celry 

The (seemingly original) wheels on my 1983 27" frame Fuji Royale II are making popping/ticking noises. I'm looking for feedback on a long-term solution to the noises.

I love this bike, especially the soft gold rims that go with the frame's lug striping. And the wheels are basically true, they just make noise.

After reading the sheldon brown article linked in one of the "before you post" posts in a forum here, I recognized that spoke noise is probably beyond my mechanical aptitude. So I visited an LBS for discussion, and they tweaked the spoke tension just a little, but expressed reservations about their ability to do much more, and also gently suggested maybe these wheels are at the end of their useful life, and that if they do more they'd be worried about breaking spokes or causing rim failure. They suggested new wheels, which no doubt would work well. But new wheels would not look as cool as the originals with gold rims. The LBS staff were very nice, and the tweaks helped, but all acknowledge it's not a long term solution.

My goal is to
a. keep using these rims if possible
b. have silent-rolling wheels
c. have confidence that the wheels are good for riding on paved streets and sidewalks and occasionally the C&O towpath.

What do you all think about these options?
1. deconstruct the existing wheels, and rebuild using the same materials, in hope of sort re-setting everything in a stable true condition?
2. build new wheels using the old rims with new hubs and spokes?
3. something else that keeps using these rims?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Mr. 66

Your rim probably has a bend, warp, or hop leading to uneven tension. You could try loosening all the spokes and re-tension but that probably won't help.

If you like the look I would leave them as-is, and use them until they break spokes.

Dfrost 

I’ve eliminated spoke clicks on several wheels by lubricating the spoke nipple seat in the rim. Best way to do that is to disassemble and rebuild, after lubing those nipple seats with a bit of light grease on a nipple reversed on a spoke. Simply adjusting spoke tension has rarely worked IME, and it’s not easy to get the grease where it’s needed without disassembly.

Are the braking surfaces of the rim worn/concave? Is there cracking around the spoke holes? If not, the rim is probably fine for re-use. Being an ‘83, those are probably hooked rims - a good thing.

if you rebuild (and somehow that LBS doesn’t sound like the right place for that), I’d definitely suggest using new double-butted spokes and brass nipples (DT, Sapim and Wheelsmith are excellent brands). There are lots of sources for wheel-building and truing instructions. I use Lennard Zinn’s “Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance”.

When you’re purchasing spokes and nipples, don’t forget new rim tape. The Sunshine hubs used on your Royale are a pretty decent hub, assuming that they’ve been maintained properly. When you respoke themselves , be sure to orient the spokes in the same direction as they were originally.

Oldairhead 

If the spokes, rims and hubs are sound you should be able to build a solid and quiet wheel with those components, even if they do have some age to them. If they were mine I would deconstruct them, then clean and reassemble the parts using a good spoke prep. After assembly and truing you should ensure that the spoke tension is correct. A tensiometer can measure a correct tension but most wheel builders will know it is correct by feel. I suggest that your option #1 is the way to go and if you aren't comfortable doing the work yourself I'm sure that there will be a local wheel builder work could perform the work. Good luck!

zukahn1 

As others here have said taking apart and rebuilding the wheels preferably with quality new spokes should work but is a lot of work and likely more costly than another set of wheels. Your LBS wasn't wrong for not going farther on these The cost for a a full take down and rebuild with new spokes is about $80 a wheel for that price you can actually get nicer new wheels just not gold.