Annoying rattle that disappears after a few miles

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Roadhump

Time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted
I wonder if anyone could advise on this please.

I have a 4 month old Giant Defy and have ridden about 800 miles on it. It feels good to ride and the brakes and gears work well. A while ago I noticed a clicking that sounded like a double click every second revolution of the pedals, but it went away after a few miles. I recently had the bike serviced and told the mechanic about this. When he returned my bike he said he thought the clicking was probably my foot knocking a cable end, which had lost its cap and become frayed, and knocking it against the mech. He tidied this up and put a new cap on.

However, I have since ridden it 3 or 4 times and the clicking is now worse, it is now like a constant rattle, but again disappears after about 3 miles, it is as though it is like a car that sounds rough until the engine gets warm then runs smoothly. It happens when pedalling and freewheeling, but seems to reduce when I use the rear brake. I thought it might be the spokes, but the mechanic should have tightened them when he trued the wheels (which he said he did), and when I have checked them there are no loose ones.

I suspect it might still be something to do with the spokes though. The wheels are Giant PR2s, which have had some mixed reviews, such as those in the link below. I don't want to go through the inconvenience of taking the bike / wheels to different LBSs or mechanics if I can avoid it by getting more of an idea, as it might not be the spokes, and for the same reason, I don't want to go to the expense of just changing the wheels.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/giant/giant-road-wheelsets-info-weights-263876.html

Any help / advice gratefully received, thanks.
 

Heigue'r

Veteran
Ive got pretty much the same thing.I have narrowed it down to the saddle rails...thought it was wheels or bottom bracket but it is 100% my saddle rails...it does disappear after a while also however that works...have you tried pedaling standing up and is the click still there?
 

berty bassett

Legendary Member
Location
I'boro
after trying standing while pedaling try hooking seat on washing line and turn pedals by hand - change into all the gears- if it has got worse then it is something thats been tinkered with - even clip shoes in and turn pedals (take them off first );) if it is a rhythmic click then i would guess something to do with crank ,pedals ,chain or you catching something - if its a click thats all over the place maybe bearings somewhere -if it don't happen at all on washing line could it be handle bars ?
aint clicks annoying !
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
If you are satisfied that the bike is safe, then perhaps just live with the noise. The more you listen/observe, the more you will be able to pin point where it is coming from. If you think it is the rear wheel, do you have another bike/wheel which you could swap over and see if the noise stays with the bike or goes with the wheel?
 
OP
OP
Roadhump

Roadhump

Time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted
If you are satisfied that the bike is safe, then perhaps just live with the noise. The more you listen/observe, the more you will be able to pin point where it is coming from. If you think it is the rear wheel, do you have another bike/wheel which you could swap over and see if the noise stays with the bike or goes with the wheel?
That is a great idea, why didn't I think of it? It just so happens that I have another bike with Shimano 105 11 speed rear cassette, which is the same as the Defy so I will try that. Cheers.
 
OP
OP
Roadhump

Roadhump

Time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted
after trying standing while pedaling try hooking seat on washing line and turn pedals by hand - change into all the gears- if it has got worse then it is something thats been tinkered with - even clip shoes in and turn pedals (take them off first );) if it is a rhythmic click then i would guess something to do with crank ,pedals ,chain or you catching something - if its a click thats all over the place maybe bearings somewhere -if it don't happen at all on washing line could it be handle bars ?
aint clicks annoying !
Couldn't you just use a bike stand instead of a washing line?
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
An extremely unlikely cause...but one that flummoxed me for ages....have you a spoke protecting disc fitted ?
My wife's bike suffered an irregular click, noise, squeak kind of thing, after loads of investigating various causes and ultimately riding alongside her with my ears cocked...it's coming from the hub...:huh:
I don't remember how I identified it as the plate but took it off...noise never returned. It must have been rubbing on the spokes or as the spokes loaded and unloaded their tension, it flexed the disc....or something like that :wacko::laugh:
 
OP
OP
Roadhump

Roadhump

Time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted
I took up the suggestion from @Sharky this evening and replaced the rear wheel with another one the same size and with the same cassette. The noise was not there, and after 8 miles the noise had not occurred. I returned home at that point and changed the wheel back to the original and the noise returned. It took about another 7 miles to disappear. I therefore feel quite certain that the noise is caused by something to do with the rear wheel. I am a bit cheesed off with the mechanic who really have picked this up and corrected it, especially if he trued the wheel, as he said he did.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
It's a puzzler!

Does sound as it the problem is in the wheel, but I can't think of anything that would make a noise for 7 miles and then stop.

You could try swapping the QR skewer with the one from the other wheel. Unlikely, but is an easy test to do.

Hope you find the cause,
Keith
 
OP
OP
Roadhump

Roadhump

Time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted
It's a puzzler!

Does sound as it the problem is in the wheel, but I can't think of anything that would make a noise for 7 miles and then stop.

You could try swapping the QR skewer with the one from the other wheel. Unlikely, but is an easy test to do.

Hope you find the cause,
Keith
Thanks, I'm off on my hols for a fortnight tomorrow so I'll try and sort it out when I get back.
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
it's not in time with my pedalling and it's not in time with the wheel revolutions, oh well, not to worry". Shortly afterwards my chain broke.
There are 3 rhythms on a bike: cadence, wheel turns per minute, and for want of a (better) name: chain completions per minute. The last is related to the first (well of course they're all related) but for creak/noise frequency analysis, along a flattish road going steady, a rider does about 3 turns of the cranks per chain completion.
 
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Tom B

Guru
Location
Lancashire
I took up the suggestion from @Sharky this evening and replaced the rear wheel with another one the same size and with the same cassette. The noise was not there, and after 8 miles the noise had not occurred. I returned home at that point and changed the wheel back to the original and the noise returned. It took about another 7 miles to disappear. I therefore feel quite certain that the noise is caused by something to do with the rear wheel. I am a bit cheesed off with the mechanic who really have picked this up and corrected it, especially if he trued the wheel, as he said he did.

Do you have those crappy wheel reflectors?

Waggle the spokes are there any all tight?

Lubing the spoke crossings isn't as daft as it sounds nor is checking that the cassette locking is tight enough.

All the above have cause me headscratching creaks.

Don't be too grumpy with the mechanic noises especially those that come and go are a nightmare to track and cure sometimes.
 
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