MrCjolsen

When I flipped my wheel around and used the freewheel side (something I rarely do these days) I heard this noise as I pedaled. Sort of a ping or a pop. Very quiet, almost undetectablet to anyone who is not really anal about their bike.

It only happened on the freewheel side. When I flipped it back to the fixed side, it went away.

It's important to note, that when I first heard this noise, I had also installed a different chainring, which necessitated a different chain with a half link. So I thought the noise could be related to that somehow.

But here's what I think the noise is from. When you ride a factory built wheel it generally hasn't been tensioned that well, so when you first start pedaling you hear the spokes tension themselves. I've heard this on two different wheels plus on wheels which I've done a lot of work on, replacing spokes and such. The noise goes away after a few minutes of riding.

Since flipping the wheel meant that the drive side was no longer the drive side and the non-drive side had switched roles. The spokes on the freewheel side of the wheel were just tensioning themselves and creaking a little under the new stress of being on the drive side.

Does that make sense? BTW, I'm a big guy and this is a rather low-end wheelset.

Or maybe "torsion" is a better word than "tension."

benk0

Spoke.

carleton

+1

I would guess that the spokes are re-settling.

MrCjolsen

Re-settling! That's the word I was looking for!

squeakywheel

I can sometimes hear a noise like that on one of my single speeds. I think I have the cones too tight. Gonna mess with it a while tomorrow.

captsven

I have a fixed/fixed flip flop and never hear any spoke resetting.

I think your chain has "stretched" and you are hearing the cog teeth not sitting correctly in the chain.

If you don't use one side much, the used side gets more wear. When you put a new cog on an old chain, you usually hear noise.

Does it get worse with higher torque?

MrCjolsen

Yes! It does. As I said, I ride the freewheel very little. I wonder if I would get the noise if I also turned the chain around when I flipped the hub?

Although my total mileage on the chain is probably not enough to stretch it.

captsven

I don't think so. From my experience, if the chain is not that old, the noise should go away in a week or two. What happens is the old chain and new cog/freewheel break in and mesh properly together. I am not sure I am usung the correct terms but hopefully you understand what I am trying to say.

I would also guess that if you ride exclusively on the freewheel side for a month, then flop it over to the fixed cog, you may get the noise again. Until you ride that again until they mesh again.