lyrictenor1

I noticed the other day that the rear of my bike started feeling soft, as in I felt like I had an underinflated tire. I've been checking the tire pressure with a digital gauge before and after rides, and determined that's not the problem. I had the frame checked for any damage, and the mechanic who looked at it said he didn't see anything. Btw, the bike is a 2011 Fuji SST 2.0, which is known for being anything but soft.

Which leaves me to the wheel. It's a Reynolds Solitude SE which is about 1 month old. I like the wheels a lot, and prior to last week I didn't feel like the rear was soft at all. The wheel is true, but the spokes on the NDS all produce varying pitches (the interval varies by a about a musical 5th between some spokes) ; I do think have a tension meter, so it was the only way I could check it myself. I took it to three mechanics, and upon looking at the rim and doing a hand feel of the spoke tension, they all said it seemed okay.

My question is: Would uneven spoke tension cause the soft feeling I'm feeling at the rear of the bike? It feels like the tire is under inflated or is flitting, or if you're into cars, it feels like an underdamped spring (low speed damping). I guess this would be considered radial stiffness, right?

I will put my stock wheels (Oval 327) back on and see if I feel the same issue. In the meantime, I would love to hear your opinions on this.

10 Wheels

Could be coming from the wind or the road surface.

Wilfred Laurier

spokes need to be quite loose
before the wheel feels spongy
so i would be surprised if the wheel was the culprit

in fact
i would suspect the accuracy of the pressure gauge
rather than the spoke tension

FBinNY 

It's rare that spokes get loose enough that you'd feel a spongy or soft wheel. However it is possible that 2 or more spokes in the same area get loose and you might feel some movement as that area comes to the bottom. Otherwise, check for loose cones which allow the entire wheel to shift under load, and the most common cause, low pressure or possibly a wobble in the tire which makes the whole bike feel squirrely.

StephenH

I've had a feeling like that when I switched from a tandem to a single-bike, different handling through me off.
Check that rear skewer is tight and not letting the wheel move.
If you're changing sizes or types of tires when you swap wheels, that's more likely the issue.
Check that you don't have a frame crack somewhere.
Quite likely, it's one of those things that you didn't notice before, and now that you did, it bugs you even if there's nothing really wrong.

az_saguaro

The rattle from loose spoke(s) would probably drive you insane before you felt any difference in the wheel. I would check your saddle for cracks in the shell, a crack at the right spot would give you a squishy feeling that would feel like a flat tire.

dbg

Loose tension definitely could cause that feeling. And it can hide itself well (no rattles, no unweighted wobble, etc). But squeezing the spokes would expose it quickly ( they'd be very mushy). The other place I've felt wobble is riding along those tar strips that fill in road cracks.

seedsbelize 

This. Mine had a crack in the web of the rear dropout. I rode it for months that way, though, wondering if it was my imagination. Then one day when I was changing a wheel....

contango 

I'd be surprised if it's spoke tension unless something is way off. I broke a spoke 3 miles into an 83-mile ride and completed the ride. I had to loosen the brakes a little but aside from that I didn't notice the handling being different. In fairness I did keep my speed down on the descents, not wanting to risk hitting surface imperfections at speed with a wheel already out of true.

If you've got another wheel give it a try - if the problem goes away then it probably is the wheel. Just be aware that "feeling soft" is subjective so make sure comparison conditions are as close as possible.

lyrictenor1

Thanks for the responses, everyone! I was poking around on the frame, and saw this on the rear NDS dropout ; should I be concerned about this?

lyrictenor1

Btw, this is the drive side. Could it be that these are just cracks in the paint from where the dropout is bonded to the frame?

FBinNY 

It's not rare to get some flex at the joint and I can't see anything to worry about. The best way to diagnose is to remove the wheel and apply some force to each dropout alone and confirm that there's nothing loose.

Wilfred Laurier

it looks like you have
the wrong derailleur hanger
for that bicycle

this could possiby
inhibit quick release force
and allow movement

lyrictenor1

Thanks, FB. I did what you suggested, and everything seemed taught.

lyrictenor1

Thanks. How did you figure this? I did by the frame used, so I have no idea if that was the stock RD hanger.

Wilfred Laurier

the hanger does not
quite match the indent on the
bicycles dropout

lyrictenor1

Here's another pic of the hanger. Perhaps it was just the angle?

Wilfred Laurier

hmmm

doesn't look to bad from that picture

anyway
if that was the cause of the problem
then you likely would have noticed a long time ago

lyrictenor1

Ok, thanks!

lyrictenor1

Cool. I checked the saddle/seatpost and no apparent cracks.

StephenH

I'm not sure what you're seeing in the pictures. What looks sort of like a crack in one is a clear plastic sleeve thingy over the tube, I think. If your derailleur hanger is the wrong one or bent or whatever, that may affect shifting, but shouldn't affect ride quality at all. And if it works fine, I'd say it's the right one, or close enough.

By the way- I've had some loose spokes, some broken spokes, and never noticed any difference in riding. I noticed the difference in handling the wheel (some spokes were obviously less tight) or by people pointing out my wheel was out-of-true, or by the wheel rubbing. Maybe I'm just too oblivious to feel the difference, but I couldn't tell by ride quality at all.

lyrictenor1

The first pic I posted is referring to where the dropout and the chain stay meet; there is no sticker there. The second pic does have a sticker farther forward the chain stay, but I was referring to farther back the chain stay where it meets the dropout.


I guess my butt is just really sensitive to these things; in my car I'm very sensitive to changes in front toe or in suspension damping adjustments. I didn't feel this soft (flatting-tire-like) issue from the bike before, so that's why I'm a bit puzzled. I'm gonna go for a ride again today, but with slightly lower tire pressures (noticed the rear tire is squared off a bit).

Retro Grouch 

I'm thinking that noticeable musical pitch differences from the NDS spokes is a bad sign. I'd be uncomfortable with that. I'm troubled by 3 different bike mechanics saying the wheels are fine but, not knowing the resume's of the 3 mechanics, I'm still skeptical.

If you brought that wheel to me I'd want to retension and retrue it. I'd check the front wheel too.

lyrictenor1

Here's a vid of the pitches produced by my spokes. Thoughts?

zacster

SMOKE On the water... I'd leave the spokes like that just so I could play it.

But I'd say that you have a spongy wheel. I had some spooks loosen on my commuter bike wheel and I could easily feel it. Do yourself a favor and learn how to re-tension a wheel, and use a tension meter. It isn't hard, certainly not rocket science nor brain surgery, nor a black art.