That nasty 'PLING!' noise...

cdaly_

So, heading out this morning with the intention of taking the long way in to work, I heard a 'PLING!' noise from the bike followed by a regular ticking.

Stopped to investigate and discovered a loose spoke (non-drive side rear). Further investigation revealed that the spoke appears not to be broken which suggests that the nipple is pulling through the rim or the spoke through the hub. Wheel stayed true as I spun into work (the short way ) and I was able to tighten up the spoke there.

Now, unless the nipple wasn't seated properly and remained so for the last 2 years, I presume something has broken. I'll have to strip the wheel later to see can I spot anything. If it is pulling through the rim, is there anything I can do to save it?

Wheel is a 20-spoke Mavic Aksium with about 15,000km on it and I missed the CSS €100 aksiums offer last spring...

Diarmuid

Maybe the nipple has worked loose? Try tensioning it up again and see how you get on. Why do you think it's pulling through the rim? If the NDS/DS tension ratio is low then you might need a drop of a light threadlocker after you bring it back to true.

cdaly_

I'm assuming it's pulling through because of the sudden pling rather than just noticing it was slack. According to Mavic, the nipples have some sort of non-slip profile in the threads and don't tend to work loose. I've re-tensioned it but I'll have to look in more detail to see just what's happened.

doozerie

It could simply be that the spoke/nipple worked its way loose, as Diarmuid says. The spokes are constantly undergoing variations in tension as the rim rotates, and sometimes all it takes is for that tension to vary a little more than usual for a spoke(s) to work loose - causes can include hitting a bump, leaning the bike over enough to "compress" the rim a little more than usual, etc., and it may not always be noticeable while riding the bike.

If one spoke has worked its way loose then it's worth checking the tension on the other spokes too to see how they are faring.

cdaly_

Hmm, I'll keep an eye on it. The rest of the spokes sound fine. Trouble is I'm planning to ride this wheel in the 26 county challenge in a weeks time so I don't want to wait too long before discovering I need to work on the wheel...

biketard

Mark that spoke with tippex or something and make a point of checking it (and the other spokes) over the next few rides. If it holds steady, then I suspect it just slackened over time,. The pinging noise can happen at any time, especially when spokes are a bit loose, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. In fact the ping might not even have come from that spoke.

cdaly_

So I did a bit of spoke re-tensioning and truing last night. All looks well, no sign of cracks or anything. Lots of different tensions on various spokes which I've evened up. I have that spoke marked out for attention...

lennymc

we will probably have spare wheels on the 26 county spin cdaly (and maybe a spare bike). Mechanicals are not an excuse )