Tonight's Gameshow: Name That Noise

[Kstone]

Alright, so a few of you saw in another post how my niave self tried to bike to work after having a shop change my tires for me.
Didn't take long before I was doing to walk of shame home.
I brought her back in to the shop, thinking, hey guys... She was fine when I left her with you...sooo I kind of blame you all right now for this noise...
So I shook my fist in the most frightening way my little self could. Their excuse was, "it's old so it makes lots of creaking noises." Insert eyeroll.

Was hoping maybe to get some insight and help from you all....
So here's the deal....

This is a new noise. Its coming from up front. It makes a "fwap" sound. Kind of like I'm running over rocks and they are hitting my fender, except that is not the case.
Nothing is obviously rubbing. Nothing is obviously loose. I took the tire off and put it back on. That didn't change anything. The front springs seem uncompromised. They hold tension with no qualms, came off and were reattached with no concerning issues. The fork seems fine. I checked the hardware in the front in general for obvious cracks.

The noise will happen if I'm peddling or coasting. It doesn't happen despite how hard I bounce up and down and stress the shocks. It does not happen any more than usual whether I'm turning or on a straight away.
It does happen, (however it is quieter), when I am walking beside her.
It doesn't happen in a pattern. It's just random every few seconds. It happens when she is upside down and I am spinning her front tire. I can also feel the vibration/noise in the handlebars when I'm riding.
It's definitely getting worse. I did about 6 blocks of riding and haven't been on her since.

The bike shop is convinced it has nothing to do with the front tire, bearings, or hub. Do I believe them? No... however, I don't know what I'm doing so I'm not apt to believe I'm right about much of anything. But I would not generally believe their advice after I took her in originally and they bawked and tried to assert to me for five minutes that she is a Schwinn, which they can't service, and want nothing to do with.... Rant aside...

They claim that it could be happening from something such as the seat springs and that it's being amplified through the tank and echoing so it sounds like the front end is doing that. I call BS. They then jostled my whole bike violently around to prove that she creaks and rattles. Thanks Einstein.

They also said it could be the head tube. Which I am more inclined to believe. It's rusted tight to be honest. They believe the bearings are rusted and she needs serviced. I took her home to PB blast that tonight in hopes maybe it's a bearing in there that's making the noise? It would make sense as to how I can feel it in the handlebars...but what doesn't add up is the noise when I flip her over.

Here are two videos of the noise. One where I'm riding her. The next on the side of the road spinning the tire madly as people drive by looking at the crazy girl talking to herself.


Thanks for any and all help guys.

 

[Krakatoa]

Front hub bearings toast on one side? Maybe intermittent contact with fender brace from tire runout. Loose spoke(s). Is there anything contacting the wheel from inside the fender? How is fender held to bottom of fork?

 

[redline1968]

Bearings are too tight

 

[2jakes]

Do you have another front wheel that you can install
to see if it’s still making the noise?

I had a chain on one of my bikes that would skip and go out of alignment.
I thought it was the rear wheel hub.
I replaced the rear wheel with another one that I knew was good.
I tested it and the chain was still skipping.

I found out it was the chain sprocket that was slightly warped.
I replaced the sprocket and the skipping is gone.

So I would suggest using another wheel that you know is good.
If it’s still making the noise then it’s not the wheel.
Also have some one else spin the bike and you concentrate
to see if you can pin point on where the noise is coming from.

Good Luck ,
jake.

 

[mike j]

I agree, bearings. Open it up in an area where you can find them if they fall out. Sounds like you have a cracked one in there. Use the red grease if you can find it. I've been to a few bike shops, some are really helpful & some have attitudes. The good ones usually have spare parts stashes. Keep at it & you'll figure it out, Good luck.

 

[bulldog1935]

Up front, this is an editorial post.
This hobby can become crazy expensive if you depend on your LBS for work.
For me, the greatest part of the fun is the building (ok, maybe it's the showing off), and I use my LBS for tasks where their tools far exceed what I can come up with.
If you really want to use a bike shop, find yourself a "barrio" bike shop where most of what they do is not build up new bikes from the crate, but work on stuff for the neighborhood kids. They'll have the skills and patience you'd rather deal with. Even better, if your community has something like a monthly Frankenbike, go there and meet people. You'll find bike mechanics with the same enthusiasm about your bike that you have.
http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/frankenbike-once-a-month-in-austin-san-antonio.109215/

There was a guy in RBW google groups who reported about building a modern utility bike from an old Motobecane frame. He spent $1800 at his LBS on the project, and questioned its value - I'm sure his LBS loved it, but he could have done it himself for a third of that amount with good shopping, he wouldn't have questioned anything, and the bike's value to him would have been improved.

 

[fattyre]

Another vote here for bearings. Like others have mentioned, switch wheels and see what happens.

 

[Kstone]

Thanks guys. I'll grab the tire off my girls bike after work today and see what happens.


First time I took her to a bike shop honestly. I didn't have anyone to teach me how to change tires and my family lives states away. Next time I'll be more patient I guess
I appreciate you all walking me through stuff and answering my questions, and have been fortunate that with all your help, I've been able to do everything at home so far.

 

[partsguy]

Sounds like the front wheel bearings might be bad or they could have warped the wheel trying to get the tire off and it needs to be trued.

In either case...you need a new LBS mechanic.Mine does all of my truing for me, as I lack the knowledge, time, or patience.

Then again, my LBS is vintage friendly. There is a early 60's Schwinn Panther in the shop window for sale, two very early road bikes hanging by by the ceiling over the clothing display, and old bikes do come in once in a while for work. Seeing things like a 1971 Schwinn tandem or my '65 Silver Jet put on the modern workstand was kinda funny. That teeny weeny stand can hold such heavy bikes!

 

[StoneWoods]

I say the spokes are to tight and they are creaking in rotation of the wheel