Noise from spokes

Hornetto

I did the Test Valley Tour on sunday - 110km - and really enjoyed it. However, there was one odd noise coming from my bike when I was climbing the hills. It was a pinging sound, almost as if small stones were hitting the rear wheel spokes. It only happened when I was out of the saddle and loading the pedals to get up the hills.

I checked the spokes to see if any were broken and they weren't, and the rear wheel was still true. They all seemed reasonably OK - no damage or anything. Any ideas as to what this was? Is it normal, or should I be rushing to the LBS to get it looked at?

Cheers for the help.

Doobz

It sounds like the kind of thing new wheels do when you first ride them.

What type of wheels are they?

I have heard pinging sounds from wheels where the wheel bearings were nackered - does the wheel spin freely?

Hornetto

The bike is only about 7 weeks old so they are new(ish) wheels - probably only done 3-400 miles on them. They are the standard wheels on a Specialized Allez Sport (Jalco GX460 it appears from looking on the web). The wheel does spin freely.

So it could just be that they are new(ish) wheels? Does this stop after a while then?

alfablue

could be a loose spoke, what is the tension like?

Hornetto

alfablue wrote:

could be a loose spoke, what is the tension like?

Well, I flicked them one by one with my fingers and they all 'pinged' at slightly different tones. None of them seemed particularly loose, but being a newbie I'm not entirely sure what their tension should be like.

alfablue

well a new factory wheel on a budget bike is likely to be poorly tensioned but it is probably not a job for a newbie to fix, if that's what it is. It is difficult to isolate the problem, but as it is happening as you go up hills I would guess the wheel is poorly tensioned, as you put the power down the wheel will try to flex, which in extreme cases can show up with brake-rub. When not being ridden the same wheel could appear to be perfectly true. If it is a new bike, your local bike shop should be able to sort this out (for free, really), that is, if you bought it from the local bike shop. If you bought it online it is a bit more difficult, but still might be worth going to the LBS, they should be able to retension the wheel for maybe £15.

Hornetto

To be honest it sounds like poor tensioning could be the issue. I think it only happened when I was putting power down on one side, and the bike was leaning the other way (if you know what I mean). So the wheel would have been trying to flex.

What are the consequences of poor tensioning? Is it something I need to get sorted quickly (like before my next ride) or can it wait a bit?

alfablue

It is very likely to be that on a budget factory wheel, it is not at all unuaual. I don't think any great harm will occur in the immediate future. Did you buy this from a regular shop?

Hornetto

No - I bought it online.

I don't mind spending £15-20 at the LBS getting it sorted if it is necessary, though. Just a matter of when I get it done and whether it will be OK to do another long (130km) ride in a couple of weeks first. My main concern was whether a spoke was going to break.

topdude

Try this first
I had this with new handbuilt wheels, would have sworn it was the rear spokes pinging.
Turned out to be the computer magnet clipping the sensor as the front wheel flexed slightly.
Tweeked the magnet a little and been silent ever since

1960ride

Hornetto,

Alfablue provided some good advise to start your trouble shooting.

It is possible your rear mech is hitting the spokes.

Do you only hear the noise when in the lowest gear while climbing?
Does it seem to be worse when you are putting pressure on the right pedal?
If so it is more than likely the rear mech hitting the spokes.

You can check this yourself by putting the bike on a rack and spinning the wheel while in the lowest gear, rear mech closest to the spokes.
Check the spokes around where the rear mech would make contact and look for scuff marks, gouges or other indications of rubbing. Note: if the rear mech is close to the spokes you might be putting enough torque to the wheel while climbing to make the wheel flex into the rear mech by riding the bike under load you may duplicate this problem also. The fix would be to have the rear wheel spoke tension adjusted and check for correct dishing as well. step two is to adjust the rear mech if needed to prevent the rear mech from getting ripped off by the spokes and creating a lot of damage to the bike.

Hope this helps.