Odd clunking noise from rear wheel

[dmohalloran]

Hi

I'm looking for advice. I've always felt my rear wheel was a bit wobbly. But not thought too much about it. My bike is a cannondale synapse road bike, 3 months old. After the run of bad weather in the uk and a sale at Halfords I got a turbo trainer. I set it up and spent about 30 minutes on it. After taking the bike off I noticed a clunking sound that seemed to come from the hub. The wheel wobbles more now. I'm only new to the forum and may not be able to post a video yet. But I will when I can. I've put it on Facebook (on a bike repair workshop page) in case people want to check it out.

I should also say I took the wheel off and cleaned it and decreased the sprockets as they seemed a bit dirty. I regressed the chain afterwards. (I don't think this is relevant but wanted to mention).

Sorry for the long post. Any ideas why a wheel would clunk after being used on a turbo trainer?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

If you hold the frame steady can you move the rear wheel from side to side at the top? Just hold the rim and see if it will move in the direction it is not meant to. ie 90 degrees to rotation.

 

[zacklaws]

I've had a lot of problems with rear wheels, Mavic Kysyrium Equipe's in particular this past two years, usually the first sign is that you feel the rear wheel doing its own thing as you ride, usually a cracked rim, spoke nipples pulling out of the rim and on the last occasion, the plastic centre at the hub which holds the spokes in place cracking.

Another cause could be the bearings especcially when its "clunking", mine used to do that when the cones lost all its grease or maybe the bearings are loose. Knowing what type of bearings or wheel it is would help forum users be a bit more helpful, are they sealed bearings, cup or cone bearings? Or it could be a combination of two things, bearings causing the clunking, but the wheel wobbling because its buckled.

Is the wobble always in the same place or random? Have you a broken spoke?

If you try what the above poster has posted and find lateral movement, then it is a sign of loose bearings, It could be worn bearings, but unless you ride a lot, not in 3 months so that rules that out

 

[Globalti]

Or a broken axle.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

If you try what the above poster has posted and find lateral movement, then it is a sign of loose bearings, It could be worn bearings, but unless you ride a lot, not in 3 months so that rules that out

It is also entirely possible that the cone nuts have come loose slightly which can allow sealed bearings to move out of position... I know this because it happened to my wheels not long after I changed the bearings. I didn't tighten the nuts up right enough afterwards and was left thinking that the new ones were crap.. They weren't, it was just my fault and my thoughts were that something similar could have happened with a new bike quite easily.

It is also possible that the quick release skewer is not tight enough as well.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Have you checked your knees?

 

[dmohalloran]

Hi.
Thanks for the responses. The wheel is a Maddox rs3.0 32 hole. The hub is a cannondale c4. I can't find any more info about the Hubs or the bearings. The bike is a cannondale synapse Claris 8 2014 model.

There is no wobble or give when the frame is held and the wheel is pushed from side to side.

Also the qr skewer is on tight, but not too tight. I played around with it and that makes no difference.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Then it is possible you have a buckled wheel and/or broken spoke. If your bike has v brakes, spin the rest wheel and watch to see if the rim get closer to the brake blocks or not. If the rim gets closer to the blocks you have a buckled wheel but I would be surprised if it was making a noise, usually you just feel it.

 

[zacklaws]

Having checked for play in the bearings and found non, I now take it that the wheel has no wobble or lateral movement when you just hold the frame off the ground and just spin the wheel and it only wobbles when you are actually riding it.

Do you actually see the wobble whilst riding or sense it wobbling. Another cause could be a poorly fitted tyre, or even a fault with the tyre which would cause a wobble, but not the clunking.