My bike is making a loud ping when I turn the bars (whilst riding) even slightly and I can feel a knock through the bars when it happens. I've checked the ferrules and even removed the stem and greased the inside of the stem along with the stem/bar interface but without success. The headset is correctly preloaded and turns smoothly. It's pretty new too only having done a little over 1000 miles. I was wondering about the spokes in the front wheel, perhaps flex in the wheel whilst turning could cause spoke rub but all the spokes feel fine. Any ideas?
My first thought was worn/damaged steering head bearings, but the second was broken front wheel bearings. I had one years ago where the wheel would spin smoothly,but every now and again it would make a loud 'ping'. opening the wheel bearings showed that 1 ball bearing had broken in half, hence when there was not a lot of load, it would spin fairly well, but once an extra bit of load is applied, say when going round a corner, the extra force would cause the two halves of the broken bearing apart,I presume they would grind against each other, then make the ping as the axle forced them back into line.The 'cups and cones' on the wheel/axle will be worn out if a ball bearing has broken.It is possible to reuse it, but it is better to either get a new hub or complete wheel if a bearing surface is damaged. I could be talking bollocks here, but it seems the most likely. Alan.
-- To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'. http://www.dvatc.co.uk - Off-road cycling in the North Midlands.
I've had the same experience as Alan (i.e. broken bearing in hub) with exactly the same symptoms. It's good news is if you haven't done too many miles on it, you can strip the hub, replace all the bearings (making sure you get the right number in there, ask at the LBS) and grease it all back up. Good as new .... or maybe better in your case. H
"A.Lee" <alan@darkroom.+.com> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Paul Davis said:
My bike is making a loud ping when I turn the bars (whilst riding) even slightly and I can feel a knock through the bars when it happens. I've checked the ferrules and even removed the stem and greased the
inside
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
of the stem along with the stem/bar interface but without success. The headset is correctly preloaded and turns smoothly. It's pretty new
too
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
only having done a little over 1000 miles. I was wondering about the spokes in the front wheel, perhaps flex in the wheel whilst turning could cause spoke rub but all the spokes feel fine. Any ideas?
My first thought was worn/damaged steering head bearings, but the second was broken front wheel bearings. I had one years ago where the wheel would spin smoothly,but every now and again it would make a loud 'ping'. opening the wheel bearings showed that 1 ball bearing had broken in half, hence when there was not a lot of load, it would spin fairly well, but once an extra bit of load is applied, say when going round a corner, the extra force would cause the two halves of the broken bearing apart,I presume they would grind against each other, then make the ping as the axle forced them back into line.The 'cups and cones' on the wheel/axle will be worn out if a ball bearing has broken.It is possible to reuse it, but it is better to either get a new hub or complete wheel if a bearing surface is damaged. I could be talking bollocks here, but it seems the most likely. Alan.
-- To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'. http://www.dvatc.co.uk - Off-road cycling in the North Midlands.
Having tried the front wheel in another bike, in which the knocking/creaking was considerably worse, I suspect that it is indeed the bearings. I'll get them looked at as soon as I can.
