CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

Singing front wheel

(20 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by BenN
  • Latest reply from acsimpson
  • This topic is not resolved

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  1. BenN
    Member

    Well, not actually singing, but it would appear that my front wheel can now hold a note far more effectively than I can...

    When I get up any kind of speed, my front wheel starts emmitting a high pitched hum that gets louder and higher the longer it goes on for. A quick and light squeeze of the front brake (disc) stops it, only for it to build again over the next 10 seconds. I have tried loosening the brake off, but it has no effect - thus assume the noise is coming from within the wheel somewhere. (Bike is a Revolution Cross Disc 2013 if that helps)

    Whilst admittedly useful for scaring dogs and bats off the path, this noise is slowly driving me insane. Has anyone suffered similar? (The noise, not the insanity obviously. That part is implied)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. gembo
    Member

    No experience of disc brakes so can't be sure.

    Front wheel noise for me is either a. Mudguards which usually can be fettled or b. Hubs which can be fixed sometimes via greasing. (Lots of wee cups and cones that I would scatter about the garage so I leave this to experts).

    If is EBC cross13 might it still be in warranty? If so if is serious problem you might get some joy out of going back to EBC. I got new and better wheels for free on a bike to work specialized secteur elite that started growling out by west Calder when still within warranty.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. DaveC
    Member

    Try roughing the pads a little with sand paper. My MTB does this occasionally. In the end I replaced the pads, the old ones had plenty of like left in them :OS

    DO NOT TRY OILING THEM!! :D

    Dave C

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. Darkerside
    Member

    Maybe it's all in your head.

    Have you found yourself at any point with a pair of pencils up your nostrils?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. wee folding bike
    Member

    Is the noise more of a wibble?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. gembo
    Member

    I have heard the front wheels singing each to each

    I do not think that they will sing to me

    Oh wait, they is mermaids innit

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. acsimpson
    Member

    Depending on the level of fettling you are willing to try you could remove the caliper/disc from the bike and take a spin in a controlled environment to see if the sound persists.

    At least then you'll know if it's the brakes or hub.

    Of course only try this if your confident riding with your remaining brake and reconstructing the brake system afterwards.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    In my experience singing wheels are almost always down to mudgaurds fouling the tyre. But you never can tell. There are two ways forward;

    1) Earplugs
    2) Take it back to the shop

    No! Three ways forward. Our third way forward is...

    3) The application of the scientific method. Put the bike on the stand, or turn it over, and spin the wheel. Take the caliper off and spin the wheel. Take the mudguards off and spin the wheel. If it stops singing after either of those there you go. If it's still singing, service the hub. If that doesn't work there's always exorcism.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. acsimpson
    Member

    I ruled out the stand/upside option as Ben mentioned that he needed to get up to some sort of speed before the singing started. which can be hard with a front wheel although if it's a rub rather than a vibration it should be audible at any speed if you listen closely.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. Instography
    Member

    Since it goes away with braking that makes me think it's either the centring of the pads in relation to the rotor or the centring of the wheel on the hub. Squeezing the brake works either by temporarily re-centring the pads or centring the wheel. I'd check for slack in the hub then if there's no slack, try acsimpson's suggestion of taking the front brake off and seeing if that stops it.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. Snowy
    Member

    I had this exact problem on my mtb front brake a few months ago. At first thought it was the piston not retracting but a full strip didn't sort it. Eventually it turned out to be that the entire brake caliper unit had moved about a millimetre since install - it may have received a knock at Glentress, not sure. Anyway, fix took about 2 minutes ... just re-aligning the whole caliper unit and properly tightening.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. Focus
    Member

    Before going to the extreme of removing the brake from the fork you could potentially save a lot of hassle by first checking if you can simply flip the wheel round, i.e. put it in the wrong way round, with the rotor on the opposite side from the pads. It might be that part of the brake structure fouls the spokes (as it just does on mine), but if not, you'd at least save the bother of reattaching the brake to the fork accurately afterwards.

    You can then test the wheel on the bike (with only the rear brake operational) under the controlled conditions suggested by acsimpson.

    Co-incidentally, my (non-disc) front wheel may be the cause of an alarming noise I was getting whilst descending at high speed in Sunday's gusting winds. At first I thought it was the wind blowing over the open bite valve on one of my bottles but it would happen again when it was definitely shut. The headset is tightened properly so all I can think of is the wheel.

    There was the tiniest amount of play in the bearings (Mavic Aksium wheels, so sealed bearings), but then there is supposed to be a tiny amount which then goes away when the skewer is tightened. I still had that little extra movement though. So I have tightened the bearings just a tad to see if that does the trick. Now need time to do a fast descent again...!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    gembo, is that from Prufrock?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. earthowned
    Member

    Last time I fitted brand new tires I started getting a worrying humming noise from the front wheel. It turns out the little nipples (from the injection mold?) were lightly rubbing on the frame. Didn't make a peep at low speed but when nipping along at a rate of knots the front wheel positively thrummed. Snipped them off and all was right with the world.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. gembo
    Member

    Yes prufrock down near the end before the bit that goes

    We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
    By sea girls wreathed in seaweed red and brown
    Til human voices wake us and we drown

    In a better piece of literature, IMO, The Big Sleep ( need to check this) by Raymond Chandler, the detective Philip Marlowe is a having a literary discussion with a butler.

    In the room the women come and go
    Talking of Michelangelo

    What does that mean?

    it means he don't know much about women.

    How very very true of Thomas Stearns Elliot

    Marlowe/Chandler often good on literature of 1920s - Hemmingway, Scott Fitzgerald. I also like this one

    It was 3a.m., I was pacing the floor listening to Katchachurian working in a tractor factory. He said it was a violin concerto

    Posted 10 years ago #

  16. Dangerous
    Member

    @BenN

    Is it a metallic high pitched ringing noise ?

    If so I suggest it is the brake disk rotor resonating.

    I had a similar issue on the Front wheel of my GT XC1 MTB(which has front suspension).

    I checked that the disk rotor was tightly attached (it was)

    I didn't actually fix the problem. It went away. It also had the same symptom that you have. i.e. applying the brake (which would obviously grip the rotor) would stop the ringing noise.

    Tapping the rotor on a stationary bike would also create a ringing noise.

    Try a different front wheel or remove the rotor to confirm if it is the source of the noise.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  17. BenN
    Member

    Thanks for all the suggestions all - planning on having a super fun bike take apart day on Saturday so will try all suggestions then (in ascending order of difficulty) and report back!

    @Dangerous - it is indeed metallic

    Posted 10 years ago #

  18. Greenroofer
    Member

    You could eliminate a resonating brake disc by sticking a big lump of blu-tak onto it (not on the braking surface, obviously!) so that it will damp the vibration. If this stops the ringing or makes it different, you'd know straight away that it was the disc.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  19. Dangerous
    Member

    +1 to Greenroofer's

    I was thinking about adding a nut & bolt temporarily (near the axle away from the caliper) but blu-tak is a better suggestion

    I was very surprised how flexible the brake rotors are. I was expecting them to be rigid but gentle finger pressure moves them easily

    Posted 10 years ago #

  20. acsimpson
    Member

    It's all about weight saving. They're also fairly easy to bend out of alignment. Fortunately I've managed to straighten a couple of rotors just by pulling the bent part back into position. Not as scientific as wheel straightening but almost as effective.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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