Re: Ticking headset '02 vortex: Bikefanclub.com

Nev:

You need to become a detective because all bikes come up with this occasionally, and the culprit isn't usually the obvious one.

My 04 Vortex started ticking last weekend in the middle of an uphill TT on the right pedal downstroke. The ticking was asymmetrical, so it's gotta be the BB, right pedal, or right crank, right? Except I've got the D/A 7800 crankset, which rarely makes noise.

So I went home and started going through my list - adjusted star nut, lubed steerer & adjusted headset & stem, lubed & checked barrel adjusters, lubed skewers, removed and lubed pedals. All of those things should be done regularly anyway. Found a slightly loose hub on my front wheel, tightened it.

Changed shoes to insure it wasn't the cleats. Went out for a test ride. No change. AAAAAARGH!

Came back to the driveway and did the quick-S-turn thing, like you did. Beeeeg noise.

Changed wheels. Eureka! I've got a blown front hub in my piece-of-sh*t Spinergy Xaeros, which Spinergy doesn't support and for which my LBS can't get parts because the people at Spinergy are useless diabolical sons of whores. So into the trash can the Spinergys go, thus ridding me of one of the truly BAD decisions I've made on bike parts.

Bike is now silent wearing my trusty old American Classic Deep-V's.

A friend got a new Ghisallo w D/A 10 spd this month. It ticked. He called me a couple of times asking me about the D/A 10 spd crankset, because at 210 lbs I'm the team crash test dummy, and I told him my D/A 10 cranksets have never made a peep, so it's gotta be something else. This guy is a GREAT wrench, so he systematically replaced everything on the bike. Pedals, stem, headset, handlebars, wheels, skewers, shoes, barrel adjusters. No improvement. He was ready to throw the whole thing in the trash. Then he replaced the BB and cranks with an old, known-good Ultegra BB and crankset. No change! Was the frame itself cracked or something? FINALLY, he found the culprit. The noise was coming from the little plastic cable guide thingie bolted onto the frame under the BB! THAT'S a new one!

A while ago I had a big squeal coming from the headset of my Serotta Legend. After futzing with everything on the front of the bike for a few weeks, I finally decided it MUST be the headset itself. Except the headset is a Chris King. What are you going to replace a Chris King headset with, because CK headsets are already is the undisputed world champion. Finally, a teammate riding next to me made a suggestion, and he was right. The front cable housings had been cut on a slight angle, and they were scraping the inside of the barrel adjusters! I took the cables apart and epoxied cable cups onto the ends of the cable housings, and EUREKA! My Legend was finally silent, and remains so.

It would be cool if someone could invent a small, battery-operated dB meter you could duct-tape to your bike in various places to diagnose these problems, so as to scientifically determine from where ticks & squeaks are emanating.

One thing is for sure, and that is if you ride a lot, your bike will periodically develop ticks & squeaks.

--------------------
"I haven't failed. I've just managed to find 100,000 ways that don't work"

--Albert Einstein

Post Extras