Spoke creaks on rebuilt wheel
I had my rear wheel rebuilt in June after I broke a second spoke somewhere between mile 50-75 of a 100 mile ride. (had to get back somehow!). Initially, I was just going to have the spoke repaired, but the mechanic called and said the wheel was falling apart in his hands and suggested that I should just have the wheel rebuilt. So I did. So I know I'm really paranoid about the condition of this wheel. since I had only ridden it about 1200 miles before it fell apart in this way. But anyway, I've put about 200 miles on the rebuilt wheel and it has been making funny, creaking, pinging sounds for the last 120 of those miles. They are very faint sounds, and are apparently so faint that the mechanic couldn't hear them when I took the bike back in. He rode the bike and tried to stress it as much as he could by riding up hill in the big ring with the brakes on (!!!?). I probably weigh 50-80 pounds more than the mechanic, but he didn't want to hear about the weight issue. I think he was only hearing criticism of the job he did (which was simply not the case) In fact all the mechanics in the shop rode the darn thing and didn't hear the sound. They also examined th wheel and determined that it was still in true and that nothing LOOKED out of the ordinary, so I took it home. But it still creaks and pings when I ride it. My husband and others have heard it while out on rides. Am I just being paranoid, or does it sound like there could be a problem? I am really reluctant to bring it back to the shop because they now think I'm some sort of bicycle hypocondriac...
Spoke creaks with rebuilt wheel
Great effort to find where the spokes were creaking!! I aplaud your efforts and concern for your wheels... I wish more people were that diligent.
I agree with Deb that you should be on a 36 spoke wheel, and Mavic or Velocity would be a good choice for rims. I built a wheel for a gentleman that is a bit heavier than you, he also has extremely strong legs, so he flexes the frame and the wheel with each pedal stroke. I built him a 36 spoke wheel with an Ultegra hub, Mavic rim and he has been riding that wheel for several weeks now. It may be a bit more expensive to go this way, but in the long run it will work well for you. Congradulations for losing weight while riding!