chandltp

So this weekend I took off the chain, cleaned and lubricated it. I took off the rear wheel. I cleaned the cogs real good to get all the gunk off the freewheel. I then lubricated is using Sheldon Brown's method (although after the fact I realized I didn't have it at a 45 degree angle and it was off the bike, so not really).

Sunday when I went on a ride I noticed a pinging sound coming from the freewheel (or the back of the bike anyway). It almost sounds like a spoke ping, but it happens on every hill. It repeats every couple of pedal rotations as far as I can tell. It might be happening all the time and I just can't hear it at speed.

Tonight I took the chain off and reversed the direction (thinking maybe I had some directional wear after 300 miles). That didn't change anything. I loosened and tightened the quick release thinking maybe it wasn't all the way in the dropouts and I was getting some weird twisting on the chain. I also checked the trailer hitch that's on the quick release. That didn't fix it.

I have an SRAM power link (or whatever it's called). I read that they could be re-used and it went of an off just fine. Don't know if that could be it, if it's just a bit off with it's clearances or something.

So I'm back to the lubricating of the freewheel I think. Could I have added a noise somehow by lubricating it? Or is there something else I'm missing?

bikeman715

What kind of lube are you using ? If you use something like WD-40 it to light plus it flush out whatever Lube was in there . Try a heavier oil like triflo in it place to quite things down .

chandltp

I think I actually figured it out this morning. I noticed it was most prominent in the 2nd to largest cog while climbing but it was present most of the time. Upon further analysis it sounded more like it was starting to try to shift (if that makes sense). I gave the barrel nut a 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn and it quited it down. It also solved the rough shifting that I had noticed but didn't think much of until this morning either. Not sure why a cleaning did that, unless I tweaked the derailleur a bit. Maybe all the crud just masked my adjustment problem?