[Steve-O]

Some years back I remember riding MTB's with a buddy who had the first generation of Mavic's prebuilt tubeless off road wheels (CrossMax's?). They were extremely noisy which he attributed to the bladed spokes rubbing where they cross each other.

Fast forward to the present day. I have a hand-built wheelset which uses bladed spokes on the front and NDS rear that ALSO seems to creak when I get out of the saddle. I can quiet it down with a drop of oil at each spoke crossing but, given time, the creak will come back. Otherwise the wheelset is perfect BUT the noise does get to me...

Is this a common problem with bladed spokes or are these just isolated incidents? Any feedback on cures for the problem? (Increase spoke tension maybe?)...

 

[FORT-Cyclist]

Is this a common problem with bladed spokes or are these just isolated incidents?

Some creak, some dont creak...

Any feedback on cures for the problem? (Increase spoke tension maybe?)...

Increasing spoke tension can help but first try to solve the problem by putting some plastic between the spokes where they meet eachother.

 

[rruff]

I have a hand-built wheelset which uses bladed spokes on the front and NDS rear that ALSO seems to creak when I get out of the saddle.

My AE15s don't creak... are you sure it's the spokes? Mine are sort of stuck to each other where they cross.

 

[alienator]

My AE15s don't creak... are you sure it's the spokes? Mine are sort of stuck to each other where they cross.

Neither do mine, which are CX-Rays. There's virtually no relative movement between spokes where they cross, so I'd look elsewhere.

 

[Steve-O]

Using AE15's as well

I'm using AE15's as well. 2X on the the front wheel and and NDS rear (Standard 14/15 butted spoked on the DS rear). Pretty sure its the spokes as I've been troubleshooting this for about 6 months.


1) Swapped wheels to make sure it wasn't the crank or other usual suspects. Definitely a wheel related creak.

2) Put a drop of oil on each nipple at the spoke bed. (I use a little grease around each spoke hole when I build a wheel so that the nipple tightens up with little friction. My thought was that the grease may have washed away thus creating the phantom creak).

3) Checked the cassette and lightly greased the freehub splines.

4) Put a little grease on the QR's and the hub endcaps.


The only thing that seems to have tamed the creak is a drop of oil at each spoke crossing on the rear wheel.

The current plan is to add another 1/2 turn of tension on each spoke and see if that helps. I'm a little hesitant to do this as the wheels have been straight and true since the initial build.

 

[bas]

bontrager race lite bladed don't creak

my shimano mtb bladed rims don't creak.

must be the type of blade.

 

[rruff]

The current plan is to add another 1/2 turn of tension on each spoke and see if that helps. I'm a little hesitant to do this as the wheels have been straight and true since the initial build.

I wouldn't touch that unless you know they are undertensioned or some are loose. If that proves to be the case then evening the tension is a very good idea... for other reasons, too.

Can you flex the spokes with your hands and get them to creak? Mine don't... in fact they are all stuck together lightly where they cross, and make a light "pop" when I force them apart. Obviously they don't move relative to each other when I'm riding.

What kind of hub is it? I'd still consider the drop-out/hub/QR/hanger interface. I had a creak on my aluminum MTB, and it was the hanger... I had to take it off and grease it good every few months.

 

[divve]

Don't simply tension each spoke by 1/2 a turn. It will pull the rim out of dish to the left. In a rear wheel the non-drive side spokes effect lateral movement to a greater degree than the drive side.

 

[Visitor302]

Alex A class... 'cept for the noraml freewheel click the wheels themseves are quiet as a mouse....

 

[pillowsplat]

You may want to check

FWIW
My bike was creeking and I did the usual things BB, Crank, Stem, Headset. Come to find out the quick release skewar and the drop outs need a touch of grease. I have heard a wheel ping a couple of times as you roll out on it after a truing sesion and when my MTB rims were so ground down from the brakes rubbing that they slpit.

 

[asawlrider123456789]

don't think they are noisy but the oil working means they must have some contribution to the noise.

 

[FAST2U]

Noisy Spokes....Probably Too Low on Spoke Count

I have built up a bunch of wheels. The biggest problem I see is guys that are around 200 - 220 riding on low spoke count wheels. Say a 20 / 24 count. I find that rediculous. If they bump it up to a say, 28 / 32 or 32 / 36 count, and use a lighter spoke and hubset, they get way more torque to the wheels, a much stronget, longer lasting build and no creaking. Just some ideas.

 

[Steve-O]

That was part of the frustration with this wheel. I go 190 lb and the rear wheel is 32H with 3x lacing on the DS and 2x lacing on the NDS. I got three seasons out of the wheel with it staying true pretty much all the time...

Anyways... The story ends as the other night I tried my strategy of adding a little more tension on the spokes to see if the creak would go away.. After tensioning I started to relieve the spokes by giving them a squeeze. The DS hub flange cracked This tells me I had the initial tension right BUT I destroyed a wheel in the troubleshooting process. Picts and more on this in the next couple of days...