Creaky back wheel. Any tips to silence the bleeder...

trail-blazer

Retro Guru
Last few rides out on my old road bike I noticed an annoying creak, not excessively loud but annoying all the same. 99% of the time it would only do it under load. I tried a few things to silence it starting with greasing the saddle rails, checking the BB shell wasn't dry, I changed the pedals and it was still there.

Anyway my next step was to swap the wheel over for a modern one and the bike runs silent again so the wheel was the issue all along. The wheel is a Rigida rim with a Shimano Exage hub, nowt special but it matches the front and is in good nick with low usage. The hub/freehub is in good condition, is adequately greased and has no play so I'm putting it down to the spokes. I had another noisy wheel which I silenced by dropping some oil where the spokes cross each other but this one isn't playing ball.

The wheel was trued earlier this year and was fine so I'm at a loss. Spoke tension isn't massively tight though. :? Is it worth oiling the spokes at the hub and the spoke nipples to see if that helps?
 
Re: Re:

Excel":2ktyniw8 said:
99% sure it's most likely the spoke tension....get them checked


Griff

Yeah, I've dripped a bit of oil on the parts I mentioned earlier. Gave it a go but I doubt it will do anything, no harm trying I suppose. :?

Going to use another bike shop this time around. (truing wheels is definitely not my forte) The wheel was true when I got it back but the tension probably wasn't quite right going off what everyone is saying. I probably only used the bike for less than a dozen leisurely rides since I got it back so not terribly impressed.

The first time I detected a noise, I just put it down to my Time ATAC pedals as the springs can sometimes make a little noise. After playing around with them I moved on to the other parts mentioned before switching wheels over.

At least I know the frame and BB are sound anyway after trying a newer wheel on the bike and experiencing silent running. (well, almost silent - the 9 speed cassette was quite audible when used with that bikes 7 speed chain :LOL: )
 
Just had a quick ride up the street and back and the wheel is pretty much silent now apart from a little drivetrain buzz. :facepalm: :LOL: Oiling those areas I listed has shut the creak up for now but I'll definitely get the tension checked at some point.

I had already done the points where the spokes cross over and that didn't fix it so it was either the spokes at the hub or the nipples/eyelets that were the problem. The inner part of the eyelet and the rear of the nipple were all pretty dry with surface rust so I used some 3 in 1 oil there and then dropped some of that waxy dry-lube down the upper surface of the eyelet and again where the spokes touch each other.
 
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