When I ride with my wife I can hear a faint ‘ticking’ sound coming from her rear Zipp 303. I’ve checked the clearence several times and cna find no rubbing, and i can also not get it to tick while on the stand. what might this be?
Sometimes the magnet makes a little clicking noise, check that.
no magnet on the wheel, but thanks for the suggestion.
valve extender?
Check the hubs are adjusted correctly
place a drop of lube on each nipple where it enters the rim
place a drop of lube where each spoke contacts another spoke
place a drop of lube at each spoke head in the hub
remove and regrease the quick release skewer.
wrap a bit of electrical tape around the valve extender to snug the fit in the spoke hole.
Are you using a zipp valve extender? The removable core style extender is narrower and will click every time you roll over it as it deflects under load.
i’m using the Zipp extender but it does not have a core extender. I’m going to try a bit lube and see if I can snug the extenders in place (one seems to be jsut a bit off perfectly straight)
my 404’s click while coasting but we’re talking something different I think.
Have you checked the preload around the axle and bearings?
Is the wheel a tubular?
If it is, then it’s just the glue/tape making a sound where the base tape overlaps on the tubular tire. The usual fix for me is to pry up that area and build up the glue so that there is a smoother transition from the single base layer to the double base layer.
the spec’s on the main line gurter? huh? what?
There will be a screw on each side of the axle. These tighten down to meet the outer bearings. If they are too tight, the wheel will not spin very easily. If they are too loose, the wheel will have too much play on the axle. If they are just a little loose, and it doesnt take much, there can be a clicking sound when pedalling. Just a thought anyway.
The hub is shot or was never good - bring it back or contact ZIPP and they’ll sort it out.
Check the hub. Zipp hubs are notoriously bad for getting loose.
If not…
Check valve extender. Is there a little play? A quick easy fix is to take a plastic straw (you can buy them at your local supermarket, or get them free at your local McDonald’s), cut off a 1" piece, and push it over the valve. Make sure there is still enough naked valve showing to get your pump on. The straw should eliminate valve “ticking” against rim!
nice. that sounds a lot better than ‘your hub is no good’
On some of the older hubs, the carbon dust caps could rattle a little bit and cause a faint ticking sound. Check and see if the dust caps are slightly loose to the touch. If they are, pull them off and put a small dab of super glue on the 0-ring that holds it in place and reinstall. Should fix it for good. The o-rings were replaced by a snap clip sometime in mid '05. The o-rings were out of production by the end of that same year. Nothing structural to worry about if this is it, just a little annoying.