Something loose inside the rear wheel

N1TRO

I put my bike on the workstand the other day and as I spun the rear wheel around really slowly, I noticed something was loose inside it. Imagine the sound of a small stone tumbling around as the wheel spins. I took the tube and tire off, but of course the sound was still there. Every time the wheel comes to a certain point whatever it is falls back to the lowest position. You can't really hear it when riding, but it just pains me to think about it.

Anyone had a similar experience? So far it's not a major issues, but I am worried that something might have broken and could cause a more serious malfunction later on.

lpretro1

Assuming it is a cup & cone typoe hub it is prob the bearings in the hub are lacking grease so are not staying nicely seated and the noise you hear is as the slip around. Needs stripping and re-greasings

marcusjb

If the noise is coming from the rim:

Check all your spokes for tension.

There is a chance a nipple has broken free, either by a spoke snapping or the nipple corroding.

If the wheels are high spoke count, there is a chance you haven't noticed a snapped spoke.

Getting the nipple out can be a pain in the arse. Rim tape off and see if it will come out with a bit of shaking to start off with.

keef66

If all the spokes / nipples seem OK it could just be an odd bit of alu that's fallen in there during the manufacture of the rim. Shake it to the bottom and see if you can see it / fish it out through the valve hole. Blob of grease or even Blu-Tack on a screwdriver should pick it up.

N1TRO

All the spokes seem fine to the touch and the feel during the ride hasn't changed, at least as far as I can tell. The wheel is a Specialized Axis 3.0 SCS and the funny thing is I just noticed the noise after I got the bike back from the first service. Could it be they've done something to cause it there? I haven't asked the guy at the store.

I'll get round to removing the tube and see if I can see anything through the valve hole for a start.

redvision

Could it be crap in the rim?
My aksiums made a similar noise and the lbs found dirt in the rim. The noise it was making had convinced me there was metal in there but it was just a few bits of dirt (like grains of dried mud is the best way to describe it).

Once they managed to get it out the noise completely went.

mikenetic

If it's a metallic, tinkling, sort of noise it could well be aluminium swarf from manufacturing. I have a set of Kysrium Elites that had a few, some of which didn't reveal themselves until the wheels had been used for several months. You can normally shake it out via the valve hole.

donboogie

Are they Ksyriums? I had a set that had this exact problem and was told by LBS same thing - remnant from manufacturing.

Bobbinogs

Yepp, I have this on some Excellights. Apparently it is common around the rim weld and if I shake the wheel carefully, the section around the weld is exactly where the sound is coming from. Unfortunately the box section design of my rims means there is no way to do anything about it, so I have to just keep the speed up :-)

mikenetic

Bobbinogs wrote:

Yepp, I have this on some Excellights. Apparently it is common around the rim weld and if I shake the wheel carefully, the section around the weld is exactly where the sound is coming from. Unfortunately the box section design of my rims means there is no way to do anything about it, so I have to just keep the speed up :-)

That can be caused if there's a plate in there, happens on Pacenti SL23s as well. Best 'cure' is to stuff some bubble wrap around the plate using the spoke holes on either side of it. Not really adding any weight, but damps the rattle.