Ask the experts

[Spencer123]

Thanks all, I'll pull the cassette and freehub and get into the wheel as much as I am able to and check out the linkage and pedals. Chainring bolts are freshly torqued to spec with new loctite. Will update if anything seems to fix it for future reference!

[Powder Ho]

I had a bad bushing on my lower link (Mojo 4) the clicking drove me fn nuts.

[El Chupacabra]

Weird clicking sources: derailleur hanger (remove from frame, clean, grease mating surfaces, reinstall), through axles, derailleur bolt itself, SPD cleats, rear shock attachments (remove, clean, etc), saddle rails where the seatpost clamps, saddle rails themselves coming loose in the saddle, rear pivots on FS bikes...

Basically anything screwed together can creak. Sometimes it takes awhile to locate.

[Spencer123]

That sounds promising, I am on a V2 ripmo which I forgot to mention. Appreciate all the suggestions, bike will be getting a tear down in the coming week.

I had a bad bushing on my lower link (Mojo 4) the clicking drove me fn nuts.

[Huskier]

How many tokens is too many tokens? 4? 5? 10? Any adverse impact on the internals by creating a mega-ramp curve?

[Powder Ho]

How many tokens is too many tokens? 4? 5? 10? Any adverse impact on the internals by creating a mega-ramp curve?

My Fox 34 has a max of 4.

[Toddball]

Anyone had any luck with quieting down frame resonance induced by the rear brake?

I have a sweet steel full suspension with Dominions, Hayes sintered pads and 203mm Galfer rotors. After significant drama getting them bled, I am down to one major issue with the brakes: when I drag the rear brake with very light pressure, the whole thing honks loudly and vibrates through the entire frame and into my handlebars.

I'm pretty sure this is due to resonance in the non-drive-side seatstay, since I can feel the vibration the most there; and when I hold the center of the seatstay the noise completely goes away.

Does anyone have any ideas for how to fix this without completely ruining the frame's aesthetics a la MTBR?

All I can think of is either trying to:
(1) completely eliminate vibration during light braking (presumably a rotor and pad issue, although I have already tried a Shimano Ice-Tech rotor and the honk persists),
(2) change the frequency of the vibration, e.g. by going to a 180mm rotor,
(3) damp the vibration before it gets to the seatstay (maybe by fiddling with weights/rubber bits near the caliper, or something).

Or I can just wrap my spare tube around the middle of my seatstay like a psychopath.

[nickwm21]

Do a bolt check. Something is not fully torqued in the rear end. Happens ever once and a while on my Banshee with its complicated modular dropout.


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[Toddball]

Do a bolt check. Something is not fully torqued in the rear end. Happens ever once and a while on my Banshee with its complicated modular dropout.

Didn't find any loose bolts, but I guess I'll keep looking for things that could vibrate or rattle around.

[Gunder]

Didn't find any loose bolts, but I guess I'll keep looking for things that could vibrate or rattle around.

Did you check the rotor bolts?

[Toddball]

Did you check the rotor bolts?

Sure did. Between swapping rotors back and forth several times I have had plenty of opportunity to check rotor bolts, but alas, they are always tight.

[El Chupacabra]

Change pads to a different brand, compound, something.

[toast2266]

Change pads to a different brand, compound, something.

X2. Then try changing rotors.

Sometimes bikes just resonate with a particular setup. Not much to do about it other than change something and hope for the best.

[joetron]

Sometimes a metallic pad on one side and an organic pad on the other works for these problems.


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[toast2266]

How many tokens is too many tokens? 4? 5? 10? Any adverse impact on the internals by creating a mega-ramp curve?

Depends on the fork and the travel. Every iteration has a maximum number of tokens. If you put too many in, you'll bottom out on the tokens.

I don't think I've seen many normal people go past 3 tokens. Beyond that, you better be sending some serious shit.

[Gunder]

If everything in the brake system is tight and the rotor isn’t hitting the caliper and the pad spring is good the next obvious place to check is that your hub is tight and the bearings in it still feel smooth.

[Falcon3]

Can somebody rec a decent pair of aero clip-ons for trainer bike use? I get so bored with the static position of the trainer, having a couple positions would be really nice. I have wide shoulders and a lot of the race bars are super narrow, so having an adjustment for wider elbow placement would be awesome.

[Dee Hubbs]

Can somebody rec a decent pair of aero clip-ons for trainer bike use? I get so bored with the static position of the trainer, having a couple positions would be really nice. I have side shoulders and a lot of the race bars are super narrow, so having an adjustment for wider elbow placement would be awesome.

Do you need an actual bar, or just some arm rest pads? If your not worried about them failing and thus dying on the road, for trainer only use any $25 AliExpress bar will work.
If you want something more reliable, Ritchie Comp makes a mini clip-on. A solid clamp, good pads, and short little bars to get in an aero position. It's what a lot of the gravel racers have been using. They are around $100.
So many off these bars are designed for TT/Tri bikes for a a super aggressive position.

[Toddball]

Changing to semi-metallic pads didn't work, although maybe the honk is a bit quieter? Hard to say.

There is one issue with the (Hope Pro 5) rear hub: it has the wrong end cap. I ordered a microspline driver, but the shop that built the wheels for me put on an XD driver. Fortunately I noticed this before driving away, and they swapped out the XD driver for the microspline driver. Turns out the two different drivers have different drive-side end caps, and they left the XD end cap on. Photo of the different end caps below, note the difference in the number of steps, for example:



See also cutaway diagrams of the HG driver (same endcap as XD) and microspline hubs; note the differences in end cap length.

The XD driver end cap is shorter than the microspline end cap, which results in axial play in the freehub. I didn't notice this initially because the inner freehub bearing was a few mm proud of its seat, so there wasn't any play, but the dropout quickly started machining the cassette lock ring. I took the freehub off, pressed the bearing back in, and filled the gap between the outer freehub bearing and the end cap with a 2.5mm O-ring from the hardware store. This took out nearly all the play. I've also experimented with two 2mm O-rings in there, which get squished a bit when the hub is in the dropouts, so there shouldn't be any play. In both cases, the honk persists.

I'm headed back north to the shop that built my wheels to hopefully get the right end cap, and then I'll probably go on a ride and hope the honk sorts itself out. If you hear a honk in the woods around Bellingham this afternoon, say hi!

[Gunder]

Changing to semi-metallic pads didn't work, although maybe the honk is a bit quieter? Hard to say.

There is one issue with the (Hope Pro 5) rear hub: it has the wrong end cap. I ordered a microspline driver, but the shop that built the wheels for me put on an XD driver. Fortunately I noticed this before driving away, and they swapped out the XD driver for the microspline driver. Turns out the two different drivers have different drive-side end caps, and they left the XD end cap on. Photo of the different end caps below, note the difference in the number of steps, for example:



See also cutaway diagrams of the HG driver (same endcap as XD) and microspline hubs; note the differences in end cap length.

The XD driver end cap is shorter than the microspline end cap, which results in axial play in the freehub. I didn't notice this initially because the inner freehub bearing was a few mm proud of its seat, so there wasn't any play, but the dropout quickly started machining the cassette lock ring. I took the freehub off, pressed the bearing back in, and filled the gap between the outer freehub bearing and the end cap with a 2.5mm O-ring from the hardware store. This took out nearly all the play. I've also experimented with two 2mm O-rings in there, which get squished a bit when the hub is in the dropouts, so there shouldn't be any play. In both cases, the honk persists.

I'm headed back north to the shop that built my wheels to hopefully get the right end cap, and then I'll probably go on a ride and hope the honk sorts itself out. If you hear a honk in the woods around Bellingham this afternoon, say hi!

That oring combo is most likely 100% your issue. They compress and is causing play. You need to correct end caps.

[Toddball]

That oring combo is most likely 100% your issue. They compress and is causing play. You need to correct end caps.

Got the correct end cap installed (and removed the o-ring bodge). Still honk. Honk honk! Maybe I need to rethink my rotor bedding-in procedure.

[Gunder]

Got the correct end cap installed (and removed the o-ring bodge). Still honk. Honk honk! Maybe I need to rethink my rotor bedding-in procedure.

Any chance it is contaminated? all of the dusty riding conditions in the PNW right. Ow will also aid in a noisy rotor right now too.

It is also possible running the wrong end cap on the hub caused the rotor to get damaged either by warping it or uneven wear.

[skinipenem]

Contamination of the rotors
Oil or grease on the brake pads or rotors
Misalignment between the braking surfaces
New brake pads that need to be bedded in
A caliper alignment issue or a bent rotor

I think you've checked all three common causes?

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[Toddball]

I'll try cleaning pads and rotors when I get home, but I did just clean the rotors with isopropyl alcohol and install new pads, so I think probably not oily/greasy this time. Definitely very dusty though.

I don't think running the wrong end cap would have damaged the rotor, since the only play was in the freehub. There was never any play (that I could detect) on the brake side.

Contamination of the rotors
Oil or grease on the brake pads or rotors
Misalignment between the braking surfaces
New brake pads that need to be bedded in
A caliper alignment issue or a bent rotor

I think you've checked all three common causes?

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Definitely could be misalignment. I have spent a long time trying to line things up by eye, but have been advised to spring for the $20 feeler gauge tool.

[Meconium]

I'd try Joetrons recommendation of asymmetric pad setup and rethink bedin as you alluded to. Like have some drive you up a big hill and reaff on it purple hot. Could try sanding down leading edge of pad to give it a chamfer. IS or post mount?