Anyone else ever over think a problem?
 

Hi All, Funny moment today. While it rained outside I finished the grease and clean 'overhaul' on the CAAD3 project. Rolling it into the bike room the front wheel started making a twangy high pitched tink tink sound. Immediately I figured that even though the wheel was perfectly true, installing a new tube and inflating to 100 PSI had compressed the rim. I started to check spoke tension and beginning at the valve I discovered the valve stem's nut was loose and rattling against the rim! ;)

Brad

That's why you take those off and throw them away :)

I had a similar issue last week with a Univega hybrid I've been riding. Turned out to be no grease in the front hub's bearings, they were rattling audibly even as the axle had no play.
I layed the bike on it's side and slowly admitted a few drops of the viscous Phil oil (luckily it was hot out), and it's been silent ever since. I later pulled the wheel to fix a flat, and the bearings in the all-steel hub are quite smooth.
I'd been suspecting the chain of the noise.

I had a sticker on the wall of the Auto Repair shop I used to own, it said:
Engage brain before hands.
Check the basics.
Check the basics.
Please, check the basics.

Dang, I can't feel that the bearing is shot, but I can certainly hear it as I ride. (presta valve capnut not re-tightened)

A little clear silicone on the valve stem threads will keep that knurled valve stem nut from rattling loose.

My most recent foray into this territory was with a modern aluminum tandem that my wife and I ride every weekend.

I spent a couple hours trying to find the source of a quiet "thunk" that we could hear twice in each pedal revolution. Checked the bottom brackets, checked the pedals, greased the seat posts and tightened them, tightened the saddle clamps, tightened the handlebars and stoker stem, even checked the headset adjustment.

It turned out that when I replaced the seat post clamps the previous week I had put one on 180 degrees off so that the slot in the clamp was on the opposite side of the tube from the slot in the tube. Such a simple thing!
Brent

I had a rotational clicking driving me crazy a while back, turned out to be the end of my fd cable hitting the crank arm :D