A bicycle truth: every strange, hard-to-find noise will eventually be traced to a bearing. :cool:

I've had this annoying, subtle, erratic noise on my Specialized Tarmac the last 2 weeks. Sort of like pinging spokes, but not quite. Rotational for sure. Any gear, coasting or not, noise increased when riding no-handed! For sure it was coming from the front :rolleyes: Finally, I figured it out: it must be a small loose piece of metal inside the aero part of the rim. Took the tire off and blew the rim out with compressed air. No change. Finally, I swapped the front wheel out - no change. Swapped the rear wheel out - noise gone. Took a closer look and the axle nut was loose ?! Further looking and found the derailleur hanger was loose ?! This hub (Roval with Dura-Ace cassette) has a single, full-width sealed bearing. Anyway, everything is tight, right, and Loc-tight now. Not the bearing itself, but the nut holding it in place. Problem solved! :rolleyes:

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Super cool bike shop in Kitty Hawk N.C. Dude collects all sorts of old stuff, has a bunch of 1980's bikes.

^^^ Nice. I'd like to spend some time browsing in there :cool:

He had some vitus, 70's motobecane, and Treks, but also original 26inch front/24 inch rear cannondale mtb from about 85? I just about walked out with an 'older' madone that I didn't even need because he made such a good deal on it. Dude stocks tubular tires on the wall. Who even does that anymore? Specially in a beach bike setting.

Fausto Coppi 1956

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Got a new saddle. Tore up my old one from my last crash when it suddenly rain a little. Rear wheel slid out on a turn. Now, I have a creaking. I discovered it was the new seat's rail. Not the parts that is clamped by the seat post but the part that goes to the bottom of the seat. I called the shop. No dice. They basically said, call mfg. Pulling my hair out when I am out riding alone. Grope ride is more intense, so I have to focus on others and its pretty noise. But, I hear it every pedal stroke or when my butt moves on it.

So annoying :mad: Is there any way to spray some silicone between the rail and saddle material?? Or maybe take a heat gun and see if you can make something change. That would drive me nuts.

Also: it could be between the rails and clamp. Might try some carbon paste, re-attach and tighten.

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UCI TT Specs.

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What is the advantage to this new wide fork design by Factor? I've read something about added stiffness but that doesn't really make sense to me.

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my limited YT understanding is that it supposedly blocks the air more inline with where the legs are (which is going to block air anyway)-Indoor track bikes are big into this design- but perhaps even more marginally importantly, having a tight clearance between the tire and the forks creates more vortices and drag than having a lot of space to reduce pressure. This makes a bit of sense for me near the fork crown, where the top of the tire and spokes are pushing air (frontwards?) as it spins, and the forks themselves are pushing air (rearwards) into the same tight area as the bike moves forward.

This was from watching some Dylan Johnson gravel video where his suspension gravel fork was more aero than his stock gravel fork (in a wind tunnel). The suspension fork looked very un- aero, but has wide space for air to flow through, so it reduced wattage. He and the wind tunnel guy were surprised by the results, but that's what they concluded.
I'm going to go put on my aero socks now and go ride :)

^^^ OK, that makes some sense. I noticed BMC has a wide fork as well.

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I want to throw the thing out the window already. Only good thing was, I didn't hear a sound this morning because I was busy on a break away with 5 others (It doesn't happen often). One dead beat, the other two were hanging on dear life. Myself and another guy were working like hell trying to stay away. We were successful for about 5-6 miles of rollers. It nearly killed me so no time to listen to a creaky saddle.

Tighten the hell out of the clamp already. Calls for 10Nm, but I am up to 12 with carbon paste. I discovered it wasn't the rail and clamp. When I move my fat ass around, it sure lets me know. I dripped 3in1 oil on all the contact points where the rails meet the saddle. No dice. I am going to buy a new saddle.

Tell me about your heat gun suggestion?

I noticed them on British track riders couple years back.

I just spent about a week and a half with a creak. First thing I checked was my seatpost into the frame. Didn't see anything, so I mucked around with the pedals, the derailleur, the thru axles, the cassette, the headset, the chainline, the bottom bracket, the bb axle spline and bolts.

Pulling my hair out. I was hating the bike.

I took one more look at the seatpost where it fits into the frame. This time I saw a dry spot about as big as my little fingernail. A smear of carbon paste and now I'm ridin' quiet again. What the actual F? Did I just miss it the first time around?

I chased one for a few weeks. finally found it It was my sunglasses just barely rubbing on my helmet.

That's awesome! :D I love tracking down noises on bikes ...

**My heat gun suggestion was just thinking that maybe some heat/cool cycles might alter the material (either rail to saddle, saddle itself, or rails) just enough to make a difference.