TriDevil

I have shimano r540 wheels if that makes any difference to this post. On my ride yestersday and today I've noticed a clicking sound coming from the rear wheel. It only makes the noise, as far as I can tell, when I am freewheeling, if I back pedal the noise increases in frequency. If I just lift the wheel off the ground and spin it fast enough it makes the sound. It doesnt make the sound at low wheel rpms. Nothing is rubbing the spokes or banging on anything as far as I can see. Nothing is loose either. Anyone have this problem or know how I can get rid of it? A quite bike is a pet peeve of mine so needless to say this is driving me nuts! Thanks

TriDevil

No help from anyone?

demoncyclist

Try a drop of triflow in the freehub body. I think you may have a pawl that isn't moving as freely as it should. The other thing may be a loose cone in the hub that is allowing the bearings too much play- the clicking sound would be a bearing that is moving around the cone and coming into contact with the one next to it, kinda like that desktop executive toy with the silver balls hanging by nylon line.

DEMON

TriDevil

How do I do that? Can I get inside the freehub? If so, how?

demoncyclist

Take off your rear wheel. If you are looking down at the center of the cassette and turn the cogs counterclockwise, you will see that the center does not spin with the cogs. Find the seam between the moving and non-moving parts and dribble one or two drops of tri-flow in there. If the freehub body is the culprit, that should free it up. If not, the other answer is to overhaul your rear hub. But one other thing i thought of in the mean time- when I was wrenching on the Pan Mass Challenge this year, someone came in with the same wheels and a similar sounding click. It turned out that one of his brake pads had slipped down slightly and was hitting a spoke on one side of the wheel. His was only clicking when he was out of the saddle hammering, but it might be worth a look.

DEMON

TriDevil

I checked the brake setup and made sure the derailleur wasnt hitting the spokes by chance just to make sure. I'll try the tri-flow in there, hopefully that'll help. I hope I dont need to overhaul the hub. These wheels are <2months old.

demoncyclist

Not long after I bought my Bianchi (way back in 96), I heard a crunching noise in my front hub. I opened it up and found that 3 of the bearings had broken in half, forming 6 hemi-spheres. The shop that I bought from had Bianchi send a new wheel, and all was well. So, don't be surprised if there is a problem. I have found that mechanical things, as well as most modern electronics, either break right away or never do.

DEMON

TriDevil

Would a bearing problem give rise to resistance in the wheel? This whole week I havent been able to get into my normal gears. I got off the bike today and spun both the front and back wheels, the back one spins for far less time than the front one does.