What's my noise?

[dantheman]

I almost didn't like the explanation post... The most enjoyable thread I've read in ages. Bike related puzzles indeed. More, more.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I may be thick, but I'm not stupid!


It wasn't a nice flute-like noise - it was a 'hornet from hell' noise!

Okay, near enough ... The BIG REVEAL!







View attachment 426042
A couple of weeks ago, I was getting irritated by the end of the front derailleur cable catching my leg when the mech was shifted to drop the chain down to the little ('grovelling') ring. So, I bent the cable in a bit. I actually made sure that it did NOT contact the tyre the way it is above when the bike is on the big chainring.

What I had not realised was that I have the front mech end stop such that I can slightly over-shift. I subconsciously push the Ergopower lever a bit beyond its click stop to speed up the shift. Sometimes, the lever does not fully return to the click stop and that subtle extra movement is enough to get the cable cap to touch the tyre as shown above. The tyre was acting like a violin bow and the little bit of cable was acting like a screechy violin string!

I can't believe how loud the thing sounded. Even with wind noise in my ears and poor hearing, it was very disturbing.

Anyway, mystery solved! I might adjust the end stop in a smidge, but I think I set it like that because the chain was reluctant to go up onto the big ring.

I've had this myself, but on the side of the tyre, but it was that long ago I can't remember what it sounded like. The one that totally fooled me a few years ago was my metal watch strap rattling against the handlebar, I almost totally rebuilt the bike before I worked that one out. It was a cool day and the need for a long sleeved jersey and the noise stopping whilst I was wearing the long sleeve jersey that led to that one getting solved.

 

[ColinJ]

In case it isn't obvious - I don't tend to use the big ring below about 30 kph.

As for the drink ... I had put up with noise on a long descent, and took the bottle out of its cage just as I changed to the middle ring for the flat road below. I had squirted the drink onto the hub immediately before clicking the gear shifter to change down and thus move the cable away from the tyre!

I almost didn't like the explanation post... The most enjoyable thread I've read in ages. Bike related puzzles indeed. More, more.

I was quite enjoying it too, and it will probably point people in the right direction to fix other noise problems. However, I can't see there being too many obscure problems like this one to start threads about!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

In case it isn't obvious - I don't tend to use the big ring below about 30 kph.

As for the drink ... I had put up with noise on a long descent, and took the bottle out of its cage just as I changed to the middle ring for the flat road below. I had squirted the drink onto the hub immediately before clicking the gear shifter to change down and thus move the cable away from the tyre!


I was quite enjoying it too, and it will probably point people in the right direction to fix other noise problems. However, I can't see there being too many obscure problems like this one to start threads about!

Its always nice to hear about other peoples bike noises, just in case you get the same noise.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

What a good way to spend a few hours on CC.
Thank you @ColinJ, I had fun!

 

[ColinJ]

The one that totally fooled me a few years ago was my metal watch strap rattling against the handlebar, I almost totally rebuilt the bike before I worked that one out. It was a cool day and the need for a long sleeved jersey and the noise stopping whilst I was wearing the long sleeve jersey that led to that one getting solved.

Ah, I had a similar problem which only manifested itself on hot days ...!

I got put on warfarin because of my blood clotting problems and decided that it would be a good idea to wear a medical dog tag when out on rides.

Unfortunately, on hot days when I unzipped my jersey, the tag clinked on the zip! It took me a while to work out where the noise was coming from. (Which is a bit odd, considering how close it was to my ears!)

 

[ColinJ]

Scrub my comment about 'over-shifting'. I'd forgotten that Ergo shifters have several trim positions so what I had actually been doing was to shift to the rightmost click on the lever when changing to the big ring. If I was on the first few sprockets, I left it there and in that position the cable rubbed on the tyre. If I was on a sprocket towards the middle of the cassette, I'd trim the derailleur cage back to a more suitable position and like that the cable did NOT rub on the tyre.

I've been using Ergo shifters so long that I don't even think about them any more so I don't even realise when I am doing the trimming.

When I use the Shimano shifters on my CX bike after not using them for a while I keep trying to trim where there is no trim. I reach for non-existent thumb-operated shifter buttons. I also tend to shift in the wrong direction - the inside levers on Shimano drop the chain to smaller rings or sprockets; on Campag the levers cause the chain to be lifted onto bigger ones!

 

[Tin Pot]

Rubbish. Speed was the primary factor. As you hit 30kph the flux capacitor kicked in, as we all know they do make a racket, much faster and you’d have torn a small hole in spacetime then you could go back in time and correct your Big Reveal with the correct information.

 

[gaijintendo]

I still think it was the bottle cages

 

[ColinJ]

There is/was another noise that I have been annoyed by on the same bike recently. I don't think it was related, but I'll see when I do my next ride. If that noise has gone too, I will tell you about it below.

If the noise persists then I will make an effort to work out what is causing it and proceed to instalment #2 of "What's my noise?"...

 

[GuyBoden]

Are you sure that's the cause, because over 30mph descents can cause squeaky bum syndrome in some riders.

 

[ColinJ]

Are you sure that's the cause, because over 30mph descents can cause squeaky bum syndrome in some riders.

There do seem to be an awful lot of scaredy cats about. Nearly everybody used to leave me for dead on the climbs on my Yorkshire forum rides but I'd catch nearly all of them on the descents. As long as the road surface is good, there are no dodgy bends, and the gradient is no more than about 8%, I am happy to do 50+ mph. I don't like going fast on really steep stuff though, for obvious reasons!

 

[raleighnut]

There do seem to be an awful lot of scaredy cats about. Nearly everybody used to leave me for dead on the climbs on my Yorkshire forum rides but I'd catch nearly all of them on the descents. As long as the road surface is good, there are no dodgy bends, and the gradient is no more than about 8%, I am happy to do 50+ mph. I don't like going fast on really steep stuff though, for obvious reasons!

Yep. some people just can't ride.

View: https://youtu.be/HkuK5IcEDDI


Although the way the 'Biker' cuts him up to get past again is a bit 5hitty.