Q&A: What's That Clicking Noise? and more

Tech Q & A: What's That Clicking Noise? Spokes, Shifters and Tricycles

Q: Jim -

I have a Diamondback Deluxe bicycle and as it rolls it goes click, click, click, click. It has 21 speeds and has Shimano components. If you pedal it does not click. As soon as you stop pedaling and coast, it clicks. If you pedal backwards the amount of clicking increases. If you go faster it clicks faster too. I assume it has something to do with the gears? Is there any way to stop it from doing this?

Thanks,

Tim

A: Great question, Tim, and you're not the first to ask me how to stop this noise. To help explain, here's a photo I took of a disassembled freewheel to show you what makes bicycles click (click to enlarge). Almost all bicycles with gears do this. And, it’s an important part of the bike that’s making the clicking so you don’t want to try to stop it.

If it really bothers you, it's possible to lubricate the bearings inside the freewheel/cassette (the mechanism that clicks) with slightly heavier oil to make the clicking quieter. But it's a little tricky to get the oil in there as freewheels and cassettes are usually semi sealed at the factory. So, it's usually not worth the effort just to make it a little quieter.

Hope this helps,

Jim

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Q: Good morning Jim,

Hello from a sunny but cool Costa Blanca. I have just dug my mountain bike out of mothballs (been working in UK for 2 years). All seemed fine except whilst riding up a slight incline the rear derailleur seems to be jumping a cog every 3 or 4 revolutions I have tried altering the settings, but to no avail. I should point out that it only does this in 3rd to 6th on each of the gear settings Hi through Med to Low. Any ideas what I am missing (apart from a brain!)?

Your assistance would be appreciated,

Peter

A: Hi Peter,

Have you checked to see if the shift lever is loose and not holding the derailleur in gear? That’s a common cause of what you describe. Depending on what type of shifters you have on your bike it might be as simple as tightening a tension screw on the shifter clockwise to keep the shifter from moving and allowing the derailleur to shift out of gear.

If this is what’s wrong you should be able to see the shift lever move about the same time the derailleur skips out of gear. Take a look at that and maybe it will solve the problem. You can also check this page on my website that provides a step-by-step on rear derailleur adjustment.

Hopefully something here will help. I’m happy to offer more help if needed,

Jim, from now, windy, chilly and wet Northern California
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Q: Hello Jim,

I came across your website and am looking forward to referencing your bicycle workshop book! Question: Is it possible to order one and two spokes rather than a whole box? I am looking for spares, but find that most online stores only carry full boxes, varying in quantity. Seems like a headache for a sub-dollar item to be shipped I suppose. And then my LBS's only had misc spokes on hand and some had none, but could order for me entire boxes of a given size. Curious as to your experience. Thanks for the online reading and expert insight!

Justin

A: Thanks for the email, Justin. Any good bicycle shop should be happy to sell you however many spokes you need. They might be out of stock of a certain size sometimes, but most good shops should have spokes in most common sizes in order to fix wheels. Some top shops even have the precision +/- $3,700 Phil Wood spoke cutting/threading machine that lets them "make" spokes in any size they want (photo).

Still, I know it isn’t like it used to be and that there are some shops that don’t even do any wheelbuilding since they buy all their wheels already built and don’t do major wheel repairs. But you should still be able to find a shop with spokes and they should be happy to sell you what you need. I’d just call around until you find a bicycle shop with spokes. Since you're somewhere in Wisconsin, have you tried Yellow Jersey in Madison?

FYI: Online places can’t make any money selling individual spokes so they require you to buy the whole box in most cases. Hope you can find the right shop for those spokes.

Happy wheelbuilding,

Jim
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Q: Jim, don't know if you can help, but here goes -

I work for a city in Arizona and recently we were given a Mead Cossack tricycle by a man who was throwing it away. The man told us it was his 84 year old wife's bike as a child and she no longer wanted it. The tricycle is in great shape for its age. missing only the fabric off the seat and the right pedal. The rubber on all the tires is still there, only cracked on the main wheel. The body is in great shape, just faded. The questions we have are: is it worth anything and if the city wants to restore it for the city hall, where do we begin? Any history would help!

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide,

Scott

A: Hi Scott,

I’m not a tricycle expert, but I can give you a link to a site that seems to be helpful, though they don’t list the Mead you have. It’s http://www.tricyclefetish.com/

You’ll see they claim to answer questions so maybe you can send a photo and get some help with your bike. You can also check eBay.com, look for trikes similar in age or style to yours and watch auctions to get a feel for value. In my experience, vintage trikes go for $50 to $75 if they’re excellent, original, all-there examples, but they have to be pretty special.

Sorry I can’t offer more help but I hope this gets you started,

Jim
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Q&A: Freewheel/cassette not working/frozen

Q: Hi Jim,
This happened over the weekend (it was cold): When I tried to ride my bike on Monday the freewheel would not engage with the wheel (it just spun). I moved the bike inside (it was stored in the garage) and adjusted the quick release, laid it flat on the floor and it worked again. I am not sure whether I fixed the problem or not. I have no confidence to ride it until I really understand the problem or issue(s) (it’s a 12-mile commute). Could you give me some tips?
Thanks,
Thomas

Q: Hi Thomas,
The freewheel (also called a cassette sometimes, though the two are different things) has little pawls and springs inside that work together to drive your bike. There's usually lubricant inside, too. My best guess is that the cold weather made the pawls stick and stop catching and driving your bike. When you brought your bike inside the heat warmed up the lubricant and the springs were then able to push the pawls back in place and drive your bike again. So, I think it'll work fine for your ride.

It won't hurt to add a little lubricant. To do this, lay your bike on its side with the freewheel facing up. Then turn the crank backwards and watch the freewheel move. You'll see that the part with the sprockets moves and the part it's turning on stays still because it's attached to the wheel. There is a small crack between these two parts of the freewheel and that's where you put the lube. A light spray lube like Triflow works fine. Or you can drip car motor oil on while turning the crank slowly to draw the lube into the crack and into the freewheel mechanism. You won't get all the oil in there but you just need to get some in there to refresh any lube that's in there and keep the freewheel working.

Note that if what you have is a cassette, it's harder to get lube inside it because there are pieces that block access to places to add lube. Click here to see a nice picture on Sheldon Brown's awesome bicycle website that shows the difference between freewheels and cassettes. Luckily, cassettes usually don't freeze or fail as often as freewheels and don't need relubing very often. If you want to relube your cassette you can remove the cogs (you'll need a cassette lockring tool and a chainwhip tool) to gain access to the body and drip some lube in. Or, if you want to do a professional job, consider purchasing Morningstar Tools' Freehub Buddy tools and lube that let you flush and fully relube it!
Jim