Electric Bikes - Trek Electric Clicking in Rear Wheel

Anyone else have an issue with a clicking noise in the rear wheel? It sounds almost like a spoke is broken and clanging against the rear triangle as the wheel turns when I ride it. But I've checked all of the spokes multiple times and they all seem to be just fine. I've checked my fenders, lights, everything I can think of. this happened last year, and then it went away, but now it's happening again. It seems to be more pronounced when I am in Assist level 4 & going slow (like uphill or from a dead start), but it's definitely evident when I'm riding. If I get off the bike & just roll the bike, the sound disappears. I'm beginning to think that it may be something in the hub itself. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Try tightening every spoke nipple from one half to one full turn each. I have two Amped Bikes hub motors and both started clicking after a couple of weeks. Tightening the spokes took care of everything for me. I used a small crescent wrench to do it.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

Try using a real spoke wrench to do the job. They are cheap and that way you won't round off the nipples and you'll be able to make other adjustments later if necessary.

Thanks! I did use a spoke wrench. I never would have thought the spokes might have loosened up & caused the popping. It will be interesting to see if that is the solution. Kind of makes sense why it would get worse over time, but with no visible broken or loose anything to cause the clicking.

Hope that does the job. Everyone I know with ebikes has had problems with loosening spokes, most describing a clicking noise. It's the nipple striking the edge of the rim as the pressure on it increases and decreases as the wheelspins. There is a product, DT Spoke Freeze, that can be applied to the point where the spoke and nipple join. It's something like a Loctite, but designed specifically for the this job. I use it on every wheel I build or rebuild and have one Bionx wheel I used it on over a year ago and haven't had to make any adjustments since. Good luck.

Trek should finally source good quality rim like Alex not China origin crap..
Bionx motor is actually very light hub motor, cannot imagine lighter motor.
Everybody ????
I have 3 electic bicycles: Merida, Tidal Force and E+ and none of them had any problems with spokes ,TForce with very heavy motor and 19,850 km !!! millage, Merida thousends of km but they all use Alex rims. Or any other brand name rims like SwissDT. On both of bikes I never touched spokes with any wrench.
It is not about if it is on electic or not - it is quality of rim laced .
Manufacturers like Norco are radiculous in trying to save every dollar in production costs, Scroodges.

Thanks for that info. I am on my second replacement system for my Trek transport +, and it was creaking like mad after I installed it. When I put the bike on the stand, it made no noise when rotating, but a lot of noise when my wife or I sat on it and rode. Will try tightening the spokes today.