Creaking Spokes

[Bike Mob]

Does anyone out there know, maybe JB as he builds wheels, what to do about spokes that rub together and creak?

My rear wheel creaks when I'm out of the saddle, If I lube up the areas the spokes cross the sound is gone, but the lube dries out and it returns.

 

The wheel was recently re-built with new spokes (round DT Swiss) but I've done aound 300km on them already. My front wheel creaked a little when it was newly built but only took 2 days to bed in.

 

What are my options?

 

Lube?

Install a plastic shim/buffer...?

Lockwire the spoke cross so it doesnt move?

 

It's driving me crazy.

 

[Billy Goat]

It may be that your wheels need a little more tension now that the spokes have seated in . Was the wheel built useing a tension gauge , to ensure even spoke tension ?  Noises on bikes are very tricky to sort out its often a process of elimination. A very common source of noises on wheels is the quick release skewer , if not tightened suficiently they can cause alot of creaking and cracking.

 

 

[Johan Bornman]

Spokes don't as a rule creak at the crossing. Something else is wrong here. The fact that you solve the problem with oil may shed some light on the issue. Was the wheel built with old rims? Old rims may have eyelets that rust and rust creaks. I suspect some of your oil runs down into the eyelets and solves the creaking problem until the first wash.

 

If I'm way off with this guess, something else is happening here. I've never experienced a creaking noise emanating from spoke crossings and I can't see how this could happen unless you have used some zinc-plated spokes??? Hardly likely.

 

Are you sure it is the wheel? Have you used another wheel to see if the sound disappears?

 

Tying and soldering the crossings is one way of confirming your theory but I don't think you want to go to the trouble, expense and uglyness just to see if that was the problem.

 

Spokes on a properly designed wheel don't move mrelative to each other at crossings, otherwise we would have seen notches develop at these crossings and we dont.

 

We need more info, something strange is going on here.

 

[Johan Bornman]

It may be that your wheels need a little more tension now that the spokes have seated in . Was the wheel built useing a tension gauge ' date=' to ensure even spoke tension ?  Noises on bikes are very tricky to sort out its often a process of elimination. A very common source of noises on wheels is the quick release skewer , if not tightened suficiently they can cause alot of creaking and cracking.

 

 

[/quote']

 

A tension gauge is useless here. A wheel with spokes in even tension cannot be round and conversely, a round wheel never has even spoke tension. This is because rims are not uniform. The extrusion is not perfect and the rim has one weak point (the valve hole) and one strong point (the join. At these points the spoke tension is visible different from the rest to compensate for the various strong/weak spots in the rim. To complicate things further, rims aren't round either and have to be pulled round. This again creates spots with uneven tension.

 

 

[Oiltrash]

Johann..Would this not only be able to happen if the rim shape is changing...could this not happen if some of the spoke tensions are too loose and they begin to have some play?

 

 

 

[Speedi]

I had the same problem! Take Q20, drip it in between the spokes, it will help!

[Speedi]

Spokes don't as a rule creak at the crossing. Something else is wrong here. The fact that you solve the problem with oil may shed some light on the issue. Was the wheel built with old rims? Old rims may have eyelets that rust and rust creaks. I suspect some of your oil runs down into the eyelets and solves the creaking problem until the first wash.

 

?

 

If I'm way off with this guess' date=' something else is happening here. I've never experienced a creaking noise emanating from spoke crossings and I can't see how this could happen unless you have used some zinc-plated spokes??? Hardly likely.

 

?

 

Are you sure it is the wheel? Have you used another wheel to see if the sound disappears?

 

?

 

Tying and soldering the crossings is one way of confirming your theory but I don't think you want to go to the trouble, expense and uglyness just to see if that was the problem.

 

?

 

Spokes on a properly designed wheel don't move mrelative to each other at crossings, otherwise we would have seen notches develop at these crossings and we dont.

 

?

 

We need?more info, something strange is?going on?here.

 

?

[/quote']

 

 

 

 

 

Well i had a creak in my bike, eventually found it was coming from the wheels. Then determined it was the spokes. Used Q20 and never heard another creak...Just my personal experience!

[Johan Bornman]

Johann..Would this not only be able to happen if the rim shape is changing...could this not happen if some of the spoke tensions are too loose and they begin to have some play?

 

  

 

A rim does change shape as the wheel turns. It deforms just like a car tyre with a flat bit at the bottom. Unfortunately the magnitude is too small to notice, being less than 0,5m of deformation for a box section rim and considerably less for deep sections.

 

Therefore, on a wheel with say 3X lacing, the two crossed spokes are technically both in and out of the deformation zone and thus has to slide over each other.

 

However, spokes being smooth stainless steel don't make a noise during this slide. Yet, it seems to me that you guys have made some credible observations with a plausible remedy and I have to accept that spoke creak happens.

 

Are these perhaps black spokes - having a more textured surface than silver ones?  In dirt, rain and the dry I have not come across this phenomena on my bikes and I'm keen to discover why and under what circumstances this happens.