Amesja

I've done a really nice rebuild on the '78 Lady Sports and have been riding it around breaking in the refurbish and doing a "sea trials" on it before I list it on Clist.

When first put it on the road this bike was totally and absolutely quiet. It didn't make a noise. The hub clicking purrs so quietly that it barely even can be heard over the tire noise in any gear after the recent rebuild/cleaning/relube. In first it is totally silent. Wow, this is a nice bike.

But after about 10 miles of riding it is starting to creak in a few places. The Brooks B100 is a bit squeaky now and I will have to look into where I can lube that to quiet it down a bit. Springs are always a PITA to keep quiet.

But the fenders are creaking as the bike flexes too. I'm 200+ and this bike was probably not made for that kind of load. The fenders are hard-mounted using the original fasteners. Should I put a little bit of grease at the mounts or is that going to cause them to loosen up over time? One of the front fender eyelets at the dropout was slightly stripped so I had to put a nut behind it and a longer bolt to keep it in.

Maybe a super-thin nylon washer? Both the front and rear fenders are making a very slight but noticeable noise when I flex the frame by putting weight on the seat or cranks.

Doohickie

A little grease is what I would try. I don't think I'd mess with the Brooks, though.

Amesja

The Brooks was really darn rusty when I started. I soaked the whole works, Vinyl seat and all, in OA. It cleaned it up fine. It was quiet when I started riding it but now it is a little creeky. I was thinking of spraying a dryish silicon-based spray up into the springs from below and wiping anything on the surface off. Maybe even blowing it off with a bit of compressed air after sprunging it a few times by sitting/bouncing on it. That should quiet it down a bit. Might take a couple of treatments before it fully is quiet.

I'll think about putting some grease on the mounting points of the fenders. If they loosen up after a few miles I'll have to try something else.

Doohickie

Oh... it's a vinyl seat. Yeah, I might play around with it a bit more, but still, an old sprung seat is not necessarily expected to be perfectly quiet.

David Newton

It is actually, historically called "the Raleigh rattle".

sailorbenjamin

It's not the tire rubbing, is it? I've seen repacked bearings loosen up a little in the first couple of miles and allow the wheel to wobble just a little.

Amesja

The bearings cones/hubs are perfectly tensioned and were completely refurbished with an OCD ultrasonic cleaning of all parts, all new balls, and grease.

The creaks were coming from the fender stays where they bolt onto the frame at the dropouts as the frame flexed. The fender needs to flex too to match it.

About an hour or so ago I experimented with drizzling a tiny drop of Slick 50 One-Lube into the area at all four dropouts right where the fenders are attacked to the droupouts and the squeaks instantly went away. Fasteners are still tight. I'll check them after a few days of bombing around on this bike. It's so fun riding around town doing errands that I might not want to sell it. I sprayed a bit of the Slick 50 up onto the springs. They were REALLY dry. I wiped it around and any extra off and let it dry upside down until the volatile bits they use to thin this stuff down so it sprays evaporated off.

I rode the bike and it is so quiet now that all I can hear is the occasional tire nubby hitting the fenders. I need to cut them all off. They bother me. I'm a little OCD about details like that. I'd like to show the next owner that they are brand new but I guess I can always show them the receipts to prove it. I think they'd rather have a bike with a few miles on it to be sure it is set up correctly and broke in from the refurb.

I wonder if the creak will come back if/when the Slick-50 One-Lube wears off -and how long that will take. It's good stuff though. If it does I'll have to take it all apart and put some grease in there. I'm really impressed with how tight and silent this bike is again. In first gear there is absolutely no noise out of the hub and the only sound I can hear is the tires softly going fffffffff over the pavement. When I'm riding next to other bikes in traffic it's amazing how much noise they make. In Second and Third gear the bike whispers a soft purr as the pawls click-click-click like a kitten.

I'm digging 3-speeds more every time I ride.

w1gfh

photos please

David Newton

Uhh, yeah.
The rattle will come back eventually, especially when you hit a good bump. It really is a charming thing.
Are they wire fender stays? The stamped stays make a bit less rattle. Oops!

Amesja

They are the full-on Raleigh stamped 1/4" wide steel stays. The rear has two sets of stays in the typical Raleigh pattern that overlap at the mounting spot on the rear dropout. Lots of bits to moan and creak as the bike flexes. If the noise comes back I'll try grease. If it still comes back I'll try paper-thin nylon isolation washers. that should do it but I'll probably have to lock-tight the fasteners or they will loosen up with the nylon layer.

I'm waiting for pictures until after the cork grips come in and I've got them installed and 3 layers of shellac on them. Then it is going on Craigslist for all the market will bear. I think it'll move fast. I'm already turning heads riding up and down the hipster highway here in Chicago. I should just hang a FOR SALE: $200 sign in cardboard from the rear of the Brooks as I ride it around.

Al Criner

Leather washers between the hardware and the dropouts?

Amesja

I was thinking nylon.

They make nylon washers that are really super thin -so thin that they don't even take up one thread. They will allow the surfaces to move around a tiny bit but the fastener still holds tight enough that it doesn't rattle or loosen up. You can find them at the hardware store usually if they have enough drawers of nuts and bolts. They are sometimes used in the electrical industry to keep larger panel covers on gear from rattling around or buzzing with the 60hz hum of energized electrical equipment. The stuff is so paper thin that it can't crush very much but it still is a bit "slippery" so the items in the fastener stack can rotate a degree or two without making a squeak/creak or vibrating. Since it is thin it doesn't have much to crush so it doesn't cause the fastener to loosen up. I've never used them on a fender mount but I'm seriously thinking about it.