Loud clunk / bang when hitting a pothole

[tuffty]

I've just taken delivery of a Whyte Suffolk (disc-braked road bike) and noticed on my first ride there was quite a loud "bang" noise when I failed to avoid a reasonable sized pothole. This happened 3 times on a 23 mile ride so only on bigger holes / impacts. The bang is definitely coming from the front end somewhere. At first I thought it was a spoke snapping but they were all fine. Double checked that all the stem fasteners were done up tightly from where I'd swapped the spacers over on the bars and they were all torqued correctly. Ditto the skewer for the front wheel, done up nice and tight. Only other thing I could really think of was the disc hitting the inside of the caliper but I can't feel any movement in there at all. Anyone any ideas please?

 

[Dusty Bin]

Sounds like your headset is loose. If you can feel movement when rocking the bike forward with the front brake on, there's your answer..

 

[Irish_Marty]

Yeah it could be the headset. Try pushing forward and pulling backwards on your handlebars, there shouldn't be any movement.
I've hit potholes puncturing both tyres. They're a nuisance.

 

[Mile195]

If it's that loud, do check your forks thoroughly for damage.

I was once forced into a pothole by some fool who tried to overtake me on a tight bend. The pothole was about 3 inches deep.

All seemed well until I got to the next set of lights and braked and I heard a "crack". After that the bike didn't handle so well. Cycled home very very slowly and on inspection turned out forks had cracked on both sides. The only thing holding them together was some clear protective tape I'd put on them.

I'm sure they're fine in your case and indeed the headset sounds a more likely culprit, but best to be safe than sorry and all that.

 

[tuffty]

OK thanks all, I'll check the headset tonight when I get home. I'm 99% sure the forks are OK because I took the wheels off later to put the bike in the car and had a good look at everything then but will recheck.

 

[ColinJ]

I don't mean to be funny, but hitting 3 big potholes in 23 miles is too much. The roads round here are in a pretty grim state but I'd say that I probably hit less than 1 pothole per 230 miles!

It doesn't answer the question about the mysterious noise, but it would help if you didn't hit so many potholes. Scan the road ahead so you spot the holes before you get to them, and choose your line to avoid them. If there are so many that you can't avoid them, then at least consider bunnyhopping over them rather than just hitting them.

 

[Crackle]

Check the disc caliper, it wouldn't be the first bike I've known to have a loose disc caliper on leaving the shop.

 

[Flying Dodo]

At the risk of stating the obvious, what's the pressure in your front tyre?

 

[tuffty]

Check the disc caliper, it wouldn't be the first bike I've known to have a loose disc caliper on leaving the shop.

Was the right answer. I was pretty sure I'd done the headset up tightly after swapping the spacer and wouldn't have thought to check the calipers, so thanks for this.

And ColinJ - yes I realise that's poor riding, it's what comes of being bikeless for a month then going for your first ride with someone who is faster than you at the best of times. Its hard to plot a straight course when you're blowing out both holes :-)

 

[ColinJ]

And ColinJ - yes I realise that's poor riding, it's what comes of being bikeless for a month then going for your first ride with someone who is faster than you at the best of times. Its hard to plot a straight course when you're blowing out both holes :-)

I was glued to the back wheel of a fitter mate once when he suddenly swerved to avoid a house brick lying in the road. I couldn't avoid it, hit it hard and got a snakebite puncture on my front wheel. I don't know how I managed to avoid crashing ...