Stumped- Need Technical HELP!

Just replace all of the Campy components with Shimano Tiagra, then it will vibrate all of the time and you won't have to worry about it anymore. Or you could send it to me and buy yourself a new bike. I hope that you realize that these are just made in jest. I am as stumped as you are. It sounds as if you have tried all of the standard fixes. It will probably turn out to be a really freakish thing like a low speed harmonic being set up in the frame or something like that which would be specific to that bicycle with a specific rider.

mseanschmidt said:

Okay, just got my bike back from LBS. I've had ongoing problem with what I describe as a vibration that occurs when I'm in the big ring in the front and the middle of the rear cassette. It only happens when I have significant torque on the chain, like 275+ Watts, and I have a steady cadence. I get a "low resonance gyroscopic vibration" usually radiating from the drive-side crank on the up stroke. 90% of the time my bike is quiet as a church mouse and as silky smooth as butter. The other 10% of the time I get this very annoying vibration radiating through the frame.

Here is the history: bought Seven ID8 with full Record in April. Bike is PERFECT.... except for this vibration. LBS & I have been through a TON of troubleshooting. First we thought it was the wheels, swapped out, still vibrated. Then rear cassette and pedals. Still the same. They just had bike for 2 weeks and swore they FINALLY fixed the problem. For some reason they didn't have a short cage rear derailleur installed? Maybe somebody can tell me why they wouldn't have used a short cage to begin with, with a 12/25 cassette, when they ordered the Record Gruppo ? But that is another issue.... So they said the medium cage derailleur was causing the chain to vibrate. Sounds plausible! So they changed it out with the Record short cage and they even changed the chain.

Just went on a ride.... DID NOT FIX..... still vibrates????? I'm very frustrated at this point. What is so upsetting is it is SO SMOOTH & QUIET until it starts with the vibration. I think the LBS is stumped.

Does anyone have ANY input on what this might be? We've eliminated every part except for the Campy UT Crank which the SWEAR is perfect and not a problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

There can't be much left here. I'd replace the chainrings next. If that's not it, then the BB and crankset.

mseanschmidt said:

Okay, just got my bike back from LBS. I've had ongoing problem with what I describe as a vibration that occurs when I'm in the big ring in the front and the middle of the rear cassette. It only happens when I have significant torque on the chain, like 275+ Watts, and I have a steady cadence. I get a "low resonance gyroscopic vibration" usually radiating from the drive-side crank on the up stroke. 90% of the time my bike is quiet as a church mouse and as silky smooth as butter. The other 10% of the time I get this very annoying vibration radiating through the frame.

Here is the history: bought Seven ID8 with full Record in April. Bike is PERFECT.... except for this vibration. LBS & I have been through a TON of troubleshooting. First we thought it was the wheels, swapped out, still vibrated. Then rear cassette and pedals. Still the same. They just had bike for 2 weeks and swore they FINALLY fixed the problem. For some reason they didn't have a short cage rear derailleur installed? Maybe somebody can tell me why they wouldn't have used a short cage to begin with, with a 12/25 cassette, when they ordered the Record Gruppo ? But that is another issue.... So they said the medium cage derailleur was causing the chain to vibrate. Sounds plausible! So they changed it out with the Record short cage and they even changed the chain.

Just went on a ride.... DID NOT FIX..... still vibrates????? I'm very frustrated at this point. What is so upsetting is it is SO SMOOTH & QUIET until it starts with the vibration. I think the LBS is stumped.

Does anyone have ANY input on what this might be? We've eliminated every part except for the Campy UT Crank which the SWEAR is perfect and not a problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Wow, that’s a frustrating problem! Is sounds like some resonant condition is coming into play. You say they it only happens at a certain cadence and power, my guess is that you are creating a certain harmonic frequency that is resonating with some other part on the bike – frame? Try swapping the chain for a different type with a different mass. After that I go after the bracket and chainset.
Bill.

mseanschmidt said:

Okay, just got my bike back from LBS. I've had ongoing problem with what I describe as a vibration that occurs when I'm in the big ring in the front and the middle of the rear cassette. It only happens when I have significant torque on the chain, like 275+ Watts, and I have a steady cadence. I get a "low resonance gyroscopic vibration" usually radiating from the drive-side crank on the up stroke. 90% of the time my bike is quiet as a church mouse and as silky smooth as butter. The other 10% of the time I get this very annoying vibration radiating through the frame.

Here is the history: bought Seven ID8 with full Record in April. Bike is PERFECT.... except for this vibration. LBS & I have been through a TON of troubleshooting. First we thought it was the wheels, swapped out, still vibrated. Then rear cassette and pedals. Still the same. They just had bike for 2 weeks and swore they FINALLY fixed the problem. For some reason they didn't have a short cage rear derailleur installed? Maybe somebody can tell me why they wouldn't have used a short cage to begin with, with a 12/25 cassette, when they ordered the Record Gruppo ? But that is another issue.... So they said the medium cage derailleur was causing the chain to vibrate. Sounds plausible! So they changed it out with the Record short cage and they even changed the chain.

Just went on a ride.... DID NOT FIX..... still vibrates????? I'm very frustrated at this point. What is so upsetting is it is SO SMOOTH & QUIET until it starts with the vibration. I think the LBS is stumped.

Does anyone have ANY input on what this might be? We've eliminated every part except for the Campy UT Crank which the SWEAR is perfect and not a problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

It's funny you should mention the up-stroke on the drive side. I had a similar problem. It turns out that my chain ring bolts weren't sufficiently tight enough. One lose bolt and the crank sounds like a tuning fork.I removed them, cleaned them and added some loctite (blue) retightened and the problem went away. Worth a try, but use care with the bolts when tightening. The alloy bolts can snap very easily if you're cross-threaded or they are not sufficiently clean.

The ID8 is part Ti, right? I had a similar problem with my Ti Serotta, maybe not quite as bad as yours sounds. I came to the conclusion it was some sort of resonance being generated between the frame and drivetrain (Shimano 105). I switched to the heaviest, thickest chain lube I could find and that improved things a bit. After a few hundred miles the problem seemed to die down and I switched back to a lighter lube. I recently upgraded chain and cassette to Ultegra and had the exact same problem again until the gear had bedded in. Might be worth just putting up with it and see if it improves given time.