Creaky Rear Wheel - HELP!

[GregL]

I've got a noisy rear wheel that's driving me crazy! Whenever I stand up to accelerate or climb, I get a creaking noise from the rear wheel. I believe that it's coming from the spoke crossings, but I can't be sure. Here's the wheel build data and what I've done so far to try to eliminate the noise:

- 105 5500 freehub, DT 14/15/14 spokes, brass nipples, 32 spoke, three-cross, inside pulling spokes, NOS Matrix Titan II rims.

- Handbuilt by me, all eyelets lubricated prior to build, all spoke tensions checked by Park tensiometer, perfectly true.

- I have swapped other rear wheels on the bike to isolate the noise to this particular wheel.

- I have swapped skewers, but noise remains.

- I have swapped cassettes, but the noise remains.

- I have lubed the spoke crossings with a dry teflon lube and a chain wax lube. It appears to lessen the noise for a short time, but then the creak comes back loud and clear.

I've been building my own wheels for years. This is the first time I've had a noise that I can't eliminate. I hate to consign an otherwise good set of wheels to trainer use, but I can't stand the creaky noise on the road. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears (or in the case of internet postings, eyes...).

Thanks,
Greg

[Ginger]

Did you check the rim closely for cracks?

[mpetry]

I have had a couple of Mavic Open Pros that do the same thing. Drives you nuts. Bad enough that they come with the spoke hole punch-outs still in the rim, but the creaking at the joint is enough to put me off Mavic rims forever.

No fix that I can think of - short of rebuilding, absolutely the only "hail mary" fix I can think of is to heat some expoxy and flow it into the rim joint.

Good luck

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA

[pdxmech13]

my best guess would be were the rim is joined.
try different tensions on the spokes.
sometimes a little higher or a little lower can help.

[PaulE]

I have the same problem with my rear wheel. When the noise starts, it's like a duck quacking. My wheel consists of the following:
Velocity Aerohead offset rim
White Industries Road Hub, Shimano, 32 spokes
Sapim spokes non-drive side, Wheelsmith spokes drive side
3X pattern
brass nipples
spoke hole plugs

At the Giro del Toga, Smiley suggested the spokes needed to be re-tensioned. I had that done and it didn't help. My noise happens standing or seated, usually when climbing and other times as well. I also think I've isolated the noise to the wheel by swapping wheels. Interestingly, the noise is much louder when this wheel is on my Legend than it is when it's on my CSI. I've also tried lubing the spokes where they cross, lubing the spoke holes from the outside of the rim, swapping a rim strip for the spoke hole plugs.

My latest theory is that the extra piece of aluminum inside the rim where the rim is welded is not 100% attached to the rest of the rim, causing this maddening noise, which comes and goes.

[hypnos]

It is always something with these darn bikes! :crap:

[Too Tall]

It is always something with these darn bikes! :crap:
I thought we were talking about hot rods???

[regularguy412]

-- how many miles are on all these creaky rims. My rear Mavic Reflex clincher on DT 14/15's, brass nipples and Ultegra hub started doing a double creak regardless if I was pedaling or not. It didn't matter if I was standing or sitting. This was after about 30,000 miles. The wheels were originally built by Colorado Cyclist and had never needed truing. I gave up trying to find the cause of the creak. I figured it was parts inside the hub shell finally giving up the ghost, after all those miles.

If your wheel has lotsa miles, I'd say it has served its purpose well.

Mike in AR

[mosca]

I'm gonna say the ratchet mechanism needs lubrication. Worth checking if you haven't already.

[39cross]

I have an Open Pro rim that began creaking last year after I was hit by another cyclist at a stop sign, who ran into my rear wheel and popped a couple spokes. After getting the spokes replaced the wheel started creaking. It turned out one of the eyelets had cracked. Eventually I guess the eyelet fell out. This year I've put above 1000 miles on this wheel and it's not creaked once. Maybe one of your eyelets is problematic, it's probably worth a look if you haven't examined them.

[GregL]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I'm leaning toward the problem being in the rim joint. Here are some more data points based on questions some have asked:

- The wheel has no more than 2,000 road miles plus some winter trainer time.

- The hub was completely re-built recently with new ball bearings and the freehub mechanism flushed and re-lubed.

Thanks,
Greg

[jamesd]

How about a loose cassette lockring?

[PaulE]

when you've had something that's given you long service it's just time to replace it and be happy. In my case the wheel has way less than 2,000 miles, was built up from all brand new components and the noise has been there (coming and going) from the beginning.

cassette and cassette ring are brand new and have been installed with a torque wrench at 50NM.

[labratmatt]

Greg,

I've experienced problems as you've described, and as previously mentioned, often times these issues can be cured by adjusting the spoke tension. I'll usually increase the tension by 1/4 nipple turn at first. If that seems to help, maybe increase a bit more unless the tension is getting very high.

[Orin]

Ginger already beat me to this with a suggestion to check the rim for cracks... so this is a +1 to Ginger's suggestion.

When I had a rear Open Pro creak, it was cracking around the eyelets. That wheel had the tightest spokes I've ever seen.

Orin.

[soulspinner]

My OP made weird noises and it had lots miles on it. Try putting a small amount of lube on each eyelet. It worked for me for a while but eventually I replaced em. Ginger is right, check for damage first, cleaning beforehand so you can see well, some cracks in rims I have barely been able to see.