"Ticking spokes"

[robgul]

Be interested in thoughts and theories please ..

My bikes are stored hanging on hooks (actually the smart pressed-metal things) attached to the wall of my garage - to store more (  ) I have them top-and-tailed closer together.

One bike that I use frequently hangs from the rear wheel (fairly new - probably <1000 miles - from a mid-range Giant road machine) ... when I get on the bike and ride it there's a "ticking noise" that seems to come from the spokes (it's heard with wheel rotation, whether pedalling or not) ... stops after about 3 or 4 miles.

Now, am I imagining this ... or is a some sort of "stretching" that the bike storage is causing that then settles down when the wheel has done some work?  Spokes all feel tight and of even tension.

Rob

[orienteer]

Ticking usually indicates loose or insufficiently tight spokes. Have you checked the tensions immediately after taking the bike off the hook? Wheel could be distorting while hanging, then going back into round while riding.

[Jurek]

I get this from both my last and my current Mavic Ksyriums.
Other than the non drive side, the lacing on both front and rear is radial.
Putting a drop of oil where the spokes cross on the non-drive side seems to stop the ticking. For a while.
The bike doesn't hang.

[Biggsy]

The rim will flex when the bike's hanging, but by only such a tiny amount that it shouldn't cause problems.  Maybe the wheel is already on the brink of being noisy, with it only taking a minute change to make it actually noisy.

I wouldn't stop hanging the bike.  I'd try oiling the eyelets and spoke holes* as well as the crossings, and also bend the spokes to conform to the flange as much as possible, if they're not already optimal.  (Some minor truing may be needed afterwards).

* Sparingly; you don't want oil getting on the inner tube.

[Kim]

Nice bit of Sheldon-style spoke-abuse at the crossings, re-true, repeat until it stays put.  Makes for CrossCountry-dangly-bike-space-proof wheels.

[Feanor]

On my cheep-as-eurobonds wheels ( non-radially spoked ), the rear wheel emits all kinds of ticks and pings under big loads like hard climbing.
<-- Like this.
It's just the wheel flexing in various different modes under power, causing the spokes to move where they cross each other.
I've just learned to ignore it.

Hopefully, my new wheels ( crimbo pressie from Mrs F ) will be a little more rigid under load.

--
Ron

[Crumbling Nick]

I've had clicking on fairly well used wheels, which came from the spoke crossings. Spoke tension was not high & the spokes had worn slight notches at the crossings. I've not had any similar problem with wheels I've built.

The effect of hanging is pretty straighforward. All the metal components will deform or stretch elastically & so immediately recover when you take the bike down (that's what elastic means). This doesn't apply to the joints i.e. spoke/hub, spoke/nipple, nipple/rim & spoke crossings. They are the normal cause of clickings and not a cause for concern. Obviously there could be rare cases where something critical has cracked/broken, but that's outside my experience.