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Been very frustrated with this. On my genesis croix de fer (less than 1 year old) I get a squeak or squeal that gets progressively worse as I ride. Particularly when going over rough ground or when I'm out the saddle. It almost feels as if the wheel is loose but that could be my imagination. Certainly worse when I put weight over the front of the bike.

I took it into the local shop who couldn't find anything wrong, just tightened up the QR send sent me on my way - lasted about 2k before starting up again.

Then was able to get a different wheelset (same QR skewers) and it works absolutely perfectly. New wheelset is road rather than gravel and significantly lighter with a smaller brake rotor.

My feeling is that the axle is not sitting correctly in the dropout or it's coming loose but no one believes me.

Essentially, I know the skewers are fine, I know the fork is okay, there's no misalignment on the brake pad that I can see (it's not a scraping noise and it doesn't happen all the time). Shop says the wheel is mechanically fine. Totally stuck and very frustrated.

Any assistance much appreciated!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mlcZcyBoUj6IhsHSVwEUAsE0cmUMqzoR/view?usp=drivesdk

Hopefully this video of the issue works/is useful!

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  • does the squeal happen when you apply the brakes or even when the brakes are fully open?
    – Paul H
    Commented Aug 22, 2023 at 19:23
  • Thanks Paul - squeal is totally independent of what I'm doing with the brake as far as I can tell. Noise more frequent when turning slowly or going quickly over rougher ground
    – Ally M
    Commented Aug 22, 2023 at 19:26
  • when you take the wheel out of the fork, how smooth do the bearings feel as they spin?
    – Paul H
    Commented Aug 22, 2023 at 19:27
  • They seem fine to me and the guys in the shop say the wheel is working as expected
    – Ally M
    Commented Aug 22, 2023 at 19:29
  • Hi, welcome to bicycles! Is there any way you could get someone to ride along with you and get some video of this?
    – DavidW
    Commented Aug 22, 2023 at 19:46

1 Answer 1

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Got to the bottom of it. Was the mudguard! Tyres are thick and pretty knobbly and it was rubbing and squeaking against the mudguard.

Not what I expected but just glad it's resolved. Will invest in some thinner tyres

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  • Glad you figured it out! Tracking down a "weird noise" on a bike is one of the great challenges. FYI, you can mark your own answer as the correct one. (the check mark near the upper left corner of your answer).
    – SSilk
    Commented Sep 1, 2023 at 6:30
  • Some mudguards also allow some level of adjustment, that can be better than replacing the tires. Based on the video: the plastic part that attaches to the fork often have a bolt that allow to move the rod connecting this part and the mudguard.
    – Rеnаud
    Commented Sep 1, 2023 at 9:22

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