Non-TPR-related photo above — Touring the Odenwald in early spring of 2018: the blacks and reds of my CAAD12 frame and OXiC wheels in good company: Aluminum, Bianchi Celeste and (Pantani) Gold.
Time for some tech-nerdery.
Those of you who have followed October events here on tiggertracks.com will remember me whining about a bunch of noises and (mostly minor) mishaps with regards to my bike.
In hindsight, this is not fair.
Neither towards the FrankenBike, the heavily customized CAAD12, that actually exceeded my expectations (… and a bike has feelings too!), nor towards components (… they didn’t choose to ride the TPR, I did!), or manufacturers (… most have been incredibly nice when I asked for information or help, prior to the race as well as afterwards).
The issues that plagued me, on and off, throughout the race, were:
- Rear RWS quick release stuck (then semi-stuck) as a result of that crash on the first day
- Chirping sound from spokes (on rear wheel), twice on every crankset revolution
- Front brake not perfectly aligned and semi-lose
- Clicking sound from crankset or bottom bracket.
While I’ll still do a proper review of the bike and its components, today is about number two, and number one will be resolved alongside.
When Spokes Sing
I first noticed a chirping coming from my rear wheel after descending the A-176 to Echo/Hecho. It became increasingly annoying on my way to Jasa, just as temperatures continued to rise.
In the recap for day two, I wrote::
"Although I had my rear wheel trued and spoke tension checked prior to the TPR, now the spokes seem to be acting up, rubbing against each other and producing a very audible noise on every pedal stroke. Trying to find a bike shop in the area is fruitless, the next one is probably in Jaca (think I might get there in the afternoon). Remedied the noise somewhat by squirting some Squirt onto the crossings, later brought myself to ignore it. That's next level mental endurance exercise."
Tended to the tension of my spokes on day five:
"While at it, I also inspected the rim for damage, checked spoke tension and had a look a the front brake: (…)"
And then, on day nine, I enjoyed a quiet nightly descent:
"(…) Passing those tiny countryside villages on a bike was a quiet pleasure. Downhill, no pedaling = no noise, neither from drivetrain nor from the spokes, just the tyres and the wind."
As spoke tension seemed OK, and the wheel wasn’t wobbling, I managed to ignore the noise. But now and again it really bothered me that I had been careful to have practically every aspect of my bike checked or maintained professionally, on multiple occasions over the course of the year and immediately prior to the race.
Unfortunately, one of the check-ups had to be cut short. But knowing that I myself am always very diligent with regards to care and maintenance, and there had been no further issues cropping up, we decided to partly sit this one out.
My final preparatory tour, and first high mountain adventure in 2019, was a three-day ride (at leisurely pace) through the Jura mountains and into the Swiss Alps including the Grosse Scheidegg. It was on these tarmac and gravel climbs that I noticed a faint “singing” sound coming from my rear wheel.
The PR1400 OXiC wheels had been serviced at the German DTSwiss service workshop early in 2018. Since then, I had ridden over the Alps a couple of times and accumulated more than 10.000 kilometres on the wheelset. As my LBS was on vacation, I decided to ask another renowned shop to check spoke tension. And their owner and principal mechanic proudly reported that, yes, he had to work on virtually all spokes, as tension was very unevenly distributed.
I have no reason to doubt his craftsmanship. Neither do I doubt that DTSwiss serviced the wheels properly a year and a half ago.
But only about two weeks after that latest service came the TPR, and on day two, whenever I put pressure on the pedals, it made the rear wheel sound “click-cling … click-clang”. From earlier experience I tried to remedy it by dropping some wax-based lube on the spoke crossings. But whatever I seemed to gain from this treatment was more placebo than actual improvement.
Spoke Noise but Solid Wheel Peformance
As my route wound on over Parcours A, then through Andorra and in direction of the Mediterranean, the noise persisted, but no spokes broke, and the OXiC wheels carried me reliably. When another, more piercing sound joined to make this a duet, I focussed on that one (number four), and accepted defeat for the time being. Not true “Anti Noise” as used in Active Noise Cancelling, but whatever.
After my return from Biarritz to Germany, I thoroughly inspected and serviced my bike. The wheels looked good, but apart from the still unresolved spoke noise, I discovered some damage to the braking surface of the rims. More than I’d anticipated. And, in my mind, more than should be there with the OXiC treatment being really tough and having performed very well over the past years.
More than thirty years ago, I made it a habit of taking the direct, personal route when it comes to customer support. From my experience, good companies are those that offer good products and if they are really great, they also provide good service. And while telephone and Internet-based service options are often increasingly automated with layers and layers of computerized systems on top, all aiming at reducing the workload at the human support level — it is still the human factor that counts.
My experience taught me to be honest. To approach those humans working in customer service with the kind of frankness and honesty that I would want them to display towards myself. And when dealing with DTSwiss I was really happy how I always reached some actual person over the phone and via e-mail. I felt taken seriously and that I had every reason to trust them to make my wheels whole again.
Excellent Service & Transparent Diagnosis
A DTSwiss service engineer explained that they were aware of potential but rare issues with washers between spoke nipples and rims and that this could be fixed. He also wanted to have a look at the OXiC surface. They had me box-up the entire wheelset, including brake pads and quick release axle, and send everything in for assessment and service.
The wheels returned as good as new: DTSwiss had graciously exchanged the rear wheel and the front rim under warranty. New brake pads came with it, as well as a new rear wheel RWS quick release.
From a follow-up chat with their technician, I learned a lot about how to correctly break-in the brake surface and pads (more on that later), as well as sort-of understood what’s going on with the spokes, resp. spoke washers. But instead of me trying to explain something I only have very limited expertise on, I asked DTSwiss to provide some insight:
"Clicking Noise: We found ridges on a few spoke nipples, which were caused by some faulty and/or misaligned PHR washers. Small impulses on the spoke nipples, as they are usual on a spinning wheel, led to movements between the nipple and the washer in the area of the burrs, which could be identified as the source of the noise. The spoke nipples and the PHR washers have now been replaced, eliminating the noises."
Thanks & kudos to the girls and guys in Rheda-Wiedenbrück for another excellent service experience!
