Rear Wheel Grinding Noise

badhorsy
badhorsy Posts: 107
edited November 2010 in Road beginners
Hi all,
got myself my first road bike 3 weeks ago, a brand new Specialized Secteur Elite 2010.

It's not the most expensive bike in the world, but it's expensive enough to get me worrying about an unusual noise....

There seems to be a grinding noise coming from the rear cassette area. The grinding only seems to happen when free-wheeling but not when actually pedalling. If you back pedal (and listen through the rear-wheel clicking) you can hear the grind quite clearly.

I haven't done anything unusual to the bike. It's coming up to Winter, so it's been ridden in the rain a few times. After a ride in the rain, I typically give the bike a quick splash with water from my water bottle, just to dislodge any dirt from the ride. I would have thought that simply doing this wouldn't have caused any grit or dirt to get into the rear hub though...

Any help would be awesome! I may swing past my LBS on my way into work tomorrow though...

Comments

  • oldwelshman
    oldwelshman Posts: 4,733
    If its when freewheeling and not pedalling it will not be the hub, nor the guide pulleys but more likely to be freehub body but you would be unlucky if it is faukty this early. Sure its not just the usual freewheel noise of pawls? :lol:
    http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll245/oldwelshman/
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK5Bfqj5fxY
  • badhorsy
    badhorsy Posts: 107
    Nah, its not the usual freewheel noise.

    If you actually hold onto the cranks and slowly move them backwards, you can hear the grinding in between the ratcheting clicks...


    I'm a dumb-ass - so, if the noise doesn't happen when I'm pedalling, only when freewheeling, it's definitely not the rear hub?
  • topdude
    topdude Posts: 1,557
    It would be best to take the wheel out, then you can turn the cassette by hand and prove if it is the freehub.
    He is not the messiah, he is a very naughty boy !!
  • badhorsy
    badhorsy Posts: 107
    So, I just took off the rear wheel.
    The noise is definitely coming from the cassette/freehub. Spinning the cassette manually with my fingers makes a grinding sound...

    Any idea what I can do to stop this? (or even what caused it).
    Given that the bike is only a few weeks old, I might just wander back to my LBS.
  • getonyourbike
    getonyourbike Posts: 2,648
    A good strip, clean and regrease should sort it, works for me
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    > LBS
    Ben

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  • woodywmb
    woodywmb Posts: 669
    Could be the circular spoke guard rubbing against the biggest sprocket. The noise is amplified because the guard is brittle plastic and the cog is steel or alloy.
    http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1296598/
  • kettrinboy
    kettrinboy Posts: 613
    it could be that one of the pawls in the freewheel has become displaced because a spring has slipped out of its seating, this happened on my wheel went i went down a pothole, easily fixed by taking the freewheel off and resetting things or the lbs can do it,it sounds like your gonna at least have to remove the freehub to get to the bottom of it.
  • MattC59
    MattC59 Posts: 5,408
    Sounds like it's the plastic guard between the sprockets and the spokes.
    Take it off and see how it sounds then.
    Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
    Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
  • badhorsy
    badhorsy Posts: 107
    Thanks for all the responses.

    Took it into my LBS this morning. Turns out it's actually a faulty free hub - they're gonna do a repair and get it back to me on Monday.

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