Noisy Inner Tubes: Is that truly possible?

Philip Whiteman · Post by **Philip Whiteman** » 26 Oct 2011 18:42

We have all suffered mysterious noises in our bikes but this one really mystifies me.

My rear wheel has developed a click within the rim. It only occurs during very slow rotation and on every 180 degree turn in either direction, whether under load or unloaded. It is very annoying. There are no visible faults with the rims, nipples or spokes and the wear on the rim is insignificant.

Initially, I thought that it must something loose within the cavities the of the rim section. So I removed the tyres and tubes with the intention of removing the rim tape and then emptying out any rubbish through the internal access spokes holes.

Without the tyre and inner-tube, the sound was gone

. The noise returned when the tyres and tubes were reinstated but only when fully inflated.

I am totally confused.

Post by **CakeStop** » 26 Oct 2011 19:08

Yes, I've got a tube like that, must be a bit of surplus rubber rattling around inside. However, as it turns out, that is not the cause of the mysterious noise that I was investigating when I discovered this particular flaw.

Philmondo · Post by **Philmondo** » 26 Oct 2011 22:19

Could it be one of those very thin rubber moulding spine things that protrude from the side of tyres? A while back I eradicated a noise nuisance when I discovered that some of these spines were tipping off the chain stay as the tyre rotated - such was the narrow clearance and the length of the spines. I pulled the spines from the tyre and the noise was gone. It might explain why you only get the noise when the tyre is fully inflated.

Grogz · Post by **Grogz** » 27 Oct 2011 12:34

A friend of mine had this problem. Found out it was the valve stem moving in the hole.

Kermit · Post by **Kermit** » 27 Oct 2011 13:29

I've experienced a similar noise on a few rims and it's down to the way they join the ends of the rim section together at the factory. Some manufacturers use a sacrificial bracket, fitted inside the rim section which holds the ends of the rim temporarily prior to the main mechanical jointing. This bracket can become dislodged in use allowing to move a few millimetres with an annoying click, click, click. It falls one way, then the other with gravity every half revolution, but only at slow speeds. Centrifugal force keeps it in place at faster speeds. It's not doing any harm but there's no way of fixing it!

So, there we have it. Is it Steve's surplus bit of rubber, Phil's very thin spiney thing or Paul's sacrificial bracket. Call my Bluff eat your heart out.

John Sanderson · Post by **John Sanderson** » 27 Oct 2011 13:31

So, there we have it. Is it Steve's surplus bit of rubber, Phil's very thin spiney thing or Paul's sacrificial bracket. Call my Bluff eat your heart out.

slogfester · Post by **slogfester** » 27 Oct 2011 20:02

I've suffered valve stem clicks/creaks. Used to drive me nuts on my Mavics.

Fix by using threaded stems and regularly checking the tightening nut (they work loose) and/or cutting the neck off a balloon to wrap around the stem before insertion in to rim hole.

dweben · Post by **dweben** » 28 Oct 2011 21:47

"cutting the neck off a balloon to wrap around the stem before insertion in to rim hole"

Dear God the mental images...

slogfester · Post by **slogfester** » 28 Oct 2011 22:09

I blame Blue Peter

Philmondo · Post by **Philmondo** » 07 Nov 2011 22:21

So anyway then Phil, did you figure it out?

Philip Whiteman · Post by **Philip Whiteman** » 08 Nov 2011 08:01

Philmondo wrote:So anyway then Phil, did you figure it out?

No, it stopped and I never discovered the cause.