Spoke Problem
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I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Sounds like a bad build to me, spokes should be tight and adjusting any single spoke should affect the wheels trueness.
EDIT: 3k should be nothing for a wheel of reasonable quality.
EDIT: 3k should be nothing for a wheel of reasonable quality.
Broadside
Guru
- Location
- Fleet, Hants
If you were in lowest gear it could be the rear derailleur contacting the spokes.
If it is then you need to sort it out before the next ride and crucially before the derailleur catchs one properly and gets pulled in to the wheel with very expensive results.
If it is then you need to sort it out before the next ride and crucially before the derailleur catchs one properly and gets pulled in to the wheel with very expensive results.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
[QUOTE 4865122, member: 9609"]Tonight on a big hill at full power I was hearing some clicking noise from the rear wheel, it sounded a bit like spokes, and sure enough when I have had a look at it three of the spokes were quite loose, the wheel was still true. I have gently tightened them up so they feel like the others (and the wheel is still true.
Any ideas what has been happening ?
This was a wheel that was built for me at the end of last year and has probably done about 3000 mile, I don't recall it hitting anything hard recently.[/QUOTE]
You don't say which 3 spokes were loose, but if the wheel was still true with 3 loose, it wasn't tensioned enough to start off with.
Like @Broadside said, if the spokes were connecting the RD cage, it spells trouble. Have a look for the tiniest hint of spoke contact on the cage - usually just adjacent to the bottom pulley. If so, it also means that the wheel was laced incorrectly. Spoke movement during hard climbing should be inwards, not outwards.
Any ideas what has been happening ?
This was a wheel that was built for me at the end of last year and has probably done about 3000 mile, I don't recall it hitting anything hard recently.[/QUOTE]
You don't say which 3 spokes were loose, but if the wheel was still true with 3 loose, it wasn't tensioned enough to start off with.
Like @Broadside said, if the spokes were connecting the RD cage, it spells trouble. Have a look for the tiniest hint of spoke contact on the cage - usually just adjacent to the bottom pulley. If so, it also means that the wheel was laced incorrectly. Spoke movement during hard climbing should be inwards, not outwards.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
[QUOTE 4865348, member: 9609"]spokes aren't anywhere near the RD cage, it is as if the spokes had threaded themselves under load and that is why they were loose, I have tightened them back up but if they have done it once they will definitely do it again (I'm rather annoyed at myself for not marking which ones were loose)
could it just have been some poor spokes and if it does it again should I renew them, or should I be saying to the LBS he needs to sort it? thing is is he will say leave it and he will sort it, but it will be there a week and that will mean no bike - I can't cope with that scenario, I'm only just back in the saddle after 7 weeks off.[/QUOTE]
Spokes come loose for two reasons and both reasons are symptomatic of clueless builders.
1) The spokes don't have enough tension. When loaded, spokes lose tension, not gain tension as most people think. If they don't have enough tension to start off with, then they are slack in the loading zone. When they are slack, there is no friction to keep the nipples from rattling loose and they do.
2) Spokes were twisted (in torsion) during building and the residual twist was not removed at the end of the build. This means they are spring-loaded in a twisty way and when the tension in the spoke is reduced during loading, they untwist themselves with one, single quick clicking sound. This typically happens within the first few revolutions of a loaded wheel.
If the spokes have marginal tension, then they will only shake loose their nipples during extreme loading conditions such as hitting a pothole, jumping a kerb etc. This mode is obviously delayed until such an even occurs. It could be years for that matter. However, the builder always uses this loophole as his excuse: you are to blame.
It is easy to identify the loose spokes. Simply pluck all the spokes and you'll quickly hear which ones are loose. Keep in mind that on the rear wheel or disc brake front wheels, the spokes have different average tension on the left and right and will sound differently. Simply pluck one side, then the other.
could it just have been some poor spokes and if it does it again should I renew them, or should I be saying to the LBS he needs to sort it? thing is is he will say leave it and he will sort it, but it will be there a week and that will mean no bike - I can't cope with that scenario, I'm only just back in the saddle after 7 weeks off.[/QUOTE]
Spokes come loose for two reasons and both reasons are symptomatic of clueless builders.
1) The spokes don't have enough tension. When loaded, spokes lose tension, not gain tension as most people think. If they don't have enough tension to start off with, then they are slack in the loading zone. When they are slack, there is no friction to keep the nipples from rattling loose and they do.
2) Spokes were twisted (in torsion) during building and the residual twist was not removed at the end of the build. This means they are spring-loaded in a twisty way and when the tension in the spoke is reduced during loading, they untwist themselves with one, single quick clicking sound. This typically happens within the first few revolutions of a loaded wheel.
If the spokes have marginal tension, then they will only shake loose their nipples during extreme loading conditions such as hitting a pothole, jumping a kerb etc. This mode is obviously delayed until such an even occurs. It could be years for that matter. However, the builder always uses this loophole as his excuse: you are to blame.
It is easy to identify the loose spokes. Simply pluck all the spokes and you'll quickly hear which ones are loose. Keep in mind that on the rear wheel or disc brake front wheels, the spokes have different average tension on the left and right and will sound differently. Simply pluck one side, then the other.
