mystery noise number 873

[ian]

"whirr whirr whirr" from the back wheel of my newish bike (2 months, it's probably only done about 300 or so miles). Always been there, but since it's been windy every time I've rode it, it tends to get lost. Finally had a bit of peace trundling along yesterday, and I have to say it's a bit annoying in a pedantic kind of way. It's not a noise that I hear on my other two bikes. This said, it's not that loud and isn't the kind of fatal CruNCHY-gRiiiiiiinnnnnDDDDD of imminent doom, but I do like to cruise along in relative, well-oiled silence. Mostly so I can sneak up on good god-fearing Daily Mail reading pedestrians and scare them.

As far as I can tell it's one whirr per wheel rotation. It's only really noticeable when there's weight on the bike, but seems unrelated to power - it's there when I freewheel, and once I go fast enough it disappears into a constant whirrrrrrrrrrrrrr. It's not the tyre or brake pads rubbing. The rear wheel is true to within a millimetre. It's spins freely when I lift the wheel but I feel a bit of vibration.

I deduce it's either the hub or freehub. The freehub is fairly noisy (and it's not one of those Campag ones you can hear in the next county) - certainly more so than any of my other bikes.

Ideas? I'd assuming it would wear in, but it's had a few miles now, and it seems to be a constant.

[nuttycyclist]

Tyre label flaking off and hitting the bike?

Mudguard rubbing on tyre?

[Moloko]

"whirr whirr whirr" from the back wheel of my newish bike

Rumpelstiltskin turning straw into gold.

[TimO]

I'd pop the wheel out and feel how it's turning in your hands.  You can't really tell how well the bearings are adjusted when on the bike since the momentum of the wheel can make even a graunchy set of bearings spin OK.

(This does not apply to dynamo hubs, which can feel quite bad even when they are actually fine!)

[Oaky]

Those little whiskers of rubber sprue that new tyres have?  I got fed up of the noise of those when I first got my road bike and snipped them all off with nail scissors.

The other one that got me was the rubber cone-shaped seals at the front and rear (non-drive side) hubs, altough those were more of a squeaky rubbing sound.  Comvinced me for ages that my tyre must've been rubbing the frame somehow, despite being perfectly true and having at least 5mm clearance all round...

Nowadays neither of those  would have been audible over the array of clanks, squeaks and grinding noises I have developed since ;-)

[ian]

Those little whiskers of rubber sprue that new tyres have?  I got fed up of the noise of those when I first got my road bike and snipped them all off with nail scissors.

The other one that got me was the rubber cone-shaped seals at the front and rear (non-drive side) hubs, altough those were more of a squeaky rubbing sound.  Comvinced me for ages that my tyre must've been rubbing the frame somehow, despite being perfectly true and having at least 5mm clearance all round...

Nowadays neither of those  would have been audible over the array of clanks, squeaks and grinding noises I have developed since ;-)

It's probably so noticeable because it is a new bike and the drive train is pretty much silent other than the mystery noise.

It isn't the mudguard because there isn't one. It does have the little tyre whiskers but they seem to miss everything. It does sound like a rubby noise, which is probably why it niggles so, but there's good clearance all around, so even flexing of the frame shouldn't bring anything into contact (and I don't weigh much).

I'll take the wheel out later - I could strip down the hub, but for a two-month-old bike, that doesn't seem reasonable. I could take it back to the shop and endure the usual (it's from Evans, so hit and miss if you get a decent mechanic). It's one of those annoying noises that promptly disappears once it's on a stand - the best way to hear it is ride about 5-8 mph somewhere quiet. So if anyone sees me riding down The Cut later seemingly being chased by someone from Evans, I've not nicked a bike. Probably.

[Ian H]

You are certain it's the back, not the front wheel? These things can be deceptive. I've looked in the wrong place before now.

[Oaky]

 It does sound like a rubby noise, which is probably why it niggles so, but there's good clearance all around, so even flexing of the frame shouldn't bring anything into contact (and I don't weigh much).

Do check the rubber hub seals (assuming your wheels do have rubber ones - not all of them do, I believe).

Also, as IanH says, don't necessarily assume it's at the rear, it can be very deceptive when riding - I've mistaken front/rear noises for each other before.

If it is the seals on the hubs, you can probably reproduce a similar noise by spinning the wheel then pushing slightly on the seal (see below for a picture of mine)



It could be at the rear non-drive side as above or either side of the front.  All of mine made a noise until I oiled the edges of them lightly.

hmm... I realise whilst taking that picture that my bike is filthy.  In my embarassment, I seriously considered cleaning it and re-taking the picture   

[ed_o_brain]

you call that filthy?

I call that still clean.

[matthew]

The simmilar noise we found on a FNRttC was that there was a cut in the tyre and only once the wheel was rotating was the inertia enough for the flap of tyre to rise far enough to contact the mudguard.

Matthew

[ian]

It could indeed be deceptively located. It's tough when it only really does it when I am riding and won't replicate when the bike is unloaded. It's less of a noise, more of an haunting.

The hub was a bit grindy (though not especially bad, compared to my commuter which eats bearings) so I disassembled and packed full of new grease and now it spins more smoothly than Luther Vandross in a giant pot of butter. Let's see if that makes a difference. The freehub itself is still a bit noisy and doesn't seem particularly smooth but that said, spins freely. Possibly just needs some more bedding in.

Of course, the whirr whirr may simply drive me crazy in some echo of the Poe story.

[ian]

Hmm, well it wasn't the hub, because it's still there despite my grease-related efforts. More of a shsssshhh shsssshhh than a whirr whirr. Essentially it does really sound like a brake block rubbing but it isn't - it's still there if I disconnect the brake. Possibly a ghost brake block. Woooooooo.

Anyway, took it to the shop, he whirred it around and said it sounded fine - but yeah, I just said it sounds fine unless I'm riding the thing. Which, I am not, because you are holding it. Very helpful.

Of course, now I am home, it's definitely louder and I can hear it when I pedal the wheel unloaded (yeah, wait till I'm eleven miles from the shop, why don't you). Hah. I am not mad. Still reckon it is coming from the freewheel. There's a shsshhhy gremlin in there.

Either that or it's going to be something embarrassingly obvious.

[matthew]

I say again check the tyre closely for cuts and loose sections of tread. We had one last year on the FNRttC that was driving us mad till we identified it, then there was nothing we could do but knew that if it stopped it may well be followed by a blow out.

Matthew

[ian]

Tyres seem fine. Noise definitely originating from the rear hub / gear area. Had an epiphany earlier and deduced it was the jockey sprockets. Removed, cleaned and greased them.

Ssssshhhhshhsss sssshhhhhhsssss.

Well, I guess that leaves the freehub thingy. Which is what I thought in the first place. Shop tomorrow, stroppy business voice.

If it ain't that, I genuinely am being haunted by a phantom brake block.

[andym]

weird.

Got any spare wheels (F+R) to swap over to try to isolate it?

My mystery noises 874 and 875 were a click-click-click that turned out to be a chain that was on the verge of letting go in spectacular fashion (325km old), and another click-click-click that turned out to be a few tiny miniscule little stones wedged in the dimples in the nobbly bits of Nobby Nic MTB tyre.  Of course if not pedaling the freewheel ratchet was too noisy, but when pedalling it made it sound like bearings or cassette.

[ian]

weird.

Got any spare wheels (F+R) to swap over to try to isolate it?

My mystery noises 874 and 875 were a click-click-click that turned out to be a chain that was on the verge of letting go in spectacular fashion (325km old), and another click-click-click that turned out to be a few tiny miniscule little stones wedged in the dimples in the nobbly bits of Nobby Nic MTB tyre.  Of course if not pedaling the freewheel ratchet was too noisy, but when pedalling it made it sound like bearings or cassette.

Well, this is a new bike and the sssshhhhssss was always there - I just hadn't ridden it much until lately, and the howling wind out here on the steppes of Croydon tends to mask most noises. And I figured it would just go away after a few miles.

Just in case, I will play swapsy with the road bike wheels, they should fit - also have same cassette and Sora mech. Then I go nag shop monkey. Sometimes I just wish things would break conclusively.

[ian]

The noise eventually won and elected to remain mysterious. Even the mechanic, whilst admitting it was there, could find no explanation nor cure.

New wheel it is, then.

[clarion]

I had a mystery noise from my rear wheel on Monday.  I even stopped and inspected all my spokes before climbing the hill.

I realised it was the strap from my almost empty saddlebag

[peanut]

Tyres seem fine. Noise definitely originating from the rear hub / gear area.
Well, I guess that leaves the freehub thingy. Which is what I thought in the first place. Shop tomorrow, stroppy business voice.

If the noise is there when you are pedalling as well as when you are freewheeling then its unlikely to be the freehub. If there is definitely no part of the tyre touching any part of the bike ,even sneakily when you are not looking, then it has to be to do with the hub. Probably the axle seals as already suggested by 'mucky Mark'  ::-)or the bearings.

What make and model of hub have you got ?

[ian]

Tyres seem fine. Noise definitely originating from the rear hub / gear area.
Well, I guess that leaves the freehub thingy. Which is what I thought in the first place. Shop tomorrow, stroppy business voice.

If the noise is there when you are pedalling as well as when you are freewheeling then its unlikely to be the freehub. If there is definitely no part of the tyre touching any part of the bike ,even sneakily when you are not looking, then it has to be to do with the hub. Probably the axle seals as already suggested by 'mucky Mark'  ::-)or the bearings.



What make and model of hub have you got ?

Hmm, it's fairly standard Shimano hub - usual axle, bearing, cone arrangement, nothing sophisticated. Mechanic didn't reckon freehub either, he rode it and seemed to think something awry with the bearings. But replacing them didn't dissuade the noise from reoccurring, so the final diagnosis was a nonspecific hub-related illness. Probably a rough edge somewhere, either in the axle body or bearing races. Plenty of tyre clearance, that was everyone's first guess.

Anyway, will collect bike and new wheel later, so hopefully the noise has gone with the old wheel. If not, then it may well be a genuine haunting (and when I replaced the wheel with the one off my road bike, it was fine, so I am optimistic that I will shortly be back to my stealthy pedestrian scaring ways).

[rusky]

And??? I got to here & was expecting a life changing answer!

I won't be able to sleep tonight now :-(

I had a strange creaking noise from my commuter when I rocked it against the front brake (checking the headset bearings). Had me going for days until I found it was the D-lock rubbing the frame!

[ian]

And??? I got to here & was expecting a life changing answer!

I won't be able to sleep tonight now :-(

I had a strange creaking noise from my commuter when I rocked it against the front brake (checking the headset bearings). Had me going for days until I found it was the D-lock rubbing the frame!

Well, new wheel did the trick. Now if only it were the same type of wheel, I'd be happy. If I'd wanted a bike with 28 mm rims I've had bought one. Supposed to be skinny.

I suspect I'm getting a reputation as a pain in the rear, but the bike has black r450 19.6 mm rims, so I'd kind of expect any replacement to be very similar in spec and price. It isn't my problem that there's a delay at the suppliers. More palaver.