"Hello darkness, my old friend..."
The days are getting noticeably longer now, but today I was late in leaving the office so returned to cycling home in the dark.
There is something somewhat magical about riding in the dark though so I didn’t mind too much. This is especially true when travelling along deserted country roads with no artificial lighting (apart from my bike light of course). It keeps your senses alert as you need extra concentration to look at the road ahead since visibility is reduced.
The Sound of Silence
As well as the above, with no convoy of vehicles trundling past, the peacefulness really helps to clear my mind and relax me for the night ahead. Usually you can only hear the wind blowing in your ears, the gentle rumbling of tyres on tarmac, the birds singing as you pass them in the trees and the occasional grunting as I make my way up any hills.
Unfortunately my silence this week has been gradually getting eroded. It has been a good month so far because the bike has been running nice and smooth and not needed anything other than cleaning. However, some of the tell-tale signs of work ahead have started to make themselves heard. Nothing is too bad at the moment but you get an inkling something is wrong by both listening and feeling how the bike rides. It probably won’t be long until I need to get some repairs or replacements done.
That’s not too big a worry though as the bike costs are well ahead for the year so far. Check out the How Much? page for details of the current savings.
As any cyclist will tell you, a quiet smooth running bike is a thing of beauty. If you can turn those cranks and only hear the gentle whirring of the wheels going round you are onto a winner. Stamping on the pedals, or pulling on the handlebars should not end up creakier than a rusted Tin Man. Unfortunately a bike is only truly silent roughly once every blue moon.
Broken Peace
Tracking down the source of noises can be a cause of endless frustration. It might be the bottom bracket needs replaced. Or maybe the headset bearings are finished. Perhaps the wheels are rubbing the frame, or the brakes, or the mudguards. Sometimes the pedal bearings can be worn out, or the wheel bearings. Even the spokes can click on a revolution where they cross one another. It could be the brakes that are rubbing, maybe only when it’s wet, or if they get dirt on them. Frayed or stretched gear cables can leave the indexing slightly out which causes constant clicking. All of these might happen when seated or out of the saddle. They might occur with a gentle motion or only when laying the power down. Maybe the cold makes it worse, or the heat. Or maybe Thursday nights on the 3rd week of the month…
As you can see, the list of possible issues is large. With experience you get to know which clicks correspond to which problem, but its not always easy to figure out. I suspect the main cause of my current clicking is the bottom bracket. Also, the gear indexing on the rear mech is a bit sticky so I might try changing the final piece of outer cable (the bit down at the rear mech, usually only a short piece but often the main cause of sticky changes).
The biggest and possibly most expensive issue might be the rear wheel, which just doesn’t sound right when freewheeling. The usual clicking sound has changed this week which might indicate the freehub is starting to wear out. I’ll run it for a while longer though to see if it gets any worse.
For now though I’ll just need to try and tune out the squeaks and try to focus on the sound of silence as I make my way home.
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