i was riding to work yesterday and was getting this popping up in my front end... almost as if two spokes were popping back and forth over eachother and its pretty loud. i checked and none of my spokes were loose, my wheel was mounted correctly, etc, but i can't figure out what its coming from.

i mostly hear it going faster downhill while not forcing any pressure on the cranks, but don't hear it spinning the crankset or front wheel when its upside down or suspended.

any ideas?

I was having this exact issue before I rolled out saturday.

It was my right pedal giving it's final death cackle.

how's the headset?

i had a stripped stem bolt (and resultingly, i guess, a couple of other slightly loose bolts)on the front of a threadless stem that was making funny noises. once things got loose enough for the bars to start moving around, i realized what my problem was. got a thomson stem, paid better attention to not over torquing those little bolts and haven't had a problem since.

Quill stem? Give the wedge a liberal greasing before putting it back in and tightening it down.

If it's threadless, check that there's no cracks in the bars or the clamping areas.

I had the same problem a few months ago. After a thorough investigation of the bike, it turns out it was the front hub. It had some trashed bearings and the cones were shot. Now it's my spare wheel and I run cartridge hubs.

while i was on my lunch i just spun the wheel for ****s and giggles while my b ike was upside down and i was getting the noise... so i'm 100% positive it's coming from the wheel.

OP, if it's a loose ball hub, there's probably some grit that has found its way in. It's amazing how loud it can be. Check it out before the races get trashed.

hmm... that may be it... these hubs have balls in retainers. but this **** is loud and i didn't see any sizable grit when i pulled the hub apart last night. time to repack anyways, so i'll see if that's the problem

yikes!
howzabout ditching the retainers

would if i could pull the balls out of them. these are retired until i repack/rehardware that front hub.