bikecrate

I cracked the back rim on the stock Ritchey Comp Zeta wheel that came with my 2012 Quest road bike. I bought this wheel set as a replacement from Nashbar Mavic Open Sport / Shimano 105 5800 Road Wheelset . I've got the tires and 10 speed cassette switched over. This included a rubber gasket and one metal spacer for the cassette. Two problems on my test ride. The gears are skipping around in the back cassette quite a bit. The chain and cassette are almost new btw. Do I need more of a spacer or just an adjustment to RD? Second issue: when I put weight on the wheels for the first time I could hear the spokes make a kind of pinging noise. It went away after a few seconds of riding. Is this normal settling in or should the wheels get inspected?

dsbrantjr

You should expect to need to make minor RD adjustments, even when replacing like for like, due to manufacturing tolerances; almost assuredly when changing make/model.

rhenning

Spoke noise is pretty normal on new wheels as is truing them after maybe 100 miles. Any time you change rear wheels almost always requires rear derailleur adjustemnt. Sometimes minor and sometimes major. Roger

dabac

Unless you have flat/aero spokes, it's common to have some residual spoke wind-up in machine-built wheels. That's probably what you hear pinging as it releases. If the wheels remain true, it shouldn't be a concern.
Spacers on the f/h body are primarily used to make sure the lockring can get a proper pinch on the cassette.
I wouldn't use an extra spacer only to adjust gear positions, as there aren't that many turns of thread engaged anyway.
Unless you have double sets of wheels that you want fast-as-possible shifts between, adjust derailer and ride.

CliffordK

Always check the high/low derailleur stops when you install a "new" rear wheel.
Also fine tune the shifting as needed.

Andrew R Stewart 

The comment by the Op that I caught onto was the reference of a rubber gasket in dealing with the cassette transfer. I don't know of any cassette using a rubber gasket. Can the OP better describe this part or provide a photo? Andy.

bikecrate

Thanks for replies so far...it would be too annoying to dissemble for a pic, but it was a round fairly thin piece of rubber that fits snug on the cassette body. On the old wheel it was on first, then the metal spacer, after that the cassette rings were stacked. I just duplicated the setup on the new wheel.

Andrew R Stewart 

I wonder if this piece of rubber is a band that holds the spacer during packaging. I have never seen a rubber seal or spacer on the splines of the freehub body. One wants a solid and non compressible connection between the body and the cassette. Now there are hubs which have a seal behind the body, between it and the shell. It is possible that this seal got miss positioned. But the Shimano seal is about 3/8" smaller in diameter then the splines are. If this is that seal then the freehub bearings are exposed to greater contamination, being that the seal is no longer in the proper place. I strongly suggest that this be checked for. Andy.

bikecrate

I went on Youtube and found a RD adjustment video. Went through the steps and on the stand it appears to be shifting properly now. I ran out of time for a test ride, but I'll give it a try tonight. I don't know what to say about the rubber piece. It was on the old wheel and didn't cause an issue one way or the other. I'll leave it for now unless there continues to be problems with adjustments...thanks again.

bikecrate

Just for those who like the end of a story...
I went for my test ride and after three miles the chain started to jump around again. Then the FD spontaneously shifted off the big chain ring to the middle ring (its a triple). I tried to adjust on the fly but couldn't get the FD to shift at all. I nursed the bike home while thinking to myself "WTH this doesn't even have anything to do with the RD problem". I tried to follow some more YouTube vids on adjusting the FD but could not get it to work. I threw in the towel and took it to the LBS. They had to strip out the cable and start over with the FD. They also said the RD was basically adjusted fine and the mechanic was able to demonstrate all aspects of shifting. Scratching my head I went on my way.
Skeptically, the next weekend I took my bike out. Once again I got about three miles and the chain was jumping all over the back cassette. Frustrated once more, I nursed the bike home. Later, when I had my bike on the stand, I was cranking the pedals around and I noticed the chain was actually bucking in the derailleur cage. Upon closer inspection I saw one of the links of the chain had broken loose quite a bit and was hitting the derailleur cage and that was causing the jumping. I had not thought of the chain as the issue since it was relatively new.
I'm actually lucky I didn't wind up stranded with a broken chain. Easy fix, however, I bought a new chain, installed and took it on a successful ride.

Ronsonic 

The consequences of a chain failure can be much worse than just a long walk home. Good catch.

And thank you for the follow-up. People do like to know how these things get resolved.

nfmisso

Hi Andy;

My favorite Wheelmaster "tandem" hubs have a rubber o-ring (cross section is less than 1mm diameter, ID of the ring is larger than the spline OD of the freehub) which fit in a groove in the freehub behind the cassette. It is fully compressed in normal use with freehub metal to cassette (or spacer) metal contact. It does keep the dirt out of the freehub splines, seems to be its only function.

bikecrate

Odd, of course, how a bunch of coincidental things can add up to a mystery. Wheel change, which should have had nothing to do with a broken chain, then a FD that wouldn't shift. Adjustments that last for a few miles, which I guess was how long the chain was holding in place until it started to work loose. The chain break itself looked interesting. I'm not sure what you call it exactly but the "link body" was actually torn up away from the pin in the opposite direction of chain travel.

Andrew R Stewart 

Nigel- I believe I addressed this application for a rubber "band" in post #12 . Note that the OP mentioned that the band was on the cassette splines, not between the body and hub shell. Andy

nfmisso

Hi Andy;

My apologies for not being clear - on the hubs I have the o-ring is NOT between the body and hub shell. It is between the cassette and the hub shell (thing with splines on it, that the cassette mounts to).

Andrew R Stewart 

As I use terms- freehub body,- splined, sins on it's own brings contains the ratchet dive, the cassette cogs slide on it. Hubshell- contains the spoke holes, axle bearings and connection to either the freewheel or the freehub body. Cassette- the collection of cogs which the chain will run over and be shifted between.

So between which two aspects of the system is the o ring? Andy