anyone with Specialized Future Shock bike hearing a rattle?

[eddief]

I do. Wondering if you do and what ya think?

[CSTRider]

None from my 2019 Diverge Comp ... what are you riding?

[Likes2ridefar]

I get some fun noises from my Roubaix future shock but it’s not rattling. It’s more a nasty creak and seems to get worse the hotter it gets here in arizona.

I get the noise when dropping off curbs or going over speed bumps. Otherwise silent..think of it like an up and over the obstacle and then the bike rights itself and continues on its journey...there is the noise!

[eddief]

I have asked a bunch o people in my club who ride Roubaix. a few say yes to rattle, some say no. makes me wonder if they simply accept the noise i hear as a rattle. Shop has triple checked all specs = headset, grease, internal cable padding, junction box in bb, stack preload, AND replaced the FS with a warranty exchange unit. I still hear the rattle which seems to happen most due to sharp knocks on the front end over perpendicular road cracks. love the bike...otherwise.

[charliedid]

I have asked a bunch o people in my club who ride Roubaix. a few say yes to rattle, some say no. makes me wonder if they simply accept the noise i hear as a rattle. Shop has triple checked all specs = headset, grease, internal cable padding, junction box in bb, stack preload, AND replaced the FS with a warranty exchange unit. I still hear the rattle which seems to happen most due to sharp knocks on the front end over perpendicular road cracks. love the bike...otherwise.

Cables banging around hitting the frame maybe? Try a different wheel?

[cmbicycles]

Can you replicate it by dropping the front wheel against the floor/ground, or does it just happen when riding?

[eddief]

Nearly 100% it is the FS. I put a wrap of bar tape around the rubber boot and then wrapped that tightly with electrical tape and the rattle goes away. So either I am preventing the rattle by doing that or the tape is providing insulation so I don't hear the rattle.

[charliedid]

Nearly 100% it is the FS. I put a wrap of bar tape around the rubber boot and then wrapped that tightly with electrical tape and the rattle goes away. So either I am preventing the rattle by doing that or the tape is providing insulation so I don't hear the rattle.

Bummer.

You need a bike whisperer

[charliedid]

You certain it's not the internal cabling making a racket?

[eddief]

You certain it's not the internal cabling making a racket?

Not sure why cable noise would be alleviated by taping the FS boot?

Here's what the shop did.


checked rotor and tightened lockring about 1/8 of a turn
checked end caps for front wheel - ok
checked front wheel spoke tension, it is good but wheel needed a tiny true.
Completely removed the headset and fork. Lower bearing was dry, crown race was almost dry. Cleaned it all up and re-installed with new grease. Adjusted headset, torqued to spec.
When the headset was removed I cycled the Future Shock and listened for noises. The stanchion has a sliding motion associated with it but I do not hear that when riding, only when forcing it and applying pressure from a side-ways motion instead of just up and down. Tech at Specialized recommended removing carbon paste and checking, no difference. Used grease instead of carbon paste, no difference. Bottom of cartridge is dry as recommended by Specialized.
Attempted to "sleeve" the front brake hose with foam to prevent any noise from the brake line vs. fork but couldn't get anything through the small opening.
Removed the junction box from the bottom bracket and installed a foam sleeve over the down tube Di2 cable. When installing back in the frame I wound them tightly and inserted so that all wires are held against the rubber cover on the bottom bracket hopefully alleviating any noise that might make.
Test rode bike with no plastic cap for the headset, no difference.
Checked brake pads, they have the normal amount of movement inside the caliper body.

[charliedid]

Not sure why cable noise would be alleviated by taping the FS boot?

Here's what the shop did.


checked rotor and tightened lockring about 1/8 of a turn
checked end caps for front wheel - ok
checked front wheel spoke tension, it is good but wheel needed a tiny true.
Completely removed the headset and fork. Lower bearing was dry, crown race was almost dry. Cleaned it all up and re-installed with new grease. Adjusted headset, torqued to spec.
When the headset was removed I cycled the Future Shock and listened for noises. The stanchion has a sliding motion associated with it but I do not hear that when riding, only when forcing it and applying pressure from a side-ways motion instead of just up and down. Tech at Specialized recommended removing carbon paste and checking, no difference. Used grease instead of carbon paste, no difference. Bottom of cartridge is dry as recommended by Specialized.
Attempted to "sleeve" the front brake hose with foam to prevent any noise from the brake line vs. fork but couldn't get anything through the small opening.
Removed the junction box from the bottom bracket and installed a foam sleeve over the down tube Di2 cable. When installing back in the frame I wound them tightly and inserted so that all wires are held against the rubber cover on the bottom bracket hopefully alleviating any noise that might make.
Test rode bike with no plastic cap for the headset, no difference.
Checked brake pads, they have the normal amount of movement inside the caliper body.

Well, alright then.

I'm stumped ;-)

Have you reached out to Specialized Corp? If you know others with same problem it might get their attention?

Know any really good independent mechanics that could take a look?

I wish you luck.

[dddd]

Can you replicate it by dropping the front wheel against the floor/ground, or does it just happen when riding?

Yes, the loud "crack" noise is always present when dropping the front wheel from above a certain height.

I did just about all of the things that eddief's shop performed and it made no discernible difference in the loud "crack" noise, though the overall creaking noise from the front end was somewhat muted by greasing the headset bearings.

I am intrigued by eddief's remedy of wrapping the boot on the FS. I am tempted to get inside of the unit to install a top-out bumper if possible, but it is not my bike and I don't have it here now.
Even easier would be to shorten the spring, and I have a set of these to play with. The bike's owner is a petite female and I have suspected this might be causing frequent top-out while she is riding on rougher roads at speed. She is competitive and has described the noise as being associated with some kind of "vibration" felt at the handlebar.
She also mentioned that it didn't do this when new. Her bike is a year and a half old.

I fooled around with the front brake hose and am convinced that the noise doesn't originate there.
I tried it with the brake pads removed and the overall clatter did seem significantly reduced.
The initial testing pointed to the front hub area, but a wheel swap didn't help.

[hobbanero]

I had a rattle and it was the top cap cover. I have changed FS units a couple of times, and on some it does not tighten down well on that top cap, and so the top cap rattles. You can fix it with a bit of tape, or loosen up the 4mm by the side of the top cap and push down slightly on the bars, then tighten it up again.

I am guessing the tape you put on the boot may have put enough pressure on the top cap to quiet it.

[eddief]

the cap at very top is cosmetic and does nothing. the funny looking cover just above the top tube is prone to vibration but I have by hand preloaded the entire stack including funny cover, spacers, and stem.

I had a rattle and it was the top cap cover. I have changed FS units a couple of times, and on some it does not tighten down well on that top cap, and so the top cap rattles. You can fix it with a bit of tape, or loosen up the 4mm by the side of the top cap and push down slightly on the bars, then tighten it up again.

I am guessing the tape you put on the boot may have put enough pressure on the top cap to quiet it.

[eddief]

i did a test ride the day i picked up the bike after i bought it. heard the rattle that day immediately. said that when i went back into the shop after that ride. they picked up the front of the bike and dropped on the floor and THEY heard no noise and neither did I. It's been rattling ever since. There's a lot a different factors of bounce and parts and springs and bearings going on in the FS and it seems they could be vibrating at different frequencies and hard to determine which is which.

Yes, the loud "crack" noise is always present when dropping the front wheel from above a certain height.

I did just about all of the things that eddief's shop performed and it made no discernible difference in the loud "crack" noise, though the overall creaking noise from the front end was somewhat muted by greasing the headset bearings.

I am intrigued by eddief's remedy of wrapping the boot on the FS. I am tempted to get inside of the unit to install a top-out bumper if possible, but it is not my bike and I don't have it here now.
Even easier would be to shorten the spring, and I have a set of these to play with. The bike's owner is a petite female and I have suspected this might be causing frequent top-out while she is riding on rougher roads at speed. She is competitive and has described the noise as being associated with some kind of "vibration" felt at the handlebar.
She also mentioned that it didn't do this when new. Her bike is a year and a half old.

I fooled around with the front brake hose and am convinced that the noise doesn't originate there.
I tried it with the brake pads removed and the overall clatter did seem significantly reduced.
The initial testing pointed to the front hub area, but a wheel swap didn't help.

[parris]

I don't know anything about the FS other than what many of us have read and seen. Could there be tolerance stacking throughout the system that may be contributing?

[eddief]

one crappy tolerance part on top of another?

I don't know anything about the FS other than what many of us have read and seen. Could there be tolerance stacking throughout the system that may be contributing?

[yinzerniner]

i did a test ride the day i picked up the bike after i bought it. heard the rattle that day immediately. said that when i went back into the shop after that ride. they picked up the front of the bike and dropped on the floor and THEY heard no noise and neither did I. It's been rattling ever since. There's a lot a different factors of bounce and parts and springs and bearing going on in the FS and it seems they could be vibrating at different frequencies and hard to determine which is which.

Would bet anything the rattling is coming from the plastic cap as mentioned before. In the video below at 0:54 you can see the presenter remove the cap, which is there for hiding the Future Shock clamp while also creating integrated spacers instead of slide-on spacers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpLKPsoNAJo

I bet if you use a few layers of electrical tape and or a small portion of bar tape to take up the space between the cap and the top tube/head tube junction the rattling will be gone.

I had a similar experience with a PTAC unit that used to drive me nuts. At a certain running condition and fin angle the louvers would rattle really loud. Had to put in a little wedge of magic eraser to stop it.

[parris]

Tolerance stacking is when a set of parts are within manufacturing limits but either on the big or small end of things. If there's a number of parts involved all at one side or another of an acceptable range by the time everything's put together the end piece will be out of spec.

[eddief]

I am preloading by pressing down on the FS on top of that funny cap and the headset spacers and then torquing the set nut for the FS. There is really no play in the stack. You can turn the steerer in one direction and get your thumb and index finger to grab that cap and wiggle it up and down and there is no play.

Now that does not mean somehow putting some tape under the cap and on top of the clamp that is right under it might not pad the stack in way no one has yet to try.



Would bet anything the rattling is coming from the plastic cap as mentioned before. In the video below at 0:54 you can see the presenter remove the cap, which is there for hiding the Future Shock clamp while also creating integrated spacers instead of slide-on spacers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpLKPsoNAJo

I bet if you use a few layers of electrical tape and or a small portion of bar tape to take up the space between the cap and the top tube/head tube junction the rattling will be gone.

I had a similar experience with a PTAC unit that used to drive me nuts. At a certain running condition and fin angle the louvers would rattle really loud. Had to put in a little wedge of magic eraser to stop it.

[eddief]

you gave me an idea. I made two "o-rings" or rubber bands by cutting a bike inner tube crossways. I stretched one over the circumference of the FS and above the funny cap and one below the funny cap so now the cap is isolated from what's above it and below it. Will give it a shot on our crap roads tomorrow.

Would bet anything the rattling is coming from the plastic cap as mentioned before. In the video below at 0:54 you can see the presenter remove the cap, which is there for hiding the Future Shock clamp while also creating integrated spacers instead of slide-on spacers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpLKPsoNAJo

I bet if you use a few layers of electrical tape and or a small portion of bar tape to take up the space between the cap and the top tube/head tube junction the rattling will be gone.

I had a similar experience with a PTAC unit that used to drive me nuts. At a certain running condition and fin angle the louvers would rattle really loud. Had to put in a little wedge of magic eraser to stop it.

[charliedid]

I think you all are on to something.

[eddief]

the o-ring idea may have solved the rattle problem. need one more ride after today's boneshaker to be sure. if yes, then the forum member who provided the hint to do this deserves my/our praise. will confirm in a few days.

[hobbanero]

the cap at very top is cosmetic and does nothing. the funny looking cover just above the top tube is prone to vibration but I have by hand preloaded the entire stack including funny cover, spacers, and stem.

Sorry....by top cap I meant the plastic piece below the stem