Originally Posted by
Turtle Speed
Not to hijack the thread, but how long is normal to have pinging? I had a friend's noisy bike that I worked on, and it's almost silent now, except the front wheel will make a faint ping/creak every 5-10 seconds or so, and only when under load.
I'm quite sure the rim hasn't been damaged, but it does sound a lot like the sound of squeezing a pair of spokes together. Should I check all the spokes or looseness, or failing that, give them all a 1/2 turn tightening?
On older wheels (probably 5,000+ miles) spokes eventually get notched where they cross, because there's slight movement there. You can hear and feel it if you squeeze the crossed pairs to move the point of cross. These will ping is they're deflected enough under load and the corssed spokes pop of the notch.
Otherwise, it could be a sign of uneven tension, or slackening spokes.
Try cutting up a piece of light cardboard, like an index card, into small squares. Put one between every crossed pair of spokes and ride. If that solves the pinging remove the squares one at a time until it comes back, that's the problem pair of spokes.
In any case, I'd diagnose and isolate the problem before just tightening all the spokes in a wheel that's otherwise OK.