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I have recently bought a boardman pro 29er from Halfords (cycle to work).

I like it and I'm enjoying riding it for the most part however there is a noise.

Whenever I'm in a high gear (largest front cog, smallest back cog) and I'm at cruising speed, pedals moving but not too much force being applied I start to hear an intermittent rattly/springy sound. It's a hard noise to explain. It almost sounds like there is a loose spring tinkling against a spoke. It's a really difficult noise to pin point.

I've wiggled and shook everything I can get my finger on and cannot see anything loose. The only thing I noticed was the dérailleur clutch was set to the off position.

I plan on taking it back to halfords to fix after the weekend but I just wondered if anyone had any idea what this might be.

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    Sounds like the front derailleur. Check to see if it's rubbing on the chain when you're in the big ring up front
    – BSO rider
    Commented Aug 14, 2015 at 21:23
  • I've checked that and it doesn't appear to be. I have only managed to look closely while the bike has been propped up in my garage. It only seems to rattle when I'm on the bike. The terrain doesn't necessarily have to be rough either.
    – jaywayco
    Commented Aug 14, 2015 at 21:26
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    Three possibilities: 1) The seat. You can get a number of odd sounds out of some seats. 2) The front derailer. Often the chain guides will lightly brush the chain, but only in certain gear combos. 3) The spokes. You can get an irregular "ting ... ting ... ting" from spokes as they rub together, especially on new wheels. You usually only get this sort of spoke noise at fairly high speed while cruising, for some reason.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented Aug 14, 2015 at 21:56
  • Had the bike back to the store and they are stumped at what the noise is. They are now waiting for a second opinion which will mean I'm without my bike for another 4-5 days. The bike is only 3 weeks old
    – jaywayco
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 13:26

1 Answer 1

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So eventually it seems I figured it out!

The chain was indeed vibrating like a guitar string at speed. This was caused by a couple of rear gears ever so slightly out of alignment. They shifted ok but I could see the chain was marginally catching on some rear cogs.

A small adjustment of the gears with the dial on the gear shift and a good grease of the chain and it was running silent :)

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  • Good spotting, and thank you for posting the followup. Its handy for later searchers to have verified answers to questions. +1
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 9:02

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