New Road Bike- creaking/pinging noise from spokes?

New Road Bike- creaking/pinging noise from spokes?

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Discussion

R1gtr

Original Poster:

3,423 posts

153 months

Monday 14th April 2014
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Hi folks,
Purchased a new Cube Agree GTC race road bike and in last few weeks covered about 150 miles so far (building up the bike legs)

Got a ride planned for tomorrow morning and had a wee spin round the block after washing it and noticed there is a pinging creaking noise coming from the spokes I think.

Is this anything to worry about? Got a few steep 60kmh+ descents on the route so dont want the wheel collapsing under braking!

The wheels are Easton EA50 Aero if that helps?

Dizeee

18,166 posts

205 months

Monday 14th April 2014
quotequote all
Cheap wheels made of cheese. Upgrade asap.

Dizeee

18,166 posts

205 months

Monday 14th April 2014
quotequote all
Cheap wheels made of cheese. Upgrade asap.

Jimbo.

3,941 posts

188 months

Monday 14th April 2014
quotequote all
If you're going to be funny, try not to sound too much like a cock...

OP: creaking/pinging would normally be the wheels/spokes "bedding in". 150 miles is towards the longer amount of time I'd expect it to happen for, but then again, there're umpteen million variables. It should quieten down soon.

If you're worried, whip it back to the shop and ask them to give the wheels a going over with the spoke key. For a new bike, they should do this FOC or at least for a Belgian bun...

Edited by Jimbo. on Monday 14th April 21:29

z4chris99

11,218 posts

178 months

Monday 14th April 2014
quotequote all
you'll need to upgrade them to deep aero wheels made from carbonised virgins pubes

R1gtr

Original Poster:

3,423 posts

153 months

Monday 14th April 2014
quotequote all
Thanks Jimbo, bought the bike online and put it together myself so was bit worried I might have done something wrong. Thought it may just be bedding in but didn't want to chance it as hoping to take a K.O.M on a Strava downhill stretch I am currently 3rd on.

Had visions of the wheel falling to bits under hard braking.

Wheels may be updated at a later date but at the moment my fitness is the limiting factor not the wheels.

47p2

1,502 posts

160 months

Monday 14th April 2014
quotequote all
I would not expect the hubs/spokes to be pinging at 150 miles, it usually only happens for the first few hundred yards or thereabouts. If when you washed the bike water was splashed/poured/sprayed onto the hub area it is possible that the pinging could be caused due to the water drying out and leaving a little bit of corrosion between the hub holes and the spokes ends. Nothing to worry about, just check all spokes are tight and the wheel is running true

NorthDave

2,355 posts

231 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
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I had that with some Eastons and the pinging quickly evolved in to spokes snapping. I could never get on with them and got rid in the end. I am quote heavy though.

I eventually got some built by the local bike shop and have had no problems since. The bike shop always struggled to repair properly, something to do with Easton spokes being heavily tensioned?

TwistingMyMelon

6,385 posts

204 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
quotequote all
Dizeee said:
Cheap wheels made of cheese. Upgrade asap.
Blimey its still a £900 bike, the wheels should be perfectly usable for a couple of years, few thousand miles. Its worth upgradeing, but they should be perfectly usable, especially so when your fitness is developing.

OP, what pressures are you running on the tyres and how heavy are you?

I would put a couple of miles on it and see if the pinging is still there, if you are worried phone up the supplier, sounds like they are quite highly tensioned

Dizeee

18,166 posts

205 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
quotequote all
My bianchis oe wheels and a friends cube which had eastons fitted both suffered constant spoke snaps and general wheel failure from new. I wouldn't trust any cheap oe wheels. Its the way it is now with new bikes you still have to buy decent wheels

Justin S

3,637 posts

260 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
quotequote all
I have EA30's on my Cube and had constant spokes loosening on the rear. Its a problem which is well recorded. Some have been offered upgraded wheels from Cube in exchange allegedly. I just undid them all and put a bit of threadlock on the the threads, retrued and has been fine since.

R1gtr

Original Poster:

3,423 posts

153 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
quotequote all
TwistingMyMelon said:
Blimey its still a £900 bike, the wheels should be perfectly usable for a couple of years, few thousand miles. Its worth upgradeing, but they should be perfectly usable, especially so when your fitness is developing.

OP, what pressures are you running on the tyres and how heavy are you?
The RRP for the bike is 1600 (cheap compared to some on here)so bit gutted the wheels are rubbish, didn't expect to need to upgrade something so soon.
I am 70kg and the pressures are 105, they were extremely noisy at the start of the ride but quietened down a bit towards the end, they did creak a fair bit on downhill sections which was disconcerting when travelling at 45mph

Should I contact the company I bought the bike from or Cube direct?

z4chris99

11,218 posts

178 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
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I have a pair of cheapy wheels - done 2000km plus without a puncture or bring touched, or cleaned...

your wheels are fine, get riding

Dizeee

18,166 posts

205 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
quotequote all
Justin S said:
I have EA30's on my Cube and had constant spokes loosening on the rear. Its a problem which is well recorded. Some have been offered upgraded wheels from Cube in exchange allegedly. I just undid them all and put a bit of threadlock on the the threads, retrued and has been fine since.
I think thats what my friend has, EA30's. It came with a Cube Aerium. The spokes literally snapped every month or so, and after around 6 of them he got so hacked off he ended up getting the wheels properly re tensioned under warranty and also bought a new set to replace them with and use the Eastons as spares.

My Bianchi's oe wheels popped three spokes in around 3 months, another replacement under warranty to Mavics. It's terrible really but true of today's cost cutting nature.

bigdom

2,072 posts

144 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
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I believe it has as much to do with the constant drive to save 20g, spokes are thinner, and numbers are reduced, so something gives. There was a time when they only came in 32 or 36.

Dammit

3,790 posts

207 months

Tuesday 15th April 2014
quotequote all
28 rear/24 front are fine if you're not a "naturally gifted descender", just as long as they are built well.

Factory built wheels at the lower end of the market will generally benefit from being de-tensioned and then re-tensioned by a good mechanic after you've put the first few miles on them.

Something like Velocity A23 (or H+Son Archetype) to Ultegra hubs with decent double butted spokes, built by a decent wheelbuilder, will make a big difference to the feel of the bike, worth looking at when next you have the itch to buy the bike a present.

timnoyce

413 posts

180 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Dizeee said:
My bianchis oe wheels and a friends cube which had eastons fitted both suffered constant spoke snaps and general wheel failure from new. I wouldn't trust any cheap oe wheels. Its the way it is now with new bikes you still have to buy decent wheels
Are you for real? I ride a bog standard Trek 1.2 which has nondescript Bontrager wheels on it, I've ridden it at least 3 times a week, every week for the last 18 months for my 35mile round trip commute. I've stripped and re-greased the cup and cone bearings once, and I did give some nipples a tweak (oo eerr) after a month or so just to take out any bedding in slack. They are still round and I haven't broken any of the 24 spokes at each end (24 spokes doesn't seem like enough... but they're all still there so will go with it).

Why is it that people buy an expensive bike, and then instantly replace the wheels with something 'decent'. It's marketing related and it is bullst. Buy a bike and ride it, replace them when they wear out. If they 'fall apart' then complain to where you bought it as they are not fit for purpose. If £900 bikes weren't supposed to be ridden out the box with the standard wheels they wouldn't be supplied with them.

upsidedownmark

2,120 posts

134 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
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R1gtr said:
The RRP for the bike is 1600 (cheap compared to some on here)so bit gutted the wheels are rubbish, didn't expect to need to upgrade something so soon.
I am 70kg and the pressures are 105, they were extremely noisy at the start of the ride but quietened down a bit towards the end, they did creak a fair bit on downhill sections which was disconcerting when travelling at 45mph

Should I contact the company I bought the bike from or Cube direct?
Frankly, I don't believe the wheels are rubbish, or need upgrading. I'm still running 5 year old 'cheap sh*t' wheels as my winter wheels, no problems. Some people seem to break stuff, others not so much. If they're creaking and pinging, take them back to the shop. If it's a decent bike shop (not evans etc), they can re-tension them - hopefully free of charge. If not it should be about 15 quid/wheel to have them tensioned and trued. I'd bet on the spoke tension being either far too much (unlikely), or far too little (more likely).

Spoke counts have more to do with rims than they do with overall strength. If you have an 'old fashioned' box rim that's as stiff as a wet noodle, they need the spokes (support) to be closer together. Typically 'modern' rims are 20-30mm deep, and far stiffer, hence can live with fewer spokes. Whether it's a benefit or not is arguable, call it fashion, but compare apples with apples.

Loosening spokes are due to spoke windup and / or insufficient tension. Spokes should be (over) tightened, then loosened by 1/2 a turn or so to take out the 'twist' that is put into the spoke as you tension the nipple. If this isn't done, every time the spoke unloads a bit, some of that twist will un-twist, and back off the tension a bit.

In any case, at 70kg, you're not overly stressing the wheels. Rather than catastrophising, take it back to the shop and see what they say. (another side thought - are you absolutely sure it's the wheels, and not something else making contact with something it shouldn't?)

Edited by upsidedownmark on Wednesday 16th April 10:01

Viperzs

966 posts

166 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
R1gtr said:
The RRP for the bike is 1600 (cheap compared to some on here)so bit gutted the wheels are rubbish, didn't expect to need to upgrade something so soon.
I am 70kg and the pressures are 105, they were extremely noisy at the start of the ride but quietened down a bit towards the end, they did creak a fair bit on downhill sections which was disconcerting when travelling at 45mph

Should I contact the company I bought the bike from or Cube direct?
Ignore the 'your wheels are fked' comments. EA50s should be fine. There were a load of Cube bikes that had issues with some OE spec EA30 wheels, but they were only the ones with white spokes.

Have a word with the shop you bought it from about the spokes pinging, as someone had said it's most likely the pressure releasing on the spokes as you put weight on them. Might just need retweaking with a spoke key.

Has the online shop got a retail store as well?

benny.c

3,472 posts

206 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
My Cube X-Race Pro came with EA50s and they've been absolutely fine. My CX bike takes a bit of a hammering off-road and I'm 96kgs. Maybe I've been lucky, or maybe I just don't put down spoke loosening power smile