creaking rim

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mig
Posts: 2706
Joined: 19 Oct 2011, 9:39pm

creaking rim

Post by mig »

i have a front wheel of a chorus hub, unknown PG spokes and open pro rim which produces the very occasional 'tick' in use when honking on the bars uphill. over the weekend i decided to see if i could get this fixed by stress relieving as per a newly built wheel. however i didn't get the usual 'pinging' of the spokes settling in but a definite 'creak' at one spot (maybe two spokes wide in a 32H rim.) there's no appreciable rim wear and certainly no damage to the rim anywhere. it has been molly coddled through its life so far - barely ever even getting wet!

is this a loose eyelet? if so can anything be done or am i using a creaky wheel until the rim wears out?
Brucey
Posts: 44705
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: creaking rim

Post by Brucey »

it is most likely something innocuous like an eyelet that is moving slightly. But then again it could be a crack I suppose.

I'd suggest a tactical shot of WD40 as follows

1) at the hub end where the spokes mount
2) at the crossings
3) at the external eyelet
4) at the non-visible eyelet
5) inside the hollow section of the rim (via the valve hole)

if you check the creak after each squirt, you may find out where the noise is coming from; if it is a rubbing causing the sound (rather than a crack) it should quit (or at least change) at some point once there is lube present.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
mig
Posts: 2706
Joined: 19 Oct 2011, 9:39pm

Re: creaking rim

Post by mig »

have narrowed this down to a particular spoke from where i think the creak emanates & gone through steps 1-3 on it and surrounding spokes. it still creaks. so it's tyre and tape off tomorrow evening and pursue it further.

many thanks.
Brucey
Posts: 44705
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: creaking rim

Post by Brucey »

did you ever bottom this out?

just curious....

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
mig
Posts: 2706
Joined: 19 Oct 2011, 9:39pm

Re: creaking rim

Post by mig »

evening squire.

yes i did.

i got back to it the next evening expecting the creak to be still in existence and prepared to strip off the tyre and tape but it seems that the lube had done a bit more work during that day and chased it away completely. happy days.

thanks for the advice.
Brucey
Posts: 44705
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: creaking rim

Post by Brucey »

ah! I suppose that suggests that it was somewhere round the eyelets, where the lube might take a while to penetrate.

If only every fix was as easy...!

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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