squeaky turning
 

Today there was a guy and he said suddenly
whenever he turned the front wheel there was an
unpleasant noise.

I said this was likely to be because of
the cold.

I gave him WD-40 and said this will penetrate
the best but one should use with care as not to
flush away the bearing grease.

I gave him a can of hydro oil and said this
will penetrate OK and shouldn't harm anything
no matter.

I gave him grease and said this is for the
bearings but without picking everything apart
it is difficult to get it in place.

Am I right? :)

--
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

squeaky turning
 

On 2018-01-05 12:40, Emanuel Berg wrote:
Today there was a guy and he said suddenly
whenever he turned the front wheel there was an
unpleasant noise.

I said this was likely to be because of
the cold.

I gave him WD-40 and said this will penetrate
the best but one should use with care as not to
flush away the bearing grease.

I gave him a can of hydro oil and said this
will penetrate OK and shouldn't harm anything
no matter.

I gave him grease and said this is for the
bearings but without picking everything apart
it is difficult to get it in place.

Am I right? :)


I never use WD-40 or any degreaser on bicycles. If the steerer bearings
creak they are shot, need to be replaced. What I sometimes did with BB
bearings to nurse them along another 1000 miles or until the replacement
gets here is to let fine turbine oil seep in, with the bike laid on the
respective side. It is an oil similar to what is used to lube Hammond
organs. At least that took away the ugly screeches.

Thing is, you never know where the oil will go. Will it go into the cup
or will it find a crack on the outside and just run away into the
steerer tube?

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

squeaky turning
 

Joerg wrote:

If the steerer bearings creak they are shot,
need to be replaced.

Yes, but is that the only possible source of
the noise?

--
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

squeaky turning
 

On 2018-01-05 13:52, Emanuel Berg wrote:
Joerg wrote:

If the steerer bearings creak they are shot,
need to be replaced.

Yes, but is that the only possible source of
the noise?


In practice yes. In theory you could also have the fork tube rubbing
inside the steerer tube but that would require one or both steerer
bearings to have completely failed and disintegrated. In that case the
whole front end slacks back and forth in the steering and I would not
ride one more foot on that bike.

Assuming you guys have checked other obvious stuff such as mud guards or
other things rubbing against the downtube. Oh, and if studded tires are
mounted lift the wheel before doing the noise test :-)

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

squeaky turning
 

Joerg wrote:

In practice yes. In theory you could also
have the fork tube rubbing inside the steerer
tube but that would require one or both
steerer bearings to have completely failed
and disintegrated. In that case the whole
front end slacks back and forth in the
steering and I would not ride one more foot
on that bike.

I have not what I can remember been on a bike
with shot steerer bearings, but my imagination
tells me when this happens, you step off the
bike, not ride it all the way to your
destination, and there complain about a noise?

Assuming you guys have checked other obvious
stuff such as mud guards or other things
rubbing against the downtube. Oh, and if
studded tires are mounted lift the wheel
before doing the noise test :-)

Right - I didn't do any tests as I only gave
the answer. Most common when there is a noise
people for some reason always think it is from
the BB which most often it isn't. Because he
didn't, I thought the same thought only
backwards and assumed he was right...

How do you do the "noise test"? With a steel
pin onto the area you suspect is the origin?

--
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

squeaky turning
 

On 2018-01-05 17:54, Emanuel Berg wrote:
Joerg wrote:

In practice yes. In theory you could also
have the fork tube rubbing inside the steerer
tube but that would require one or both
steerer bearings to have completely failed
and disintegrated. In that case the whole
front end slacks back and forth in the
steering and I would not ride one more foot
on that bike.

I have not what I can remember been on a bike
with shot steerer bearings, but my imagination
tells me when this happens, you step off the
bike, not ride it all the way to your
destination, and there complain about a noise?


Nah, you can ride it for a long while, it's just not very comfortable.
Complaining isn't the thing to do, getting the tools out and fixing it is.


Assuming you guys have checked other obvious
stuff such as mud guards or other things
rubbing against the downtube. Oh, and if
studded tires are mounted lift the wheel
before doing the noise test :-)

Right - I didn't do any tests as I only gave
the answer.


Best to test before answering :-)


... Most common when there is a noise
people for some reason always think it is from
the BB which most often it isn't.


Unfortuntely in my case it usually was :-(

I lost count how many BBs I have worn out.


... Because he
didn't, I thought the same thought only
backwards and assumed he was right...

How do you do the "noise test"? With a steel
pin onto the area you suspect is the origin?


Take the load off anything else, prevent anything else from moving, and
then move the suspected shaft. For example, with the BB I put the bike
on the bench, take the chain off the chain ring, tape or strap the
pedals to their cranks and then turn the cranks. Rumble ...
crunchacrunch ... dang, again!

With older square taper cup and cone BBs I could get some more life out
of them by moving each crank 180 degrees on the shaft but that doesn't
seem to work with the sealed kind.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/