Bicycle Mechanics - Undescribable noise

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View Full Version : Undescribable noise


Arrows2100
06-17-04, 05:23 PM
Despite the title, I will try to describe the noise lol!

Firstly, it comes from the front wheel ONLY when I turn to the right - either sharp turn at slow speed or slow turn at high speed (at angle sideways)...

Its as if the wheel is shifting to the side and rubbing off the brake pads, although it doesnt quite sound like that... As I said its undescribable. Its definatly a rubbing of some sort and its coming from the front wheel... My bike is silent apart from that really, its just a little thing I want fixed heh!

Oh! It's the kind of sound u would expect if ure wheel was spinning quite fast and u put a piece of thin plastic up to it and listened to it rubbing!


DieselDan
06-18-04, 05:55 AM
What type of bike? Suspension fork? What type of brake? Do have sensitve hearing? Some people won't ride a bike because the rubbing of rubber on aspault drives them nuts.

Erik
06-18-04, 07:22 AM
I had a similar problem. At first I thought it was the rim rubbing the brakepad but this wasn't the case. It appeared to be the tire rubbing the wire from sensor to computer (which I routed on the inside of the fork).


SchreiberBike
06-18-04, 09:33 AM
It could be the computer magnet hitting the computer sensor. I'd describe that noise as somewhere between a ping and a thunk, with a frequency the same as the tire's rotation.

Move them apart a little and see if that makes the difference.

Based on your description, I'd also check the seals on the hub bearings, they can sometimes mae a noise about like that. A little extra grease on the seal will quiet it down.

madpogue
06-18-04, 10:44 AM
For a quick test, put the wheel in backward and take it for a cruise. If the sound continues, then yeah, maybe it's the brake, or just the tire scrub (I notice the little 20" front tire on my semi-bent makes more noise when I corner). If it reverses itself, it may be bearing noise, or maybe the rim isn't centered wrt the hub. If it goes away completely, it sounds like something like the computer magnet hitting the sensor, or the wire or something. A test like that might unveil something no one here is considering.