Help me diagnose my noisy wheel problem....PLEASE!

Triathlon Forum
1

Before I lose my mind, please help me with this.

The facts:
-brand new Edge Composite 2-68 tubular front wheel
-wheel is a touch out of true but not too bad
-sound is more of a ping than a rub and seems to occur at the same point in each rotation
-it is NOT brake pad rub
-ping is WORSE the more the wheel is weighted and DISAPPEARS entirely if the wheel is just freely spun (making diagnosis really funhttp://forums.roadbikereview.com/images/smilies/mad2.gif )
-speed sensor magnet is located on front wheel spoke but ping is still there when magnet is removed

HELP!

Thanks,

robert

2

“pings” are spoke sounds. Is each spoke similarly tensioned? If one or more spokes are loose, then weighting/unweighting them as the wheel rotates under stress can cause spoke movement. If a spoke goes slack (no tension at all), then your wheel is at risk of damage eventually.

Check each spoke for tension.

3

Also check if the valve extender is knocking against the walls of opening through the wheel. I had a clicking noise awhile back from my front wheel and that ended up being the cause. The fix is to put a bit of tape around the valve extender and then insert it through the opening. The only bad part is that you’ll have to pull the tire off and reglue back for the install.

Peace,
Rob

4

Ken - that was my first thought but the spoke tension seems good all around. I may take it in and have it trued and checked anyway.

Rob - i hadn’t thought of that. I will check when I get home.

Thanks to both of you.

Any more suggestions?

robert

5

I’ve had a similar issue before, and it turned out to be just a small spot where the adhesive wasn’t fully “adhered” So it would stick and unstick at the same spot–but only when the wheel was being ridden. Eventually, it stuck, and stayed stuck, and the sound went away.

6

x 2 on valve extender. I had the same problem - ping on every rotation, only when wheel had weight on it (not when freely spun), whether pedaling or not. Tire needed replacing anyway, and after I replaced it, no noise (valve extender on new tire was apparently just positioned differently).

7

Yep, extender. Stick a toothpick in the rim next to it.

8

Pings are usually the sound of improperly stress releaved wheels. If this is the case the ping would be random though, if it occurs in some sort of patttern, stress releaved spokes would not be the case. I’m also not buying the valve extender - Ping? I would think this would be more of a rattling sound.

I would put on some gloves and squeeze a pair of spokes all around trying to see if it is some sort of spoke issue.

Let us know how you make out and what the final problem was.

Michael