21, 01:24 PM
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Hello Iride01

Thanks for your suggestions! My bike's got disc brakes and the tyre width is well within the limit, although I do have a rear mudguard so I'll have to check if the sound is still there after removing it.

Here's the link with http deleted. soundcloud.com/steve-choi-859347784/sets/bike-noise
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Old 09-24-21, 01:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Kovkov
The only bicycle related chirpy sounds i expirienced so far came from chains that need some lubrication.

Edit: Didn‘t notice the coasting part, sorry.
Yep...It doesn't seem to be coming from the chain.
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Old 09-24-21, 01:35 PM
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OP's link



Yeah, I hear it. Sounds like something rubbing. I once had some bike shorts that made a screech about the same pitch as they rubbed on the saddle. Similar pitch, but the rhythm doesn't seem right.

Last edited by Iride01; 09-24-21 at 02:14 PM.
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Old 09-24-21, 01:41 PM
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I agree something's rubbing against something. There's some regularity in the rhythm, but when I spin the wheel off the ground the noise is gone!
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Old 09-24-21, 02:15 PM
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Interesting that no matter what I do the link doesn't appear in my reply in post 6

nor in this one. It's there when I edit, but gone when submitted.

Hmmmmm. Not doing anything that I haven't done several thousand times.

Or do y'all see the link and I don't?


Seems to like this link....

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

maybe something about soundcloud that it can't share those links. Sort of like ****** and a few other sites that give issues linking here.

The ****** are red dit without the space.

Last edited by Iride01; 09-24-21 at 02:21 PM.
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Old 09-24-21, 03:11 PM
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Definitely try removing the mudguard, as there are many ways that it could contact the tire while riding but not in a stand depending on how it's attached and how flexible your frame is. I would also double check that the wheels are secure in the dropouts by removing them and reseating them. If they're secure, check for any play in either hub that could allow the wheel to move around while you're riding and rub either on the brake pad or the mudguard or the frame. The pitch of the noise suggests rubber to me, so tire rubbing rather than brake rotor seems more likely, but there might be some rotor/pad combinations that sound like that when rubbing.
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Old 09-24-21, 04:55 PM
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Ok folks I think I've solved the mystery. I can't post photos so I can't show you, but basically the chainstay tape was half peeled off so it must have caught wind whenever the bike moved fast and made that horrible noise.

I feel so stupid
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Old 09-25-21, 06:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Tripletail52
Ok folks I think I've solved the mystery. I can't post photos so I can't show you, but basically the chainstay tape was half peeled off so it must have caught wind whenever the bike moved fast and made that horrible noise.

I feel so stupid
Many a crisis has boiled down to this: "Its a fine line between sheer genius and absolute stupidity." I have fallen prey to the latter far too many times.
A future suggestion: When I get stuck with a problem, be it bike, car, appliance, computer etc the best two ways to address the problem are to 1. Walk away from it for a day or 2. Put a second set of eyes on it. We get too close to the problem and some time or outside observation often solves the problem. When I was touring more, our morning regimen was to have each member riding look at another person's bike, not their own. It was amazing how we thought we were being diligent yet we missed stuff. Glad you found the noise, I would go insane if I had a noise I could not find!
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