Originally Posted by Hypno Toad

I've been fighting with noise on a 20 year old bike, the bike was new to me this spring. The noise seems to be from the drivetrain, so I've been through all the drivetrain components: Replaced chain and cassette, flushed and lubed jockey wheels, BB & freehub. But the noise continues to reappear. The thing I haven't thought about until recently was the spokes on the rear wheel. I've found a very loose spoke and tightened it, but never thought about it again. I found a spoke very loose again... same one??? So I marked the spoke with tape. I'm on day one of testing this theory.

I got a clue yesterday when I decided to take trouble-shooting to the trainer, but couldn't get the noise to appear while on the trainer. If the noise is actually part of the drivetrain, the trainer should show the noise easily. However, the on the trainer the wheel was supported by the spindle and not seeing typical forces of the riders weight.

The thing I've found odd and blamed drivetrain components is I get the noise during load, riding full out. If I let off, the noise 'resets' and then reappears. If I'm riding casual, there is no noise.

Does my theory make sense? That a loose spoke could be making this noise and behaving this way?