Bicycle Mechanics - Infuriating rear hub noise that wont quit!

Hey,

I have recently purchased a used Davidson road bike with Dura Ace 7700 series components. The bike is great except for an annoying noise eminating from the rear wheel/hub. The noise is a regular tick tick tick sound present while coasting or peddaling. I suspected the freehub so I cleaned and relubed it with no avail. I reluctantly purchased a new free hub body for $110.00 which did not solve the problem. The hub bearings looked fine and the race on the opposite side from the free hub had only a slight groove. Any suggestions? Could this be some weird spoke or rim issue? The tick sounds more like one bearing slapping into another. Could my hub be deformed or out of round without showing any inconsistent wear around the bearing races?

Thanks

Hey,

I have recently purchased a used Davidson road bike with Dura Ace 7700 series components. The bike is great except for an annoying noise eminating from the rear wheel/hub. The noise is a regular tick tick tick sound present while coasting or peddaling. I suspected the freehub so I cleaned and relubed it with no avail. I reluctantly purchased a new free hub body for $110.00 which did not solve the problem. The hub bearings looked fine and the race on the opposite side from the free hub had only a slight groove. Any suggestions? Could this be some weird spoke or rim issue? The tick sounds more like one bearing slapping into another. Could my hub be deformed or out of round without showing any inconsistent wear around the bearing races?

Thanks

You say it ticks when you're pedaling, and I"m going to assume you know enough that it's not the ratchet, which was my first thought.

I've had offround rear wheels make some odd noises before. A brake slightly dragging often makes a light scratching noise, just as often squeals like a stuck pig.

However, the problem might not be in the rim at all. Could the rear axle be bent slightly?

Dismount the entire rear wheel assembly and set it in braces so you can spin it and watch it directly, away from the rest of the bike. See if it still ticks, also, see if there is any wobble or jumping.

Hey,

I have recently purchased a used Davidson road bike with Dura Ace 7700 series components. The bike is great except for an annoying noise eminating from the rear wheel/hub. The noise is a regular tick tick tick sound present while coasting or peddaling. I suspected the freehub so I cleaned and relubed it with no avail. I reluctantly purchased a new free hub body for $110.00 which did not solve the problem. The hub bearings looked fine and the race on the opposite side from the free hub had only a slight groove. Any suggestions? Could this be some weird spoke or rim issue? The tick sounds more like one bearing slapping into another. Could my hub be deformed or out of round without showing any inconsistent wear around the bearing races?

Thanks
My first suggestion would be to find a good bike shop with a skilled staff. Most skilled mechanics have heard most noises and if they ride your bike, they may be able to recognize it immediately and save you a lot of time and hassle. How you find this mechanic is the more difficult part; ask fellow cyclists, racers and see what name pops up the most.

Other suggestions;

If its a ticking sound, one possibility to check is the tension of the spokes in the wheel. Sometimes, you will get this sound from the spoke/nipple moving around in the ferrule in the rim. If I were to describe this sound, it's a ticking sound with a dull metallic note to it. If you or whoever checks the wheel thinks that may be the case, have them true the wheel. After truing, see if the noise has gone away. The risk doing this is that you may pay to get your wheel trued and the "ticking sound" may still be there. The only thing you will have accomplished is that you will have eliminated spokes as the cause.

Another possibility, and I just thought of this! Before checking your spokes, take the wheel off and shake it gently to see if anything sounds like its rattling around in the rim. Every once in awhile, when a rim is manufactured, a small piece will end up inside the rim. If this is the case, you may or may not be able to do anything since the piece of metal may be unretrievable. On the other hand, other than the noise it makes, it won't do any harm...


Good Luck!

Sometimes a wheel will get a steady tick after it has been washed. A little bit of grit gets caught inbetween the nipple and eyelet or the lube from assembly gets washed out. It would only take a minute to put a drop of triflow on each nipple where it sockets into the hub.

They can also get a tick at the J-hook but I think Shimano loctites the spoke to that alluminum "backer" that fits into the rim.

You can also find it sometimes by just rolling slowly and stopping when you hear the noise, then you can narrow it down to the spokes, probably at the bottom maybe at the top. I have also flexed the wheel sideways (gently) and worked my way around to the spoke with the tick. Of course if the wheel is tensioned and true you would still just put a drop of oil at the socketing point.

If the spokes are not the problem as others think it could be, then it could be just that the pawls are clicking to loud for your taste. I bought a Shimano freewheel that was quiet for about 8 months then started making a racket. So I bought a can of spray lube called "Speed Skate Lube", (yes it's original use was for skate wheels); put the bike on it's side freewheel up and spray it liberally into the round open area where the skewer goes into the freewheel and disappears. You do not even have to take the wheel off, but slowly turn the wheel while you spray to evenly coat everything. Leave the bike on it's side and spin the wheel for about 3 to 5 minutes than let it set like that overnight.

When I did this to mine, the clicking noise stopped and has not come back and it's been over 2 years since I applied the lube!

I originally bought the Speed Skate Lube to lube my chain because a LBS said it was the bomb...maybe, but I didn't like the spray. So when the freewheel started to make noise I experimented with the Speed Skate Lube since I had it laying around, and it worked!!

Sometimes a wheel will get a steady tick after it has been washed. A little bit of grit gets caught inbetween the nipple and eyelet or the lube from assembly gets washed out. It would only take a minute to put a drop of triflow on each nipple where it sockets into the hub.

They can also get a tick at the J-hook but I think Shimano loctites the spoke to that alluminum "backer" that fits into the rim.

You can also find it sometimes by just rolling slowly and stopping when you hear the noise, then you can narrow it down to the spokes, probably at the bottom maybe at the top. I have also flexed the wheel sideways (gently) and worked my way around to the spoke with the tick. Of course if the wheel is tensioned and true you would still just put a drop of oil at the socketing point.

If it's noise is spoke related, the wheel shouldn't make any noise in the stand because there's no stress on the system. Also, in the stand, check to see if the noise happens when the wheel spins either way. The noise should be easier to discern in the stand as to whether the noise is on the hub or the wheel. You didn't say what rims you've got, either. Historically, a few rim mfgs have had problems with their rims as someone else had mentioned. Most modern rims are pinned together before being welded. After use, sometimes the pins dislodge and float in the inside of the rim. Very annoying.

I have replaced the free hub with no effect so I do not think it is the problem unless it is inherent in this hub. I re-lubed the old one with tenacous oil but it did not make a difference. I can't hear the noise when the bike is on a rack only when the wheel is loaded so I am thinking it must be a rim/spoke issue.

Thanks,

Bikefish