Newish rear wheel spokes pinging!?

[Johnny5]

I've upgrade the wheels on my Giant Defy to some Mavic Askiums for about 2 weeks now. They have been fine up until today. I've done at least 200miles on them now and during a 50 miler today climbing up and down some big hills, I started noticing ping noises from my rear spokes! The ping only happens when I stand up on the bike to get the power down or when I'm pushing off from the light with a bigish gear. Is this normal for new wheels? My mate said this is normal but why has this only happened after 2 weeks? Should I be concerned? Please put my heart at rest, as I don't want any spokes to snap while blasting down a fast hill or climbing up a steep hill.

 

[yello]

New wheels, yes, I've heard (though not experienced it) of spokes pinging as they settle... but for it to start 200 miles in? Got me baffled.

 

[fossyant]

Hmm, if you've not pushed it, then perfectly possible...

 

[andrew_s]

The ping noises are spokes untwisting. The strength of the wheel isn't affected, though it may possibly be a little less true than it was. The pings should stop happening fairly soon, once all the spokes are untwisted.

When a wheel is being built and you are tightening up the spoke nipples, the spoke is only stopped from twisting by the head at the hub end. That's a fair way off, so the spokes twist a fair bit before the force required to twist them further is more than the force needed to tighten the nipple up further. The wheel builder should release the spoke twist at the end of the build, but often a bit more twist is reintroduced on the final tweaks.

The wheel hasn't pinged before because it only pings when the spokes go slack briefly. Putting down the power swinging the bike from side to side will slacken them more than steady riding on the flat will. If new wheels ping easily it can be a sign that the spokme tension isn't high enough, as well as of the spokes not being untwisted.

 

[jimboalee]

Factory wheels?

They whip them together as fast as they can with little or no oil on the spoke thread.

The reasoning is,,,, A LBS will have the problem when the nipples have siezed in two years time, not the factory.

Having no lube on assy, as Andrew_S says, they are relaxing.

 

[upandover]

Would it be likely to be a consistent, once every when rev noise? I had a pining noise like that, last week, carrying a lot of weight on panniers, but no evidence when the bike was upside down?

Could this be it?

Steve

 

[PpPete]

Are all the spokes similar tension? (similar note when "plucked" like a guitar string) If not - take it back to the vendor for replacement.

If reasonably even tension it just needs stress relieving

Take the offending wheel off, skewer out. Drill a hole in a block of wood, big enough to take the protruding axle. Put the axle in the hole (with the wheel horizontal) Put your hands on the rim (180 deg apart) LEAN on it. Rotate a few degrees, repeat until you've been all round the wheel. Turn it over and go round again.

This, I'm told, is the Mavic recommended method of stress-relieving a new wheel.

You may need re-true the wheel after.

 

[jimboalee]

While still in the truing jig, the wheel builder should grasp a pair of spokes and squeeze them together.

But as long as the wheel leaves the factory true ( and some don't ) the job is done.

A good LBS will do the spoke squeezing before selling. It will avoid the customer being unhappy.

 

[andrew_s]

porkypete's leaning on a flat wheel releases spoke wind-up, by deforming the rim enough to slacken the spokes below where you are leaning. It's not stress relieving - that's what jimboalee describes, done to avoid metal fatigue at the spoke elbow.
The two operations are different, and both should be done.

 

[Globalti]

I could have written this query myself as my Aksium rear wheel has started pinging on steep climbs 180 miles into its life. All the spokes have good even tension and the wheel is true so I can only put it down to the wheel settling. Mind you I'm not 100% happy with the fact that only the drive side spokes are crossed - the LH spokes are radial. This must put a huge strain on the five drive side spokes, which are actually in tension transmitting the force. They get mixed reviews with a couple of stories of the drive side flange breaking so I'll be keeping an eye on that.

 

[BIGSESAL]

I work in an LBS. All wheels almost need trued the minute they come out of the box. If you are unsure then take them back to the place you got them for the pros to have a look.