Clicking spokes

dilemna
dilemna Posts: 2,187
edited May 2010 in Tour & expedition
The spokes on my bike's front wheel make an annoying double click more or less every revolution. However I can get the clicks to disappear if I lean the on one side of the handle bars or if I put the front panniers on with a reasonable weight in. The wheel is a hand built with stainless Swiss DT plain spokes on Chorus 32H hub on a Mavic Open Pro CD rim. I have checked the tensions and there are a couple which seem to have a slightly lower tension. Where they cross each other in the lacing pattern could they be shifting slightly moving across the small grooves they have made on each other creating a click every revolution? The clicking can be rhythmic but it can also be erratic depending how much weight is on the front wheel, weight distribution across the handle bars or whether the wheel is leaning or totally perpendicular to the road surface. Most infuriating.

Any thoughts or advice much appreciated as the clicks in very short succession pretty much every revolution are doing my head in :( .

And no it's not the magnet hitting the sender to the bike computer.



:cry:
Life is like a roll of toilet paper; long and useful, but always ends at the wrong moment. Anon.
Think how stupid the average person is.......
half of them are even more stupid than you first thought.

Comments

  • onbike 1939
    onbike 1939 Posts: 708
    This is common and can be cured by spraying WD40 at the point where the spokes cross. Make sure that you shield the rims from the spray.
  • dilemna
    dilemna Posts: 2,187
    Cheers ears. Should have thought of using a lubricant :wink: .
    Life is like a roll of toilet paper; long and useful, but always ends at the wrong moment. Anon.
    Think how stupid the average person is.......
    half of them are even more stupid than you first thought.
  • satanas
    satanas Posts: 1,303
    This problem is usually caused by the spoke tension being too low. Especially common with left rear spokes that might be a bit loose from a not-so-round rim. I'd try tightening the spokes a bit (say 1/4 turn at a time for *all* of them), unless they're super tight already.