Clack of doom

[Andydauddwr]

We rode a 200km Audax on Saturday and had a perpetual clicking noise from the rear of the Santana.  It was present when freewheeling, so isn't gear related.  I took a close look at the wheel yesterday, and established that the cones are correctly tightened and the bearing silky smooth.  There was a lot of crud in the mudguard, but we hacked this out and went on a test ride to find the noise still there.  The spokes are all tight, and although the wheel is a little out of true, it's not contacting with the brake blocks, in fact yesterday we tested it with the Vee brake disconnected and still no joy.  The disc rotor is perfectly true.  Unlaiden and upside down, the wheel runs free and silent.  Computer magnet and sensor have also been eliminated.

Any thoughts?  I think this may be slowing us down too as the ride on Saturday was a lot harder than it should have been.

AC

[Julian]

My perpetual clicking turned out to be a loose mudguard, which allowed the wheel to run free and silent when upside down, but under my weight was moving just enough to tap against the wheel.

[eck]

Or something stuck in the tyre? 

[dasmoth]

A long shot, but... have you changed the tyre recently?

I once had some really odd noises coming from a piece of cellophane covering the transfers on the side of a new Pasela TG.  No problem when new, but after ~50miles it was starting to work loose and made a worrying sound every time it hit the low spot -- but only when I was sitting on the bike.  Hard to track down, but easy to fix  .

[Wowbagger]

That reminds me of a FNRttC last year. One of Simon L3's friends, Bridgit, had an unidentified noise once per revolution which turned out to be a piece of tread which had come adrift and only happened if she was going fast enough for the centrifugal force to make it come away a bit and catch on the mudguard.

[clarion]

Have you got your keys in your pocket?

Laces on your cycling shoes?

  Funny but likely...

[thing1]

Have you got your keys in your pocket?

Laces on your cycling shoes?

  Funny but likely...

Presumably wouldn't happen when freewheeling then though?

I had one just like this once. Turned out to be my foot catching on a bit of cable tie for the rear light. *Impossible* to track down inspecting the bike when not actually sat on it!

I think I had the label coming off a Panaracer tyre thing before too.

[Andydauddwr]

Thanks for the thoughts all.

Tyres were replaced mid-August and we've done 1000km or so since then.  There are no labels and the noise only manifested in the last 3-400km of riding.

I'll get Jasmine to look the tyre over for flints etc (she has the tandem at the moment).

I think we probably ought to try elimination next.  E.g. run it sans stoker, take the guard off...

AC

[RichMoss]

It isn't something simple like a loose nut on the inner tube valve stem is it?

[harrumph]

You could try a little bit of oil on each spoke crossing?

Can't do any harm, and might just result in silence and peace of mind (it worked once for me).

[Ariadne]

How spooky - I had to stop on Saturday, complaining of this noise, this tick tock, that was driving me nuts.... and yes, it was the bit of cellophane off a new Pasela. They should come with a warning

But that's no help to Andy!

It's not - you wouldn't have a computer rigged up to the back, by any chance? Corvine's road bike gives a little noise with every revolution as the magnet passes the sensor, though they definitely don't touch. But I suppose that would still happen when unloaded.

Good luck finding the cause, anyway!

[Si]

Last time I had a click-click-click, whether pedalling or not, it preceded the frame breaking in half 

Probably worth you giving it a once over for cracks just in case - although I'm sure that in your case it'll be something else.

[Jasmine]

I finally got round to dragging the tandem up 3 flights of stairs into my flat.  There doesn't appear to be anthing on the rear wheel and the valve is relatively tight.

I might take the rear guard off the see if that makes a difference. The current tyres are fatter than the previous ones, so I wonder if the clearance is just a shade too small.