abrouwers

Hello all,

I currently have a Giant road bike (my first road bike) which I have been enjoying immensely! It's not the top of the line, but has served as a great bike to start learning the mechanics. It's a 2004, which I bought used. I purchased it with about 400 miles on it; last summer, I put an additional 1,500 miles on, and about 400 so far this season. I have had it tuned at the start of each summer, and so far have replaced a bottom bracket assembly too.

Anyway, I'm a fairly light rider, and thought (from what I read) it was about time to swap the chain out. So, I removed my old chain, matched the length with the new, and installed it. At the same time, I figured it'd be a good time to spend more time cleaning my cassette / derailer gears (something I admittedly neglected the first season).

So, after installing the new chain on the cleaned gears, it rides very well. However, on and off, I notice a faint squeak from (what seems like?) the rear cassette assembly. I do oil the chain every 200-300 miles or so. I have also tried oiling the axle of the derailer "dummy gears," which seemed to temporarily hide the squeak, only to come back about 50 miles later.

So, any ideas as to where to look? It only seemed to come about with the new chain, though I am confident everything is properly lubricated. Is there something I missed in this simple procedure?

neil0502

Jockey wheels.

Optimally, you need to disassemble and clean them, and then lube them with light grease.



Some people just stick the 'straw' onto a can of TriFlow and try really hard to lubricate from the outside. May quiet it down, too!

joejack951

Is there a rubber boot-type seal on your rear hub? If so, oil the lip of the seal. My wife's bike had an annoying squeak/hum both caused by this seal. I can take a picture if you'd like.

abrouwers

I'm not sure I'm aware of the seal you're talking about, to be honest.

Regarding the jockey wheels, I had read taking them off of the derailer assembly is a bad idea, generally, as they should be torqued down (or even loctite'ned) pretty specifically. If that's not the case, I have no fear in disassembling them.

joejack951

I'm referring to a seal like the one shown on the end of the hub body next to the quick release lever.



I've had a few different deraillers apart and never found Loctite on the screws. Whatever the torque spec is, it will be quite small. At worst, overtorquing would strip the screw or derailler cage and you'd have to be pretty careless to make that happen. I've just tightened them by feel and never had a problem.

tellyho

+1 to jockey wheels. I agree about disassembly and grease, but in a pinch some chain oil at the bolt should do the job. Repeat as necessary.

abrouwers

Alright, I just realized I omitted, arguably, one of the most interesting clues. It ONLY squeaks when I pedal - further, it only squeaks when I pedal FORWARDS. If it was one of the jockey wheels, wouldn't that be visible if I were to pedal in either direction ?

Mr. Underbridge

Is the squeak constant, or is it some number of times per pedal rotation or wheel rotation? That would help narrow it down to the BB or hub, respectively.

abrouwers

The squeak seem noticeably accelerated as I pick up cadence (starts off slow, and the frequency increases as I steady my pace).

It seems strange that the bottom bracket could be the cause, though; as a) I had it replaced late last season (about 500 miles back), and b) the squeaking has only presented itself since the chain has been replaced.

Thanks again for the help!

Panthers007

Tighten every bolt on your chainrings. Grease the jockey-wheel and tension-roller (top and bottom wheels on the RD), make sure the lockring on the cassette is torqued down properly. Tighten your pedals onto the cranks - and see if that doesn't fix the problem (minor one).

That the squeak only happens with forward momentum tells me it's something either loose, or needs lubrication. But the chasing of sounds is notoriously deceptive. Read this:

https://sheldonbrown.com/creaks.html

abrouwers

Well, I took both the Jockey wheels and tension rollers off; there was a ton of build up in the bearings. I then re lubricated the fastener threads, the chain (and ran it through the cassette, since I scrubbed that down as well). The squeak seems completely gone, and shifting works like a dream!

However, I have noticed one issue since re-assembling the derailer components. It seems a little more difficult to ride, and feels almost as if I'm riding with a low-tire (kind of sluggish, and requires more work to achieve the same speeds). Now, I admit this could completely be in my mind, but I don't believe so. Should I have greased the bearings or anything before re-assembling the jockey wheel / tension rollers? I'm wondering if there's additional friction somewhere that's causing a slightly more difficult ride.

tennisplyr3

I don't know too much about lubrication, but could it be that your choice of lubrication is too viscous, which could be making it more difficult to pedal?

jack002

Seems like something like that happened to me the last time I rebuilt the jockey wheels on my bike. The bolts that hold the wheels in, they were torqued too tight, they were making the wheels not turn freely. See if you didn't do that. I just backed mine out a tiny bit and it was fine.

borgagain

How fast are you going when the squeak occurs?

If it's around 25 Mph or better, I suspect it may in fact be a whistle.

Air speed increases, pedal comes forward and increases it even more, whistle subsides as pedal moves back.

Have you changed anything about your pedals or shoes?

Just a thought.