Spokes pinging

It sounds like you have a loose spoke that's going slack when you apply torque to the wheel. Take it into a shop to have the tension checked.

You didn't say how much you weighed or if you ended up with 32 or 36 spoked wheels, but assuming they sold you the right wheel, they need some titghenig up. Stand behind/in front of them and see if they're true or wobbling. Might help you figure out which one's singing...

This kind of thing is pretty normal with a new set of wheels. You'll probably need to true up the wheel though. Once everything gets settled in it will stop. I think part of it has to do with a little left over spoke wind up from the build process, that unwinds as the wheel gets cycled.

Erik

esandman said:

This kind of thing is pretty normal with a new set of wheels. You'll probably need to true up the wheel though. Once everything gets settled in it will stop. I think part of it has to do with a little left over spoke wind up from the build process, that unwinds as the wheel gets cycled.

It shouldn't be normal. Why has everyone come to expect that a brand new wheel isn't going to be properly stress relieved?

ports18 said:

Hey guys/gals,

Just recently bought some Vuelta wheels for commuting to work and back. Is it standard for the spokes to ping as the wheels are new? If so how long does it last?? have used them on about 2/3 rides, about 40km all up as haven't had time to proper test them yet.

Only happens when out of saddle on flat or hills, when swaying the bike from left to right you get a ping........ping. Not while in the saddle though.

Rear D has just been adjusted and is fine so thats not the prob as wheels did it before LBS adjusted Rear D.

Any suggetsion? Wait it out? greese the intersections?

Thanks Guys ! !

I agree with Erik. The pinging is spoke windup that is "normalizing" when you put the additional stress on the wheel(s). During the final steps in the wheel finishing process windup happens as the tension reaches it's final value. However, with proper technique, windup is removed by quality wheel builders.
Spoke threads and nipple/eyelet (or rim nipple holes) should be lubricated to minimize friction at these points. Windup will happen but can be dealt with to make sure that all spokes have no residual windup and will stay where they are put.
The pinging noise will abate, but you should check the wheels for proper tension, tension balance, true, and centering. Machine built wheels and those built with little attention will exhibit pinging. Spoke alignment and stress relieving may have been excluded in this build as well. The details take time and are hard to distinguish by just looking at the wheels. If you intend to maximize the life of these wheels you should have an experienced professional finish them before long, to give them the treatments described above. Fatigue of spokes happens, but its effects can be mitigated by proper finishing techniqes. Rim support comes from spokes in tension. If spoke tension is proper and balanced you prolong the life of the rim and allow it to handle dynamic loads to the best of it's abilities.

artmichalek said:

It shouldn't be normal. Why has everyone come to expect that a brand new wheel isn't going to be properly stress relieved?

I'm with you. The only time I've heard pinging is on really old rims or when someone has a cheap new Huffy or something.

This is a topic that has interested me since I bought an R550 rear wheel. It has always pinged, and went out of true fairly quickly. I trued it by tightening two relatively less tight spokes at the segment of interest and it is now perfectly true and round, but still pinging, to a lesser degree.
The question is, do I now tighten further spokes to try to stop the pinging? I am loathe to fiddle with it as it is currently in perfect shape. What's the consensus, if any?

OK, thanks for all the suggestions. I am abut 97kg's, but fit, not much extra weight, the rims are 24 spoke on each. I think I have sussed out the problem though.

I discovered that while riding slow and turning the wheel left then right quickly it makes the pinging noise. It isn't the spokes.

I don't know how to explain this but you have the hub on the front wheel, on the outside of the hub you have the parts that rotate, the skewer goes through these, this is loose and has movement in and out, so between this mechanism and the hub on the wheel there is a slight gap, so it moves and hits the hub, I can make the noise when the bike is stationary and I sway the front left and right, its weird. Told you it was hard to explain.

i guess its back to the LBS to suss out, hope I don't get some b*llsh*t excuse that they normally try to feed, its normal etc.

Cheers...............Glen

They don't have sealed bearings? Have then explain and write it down or take a picture. I'm curious now...

Good luck

tfstrum said:

I'm with you. The only time I've heard pinging is on really old rims or when someone has a cheap new Huffy or something.

The reason for spoke 'pinging' or stress relieving these days is because most wheels are machine built, and the machine doesn't know how to 'feel' for the spoke twist like a seasoned hand builder, and dial it out.

When I build wheels, I always tighten, then back off an amount proportional to the tension in the spoke. Wheels built this way don't ping.

All but the very expensive wheels are machine built nowadays.... 🙁

Double post - Oops! 🙄

frasertri said:

The reason for spoke 'pinging' or stress relieving these days is because most wheels are machine built, and the machine doesn't know how to 'feel' for the spoke twist like a seasoned hand builder, and dial it out.

When I build wheels, I always tighten, then back off an amount proportional to the tension in the spoke. Wheels built this way don't ping.

All but the very expensive wheels are machine built nowadays.... 🙁

My R550 wheel (please see above post) has bladed spokes and one can see that there is no twist. So why is it pinging?

artemidorus said:

My R550 wheel (please see above post) has bladed spokes and one can see that there is no twist. So why is it pinging?

Well, the pinging I referred to was the spokes 'normalizing', by miniscule rotations as they unwind, real time. If you have bladed spokes and they are pinging, then obviously (as you note) this cannot be the problem.

When wheels are built up they still have to go through a stress relieving process - especially modern wheels with low spoke count and high tension. This can even involve slight yielding at the bend to the nipple, as it 'finds' its best seating. This process can (and often does) affect the trueness of the wheel - as another poster notes above - and may require that the wheel is trued again soon after the first few rides. Again, a good wheel builder tries to get the wheel through this 'bedding in' process by deliberately overstressing the spokes slightly (often by stretching them against their adjacent spoke - see article by Sheldon Brown: sheldonbrown.comwheelbuild.htmlOpen ↗ see stress relieving 2/3 way down!)

artemidorus, if your spokes are still pinging after this bedding in (say, first 100 miles or so) then you need to have them checked out. Often this bedding in period will leave some spokes looser than others, and this will need to be corrected. Are your wheels still as true as when you got them? How many miles have you done on them?

Cheers, Frasertri. 😉

OK, apparently the bearings needed to be tapped, werent sitting in place correctly, this was done, also originally thought Axle needed to be replaced, anyway the bearings were tapped, was advised all was OK, put back on bike but sound was there again. So they are sending me a new wheel ! ! !

Hey guys, have not had much luck here. LBS got the rep to bring in a new rim. They tested it and there was no play, fantastic right ? Well I got the rim and took it to work, giving them a closer look I found they were not new, there were dints in the brake surface, scratches and water marks, Decided I'd call the LBS, went down with the rim and they were as disgusted as I was and not happy with the company, to which point they offered me a pair of Mavic Aksium's at the same price. Am getting my cassette put on the new rims as we speak. Either way Im wrapped things have worked out for the best and I have a good LBS, although it does get tough to keep coming back with issues but if you pay for something right !

I just hope I have seen the last of the problems with wheels as I would like to wait at least a few months before I go back to the LBS, am sure they are sick of my face, hahaha.

Cheers.

Hopefully a great ending. Pretty cool of the LBS to work it out for you. Some would just try again and waste more of your time...