Wheel Problem Question

[Ti-Boy]

I use an old Mavic K, sl for my winter wheel. The front is true, but when I'm in the drops and not pedaling (downhill) it seems to rub (emits a lound sound). This does not happen when pedaling. Any thoughts?

[Louis]

This sounds totally weird. I can understand if a rear wheel behaves differently if pedaling or not, but not the front. You'd think that the only place a rub could occur on a front wheel would be at the brakes / fork.

Maybe it does make the noise while pedaling, but you just don't hear it? Is it speed related? (you mentioned it happens when going downhill) Maybe it's the location of the CG. When you're in the drops you might be shifting your CG fwd and putting a greater load on the front wheel. Have you taken the wheel off and spun the axle? Tried to shift the wheel back and forth while installed to see if it moves?

Just a few random thoughts.

Louis

[stevep]

try another ft wheel ...just to be sure..
sometimes the origin of noises can be surprising.

[regularguy412]

I read last year that some of the Mavic K-style _REAR_ hubs had a problem with howling. It turned out that the ratchet pawls were harder than the engagement teeth and tended to wear them off, over time, since it took some miles of coasting for the freehub to develop enough wear. This wear resulted in fine metal particles becoming embedded in the nylon bushing (inside) and caused it to wear prematurely, as well. The howling was then caused by the excess free-play developed in the bushing. Unfortunately, there was no mention of the front hubs having this problem.

I was a bit concerned, since I had only recently purchased some used K's from an eBay seller. I've ridden mine over 2,000 miles, now, and, so, far no problems

Mike in AR

[Ti-Boy]

The problem is on the front wheel. No problem with a different wheel. I remain stumped.

[Viper]

Are you related to Ti boi? :confused:

[Ti-Boy]

Are you related to Ti boi? :confused:

Just the same first name. :beer:

[bostondrunk]

I read last year that some of the Mavic K-style _REAR_ hubs had a problem with howling. It turned out that the ratchet pawls were harder than the engagement teeth and tended to wear them off, over time, since it took some miles of coasting for the freehub to develop enough wear. This wear resulted in fine metal particles becoming embedded in the nylon bushing (inside) and caused it to wear prematurely, as well. The howling was then caused by the excess free-play developed in the bushing. Unfortunately, there was no mention of the front hubs having this problem.

I was a bit concerned, since I had only recently purchased some used K's from an eBay seller. I've ridden mine over 2,000 miles, now, and, so, far no problems

Mike in AR

I believe most people fixed the howling noise by re-lubing the inside of the freehub body regularly.
Ti-Boy - try pulling the bearings out, cleaning/lubing them, etc. Or maybe replace them. Maybe when you are pedaling, you are putting slightly less weight on the front wheel, thus no noise?

[dgauthier]

I use an old Mavic K, sl for my winter wheel. The front is true, but when I'm in the drops and not pedaling (downhill) it seems to rub (emits a lound sound). This does not happen when pedaling. Any thoughts?

Have you disassembled the front hub and checked the bearings?

I had an old Mavic Cosmic front wheel that started to make noise. I found that both front bearings had siezed solid, and the axle was spinning against the inner bearing races. The metal-to-metal contact was the source of the noise. (The axle is designed to slip within the inner bearing races -- probably as a safety feature to keep the wheel from locking up completely should the bearings sieze.)

If your hub has a similar construction, perhaps it has a simlar problem. Replacing the bearings solves the issue.

[Ti-Boy]

Turns out that it may not be the wheel after all. Put new wheels on yesterday and the problem returned. Only thing that is somewhat consistent is that the noise happens almost exclusively downhill, drops and coasting. Turning the pedals seems to eliminate the noise.