What's that noise coming from my front wheel?

tailwindhome

When riding it sounds like a belt buckle going round a tumble drier

Get off and spin the wheel by hand, same sound, not as loud but with a distinct 'grittiness'.


1 What's the problem?
2 What's the solution (can I fix it with WD40, duct tape or a hammer- for that's my limit)?
3 What's the likely outcome if I continue to ride as is (is wheel failure likely)?

Ta much

davis

Release the brakes (or, better, take the wheel off) and spin again.

Noise still there? Then it's probably your hub. Not fabulous.

Noise gone? it's probably crap caught in your brakes/forks. Easy.

Skippy2309

have you got a cycle computer? mine moved a tiny bit and i got that same noise when ever my wheel was going around :oops:

prj45

If your rims are aero type rims it could be something going round inside the cavity.

Normally a spoke nipple though, not good.

thel33ter

Probably dust in your disc pads/v brake pads.

For the discs replace pads, and rotors if they are feeling rough, or try push the pads further apart.

For V's a nice clean should sort it unless the pads are stuffed.

If it still happens when the wheel is off the bike then the hub might be a bit tight, loosen one of the bolts on the edge a tiny bit.

If the grinding is still there then the hub needs new bearings, a couple of pounds for bearings and basic grease will be the best option.

You remove the bolts from one side of the hub, degrease the axle and put new bearings in, packed with loads of grease. Then put tha axle back on the hub, not too tight or it won't spin

jonginge

prj45 wrote:

If your rims are aero type rims it could be something going round inside the cavity.

Normally a spoke nipple though, not good.

Probably this

tailwindhome

Thanks for your responses, some different suggestions there.

In no particular order;

It's not the cycle computer - I'd already removed that
It's not mudguards- they were making a different noise and are now gone(hence the rain)
I don't think it's the brakes and I don't have discs

If it still happens when the wheel is off the bike then the hub might be a bit tight, loosen one of the bolts on the edge a tiny bit.

I've I'd overtightened the quick release would that have the same effect?

If the grinding is still there then the hub needs new bearings, a couple of pounds for bearings and basic grease will be the best option.

You remove the bolts from one side of the hub, degrease the axle and put new bearings in, packed with loads of grease. Then put tha axle back on the hub, not too tight or it won't spin

I'll check out the usual online resources for guidance but this sounds like an LBS job.



If it is the bearings will wheel failure and a face plant result if I keep riding as is? I've got some momentum back into the cycling habit and don't want to lose it again with a mechanical.


ETA

I'll also check the rims for foreign objects, that seems easy. Presumably if a spoke goes then the wheel aint safe??

gbsahne001

TailWindHome wrote:

Presumably if a spoke goes then the wheel aint safe??

Depends upon how many spokes your wheel has.

will3

Do you have a spoke mounted reflector? I've spent ages re-setting my wheel bearings to get a noise, only to find it was the reflector rattleing

tailwindhome

will3 wrote:

Do you have a spoke mounted reflector?

No

Of course I don't have a spoke mounted reflector.




Good suggestion though

rjsterry

What kind of hub/bearings do you have? The tumble dryer bit sounds like the bearings, but I might be reading too much in to your description. Overtightening the QR skewer is unlikely to cause a noise unless you've done a He-Man and snapped or sheered something (in which case, your wheel would drop out of the, err, dropouts). In any case, it should pull against the lock nuts on the axle rather than compress the bearings, so this isn't the same as too-tight bearings.

If you do need to take the wheel to the LBS for a full fettle, it might be worth buying a spare wheel (or a pair - something like a Shimano R500 is about £65 for the pair, but there are probably cheaper still out there - it's only for short term use), so that you can keep riding.

SimonLyons

Last year after cycling in heavy rain I got kind of clattering noises from my front wheel.
It disappeared after the bike had dried out properly.

Clever Pun

spokey dokey's?

tailwindhome

Clever Pun wrote:

spokey dokey's?

Not helping CP, not helping at all

artaxerxes

I had a strange clattering noise from the front wheel area for acouple of months before I took the bike in for a service. Turned out the bearing cone had sheared through. The replacement bearing cost about £10.

mudcovered

TailWindHome wrote:

When riding it sounds like a belt buckle going round a tumble drier

Get off and spin the wheel by hand, same sound, not as loud but with a distinct 'grittiness'.

Does there appear to be any additional drag on the wheel as you spin it? Spinning it with the wheel removed from the frame eliminates any frame/brake rub issues.

If the wheel stops spinning quickly then its a bearings problem and I'd get it looked at sooner rather than later before the bearing surfaces are damaged.

You can get a very slight gritty sound on wheels with cartridge bearings if you get grit particles between the hub body and the axle. When I've had this problem wiping that part of the wheel usually gets rid of it.

Mike

zrazzle

I also had problems and sleepless nights with a rattling reflector... :oops:

rolf_f

TailWindHome wrote:

If the grinding is still there then the hub needs new bearings, a couple of pounds for bearings and basic grease will be the best option.

You remove the bolts from one side of the hub, degrease the axle and put new bearings in, packed with loads of grease. Then put tha axle back on the hub, not too tight or it won't spin

I'll check out the usual online resources for guidance but this sounds like an LBS job.

It's not hard: the only tricky bit is getting the cones to the right tightness - need to avoid lateral wobble but not have them tight so the bearings grind against their surfaces. Online guides worked well for me. If you are considering taking the bike in anyway, you won't have much to lose trying.

tgotb

TailWindHome wrote:

If it is the bearings will wheel failure and a face plant result if I keep riding as is? I've got some momentum back into the cycling habit and don't want to lose it again with a mechanical.

Nope, it's not like a car where things are rotating very quickly and can get hot enough to seize. Worst case scenario (fairly unlikely) is that it'll jam enough to make the bike unrideable, but this won't happen suddenly enough to cause an accident. More likely, you'll just cause collateral damage to other bearing components. Depending on your wheel this might end up trashing the whole hub, but far more likely that it'd just trash bearing components which needed replacing anyway.

What wheels/hubs do you have? Do you know whether they have cup/cone or cartridge bearings?

Edit: The easiest way to determine whether there's something inside the rim is to turn the wheel slowly by hand; if there's something there, you'll hear it rattling/trickling down even when you stop the wheel rotating. I had water in one of my rims last Winter...

tailwindhome

Apparently WD 40 does actually fix everything.

rjsterry

I'd check that you don't need to put some more grease in the bearings - WD40 will solve a lack of lubrication in the short term, but WD40 isn't really thick enough for a wheel bearing.

msw

Beware WD-40 on hubs! BEWARE!

It is a pretty effective degreaser, which makes it great for cleaning chains and parts and generally making everything look spiffy and new. However it isn't a great idea to use it on parts - like hubs, cassettes and freewheels - that need grease to work properly.

I learned this when I bought a lovely old bike with a very dirty (but perfectly functional and almost silent) Shimano 600 freewheel. My first instinct was to scrub it up and make it look nice, so I drenched it in WD-40. After riding it about 5 miles there was this nasty grinding sound and suddenly it wasn't so quiet any more. Result - 1 knackered freewheel that every bike shop said wasn't worth the time it would take to repair.

At about the same time a rear wheel failed because I'd done the same thing to the hub.

It turns out that if little bits of grit and dirt get into a freewheel (or hub) and it's properly greased, it can kind of cope OK. But when you spray WD-40 or another degreaser into it, the grease is dissolved and drains out but the grit stays in there, where it's now got nothing but bearings running on bare metal for company.

tailwindhome

Long story short

I took the wheel to the LBS who cleaned and regreased the hubs and replaced the bearings - £15

Noise gone.