Everyone has experienced it....

At TW last week I had a scare while riding a line of small doubles. I heard a distinct scraping sound coming from the drivetrain area of the bike. Upon inspection I found the problem, a loose rear QR. I tightened it and hiked back for another run.

Much to my dismay the same exact sound occurred on my next run. WTF!!??? Freaked out, I flipped the bike but could find nothing wrong. The sound kept coming back every time the bike was in motion. I couldn't figure it out even after stripping the bike down when I got home. I cleaned everything and put it back together but riding around the block, the scraping sound was still there. It sounded like v-brakes worn down to the metal backing scraping against rim sidewall. The only thing I could think of is that the rr hub internals were shot - nothing else made sense.

With a trip to UT coming up next Thurs I needed to solve the problem asap, so I tracked down a bargain on ebay and ordered up a new rr wheel. Well, I installed that wheel tonite and on a test ride the F'ing sound was still there! WTF!! I checked EVERYTHING again from loose derailler parts to shock to rotors to brakes but everything seemed perfect, til I would hit a bump on the road - then the sound would return. But what could move upon hitting a bump and then make this noise?

I'll tell you what....I saw it and thought - no that would be way too easy, but it can't be anything else. So I grabbed the 2" long piece of excess front derailler cable sticking out and bent it back away from the rr wheel. Sure enough, no more scraping sound. Turns out when the suspension was compressing this cable end was getting caught and dragging on knobs on the rr tire momentarily. I have no idea why this started happening all of a sudden but that's what it was.

Nominate me for the fail bike if you like, but at least my bike is running quietly again.

nicely done Evan, I have the same problem for a year but haven't figure it out yet where the noise is coming from even after replacing some bike parts.
Maybe is the bike I need to replace.

I think you might be onto something there...

That happened to me once. Fortunately, I saw it right away and didn't have the drama you did. At least you have a back-up rear wheel now!

. . . and your bike is all tuned up for Utah.

_________________
A bicycle is a splendid thing.
~Ernest Hemingway

Actually, three...it came with a 20mm front wheel and a new mavic 521 rim also.

That rear wheel is a cheap mavic one and well past the life I expected it to have anyways, so I'm glad I found the deal that I did.

And yes, now my bike is dialled!

[quote="PacMan"]That happened to me once...quote]

Me too...

_________________
Thus, if we are to understand the world, we should live somewhere between judgement and amazement — Alfredo Lopez Austin