Mavic Cosmos Noises / Old Rolf Sestiere Rims

I have a set of Mavic Cosmos wheels on the Litespeed that I bought
this year. The rear wheel started making a rythmic rubbing noise, not
unlike what a dragging brake sounds like (it's not rubbing anything).
It does not make the noise un-loaded, but I can replicate it by
pressing down on the seat and pushing the bike along. I had my LBS
tighten the spokes (the mechanic said he added almost 2 turns to each
spoke to get them up to tension), which cured it for maybe 30 miles.

Recently the front wheel has started to creak when I stand up on the
peddles. At first I thought it was the bottom bracket, so I removed it
and put new Teflon tape on the threads. I also greased the seal and
checked the peddles, which are nice and lubed, just to make sure. I
checked the headset and headset bearings as well, just in case. I'm
now about 93.7% sure it's the front wheel.

I took the whole bike into my LBS (same mechanic that re-tensioned the
spokes) Saturday, and he checked the spoke tension of both wheels,
stating they were fine. He heard the noise when rolling it on the
floor while putting weight on the seat. He told me that this is pretty
common with Mavic wheels, that there is a pin in the rim used to hold
the wheel together for welding that can get loose and make noise, and
the alluminum eyelets get loose and make noise. I did some research on
Monday on the net, and found that noisy Mavic rims were not unusual. I
found that I might be able to remove the pins, and that cleaning and
oiling the eyelets might help with the noise, but it was usually a
short lived fix. My rims have about 1,500 miles on them.

My GF has a set of Rolf Sestiere wheels she took off because the rims
are getting pretty scored. Well, that and she wanted new wheels (Rolf
Prima Vector's). Sunday I mounted up new Michlen ProRace tires with
new tubes onto the old Sestiere wheels. I have not ridden the bike yet
with the Rolf's, but they look nice and are nice and light (compared
to the Mavic's). I'm a little concerend about the brake area; although
they are not that thin yet, they are groved pretty bad.

Questions:
1) Is it normal for Mavic rims (or just low-end Mavic rims) to get
noisy and stay that way? Are there any that are better than others?
(i.e., would putting Open Pro rims on my Cosmos hubs be worthwhile?)
Currently, I'm not impressed with the Mavics if they get this noisy
after only 1,500 miles. I am going to de-mpunt the tires and try all
the fixes I found on the web.

2) Can I get new rims for the Rolf's? These are the ones built by
Trek, and Rolf Prima does not service them according to their website.
Trek now does Bontrager wheels (the Race Xlite are very like these
Rolf's). The Rolf's use "paired spokes" and are 20/24 spoke. If I am
going to invest money, my preference would be to get the Rolf's
re-rimmed, and either sell the Cosmos or keep them for winter spares.

Thanks, Ken
Newbie Roadie

Questions:
1) Is it normal for Mavic rims (or just low-end Mavic rims) to get
noisy and stay that way? Are there any that are better than others?
(i.e., would putting Open Pro rims on my Cosmos hubs be worthwhile?)
Currently, I'm not impressed with the Mavics if they get this noisy
after only 1,500 miles. I am going to de-mpunt the tires and try all
the fixes I found on the web.

I have a set of Mavics and started to hear the clicking/rub noise around
about 1000 miles. I think I found the fix here, but it may have been
somewhere else, but a very small drop of chain oil in each eyelet actually
FIXED the noise (for about a year). They just started up again about a
month ago so I re-applied the drops (fixed again). Someone here said that
riding in wet weather will push the oil out faster and you will have to put
drops in more frequently, but I try to stay out of the rain. Fair weather
rider unless caught in a storm.

I've ridden Mavic wheels for years because they are everywhere. Last year I
got away from Mavics on my mountain bike (Bontrager), and I've been really
happy with the decision. Still have the Mavics on my road bike, but just
itching to swap them out with some Bonts. As you might guess, there is no
Mavic in my future.

KD- I have a set of Mavic Cosmos wheels on the Litespeed that I bought
this year. BRBR

These hubs and nipples are really noisy. Have the LBS take apart both hubs,
clean, oil and grease. Also a bit of lube where the sppkes enter the rima dna
hub.

Geezzz..go see a wheelbuilder of note that will take some hubs, Campagnolo or
shimano, some rims, like those from Velocity and design a wheelset specifically
for you and your GF. Light, reliable, common parts, cheaper.

http://www.velocityusa.com

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

On 04 Aug 2004 12:45:30 GMT, (Qui si parla
Campagnolo ) wrote:

KD- I have a set of Mavic Cosmos wheels on the Litespeed that I bought
this year. BRBR

These hubs and nipples are really noisy. Have the LBS take apart both hubs,
clean, oil and grease. Also a bit of lube where the sppkes enter the rima dna
hub.

OK, I'll try that first.

Geezzz..go see a wheelbuilder of note that will take some hubs, Campagnolo or
shimano, some rims, like those from Velocity and design a wheelset specifically
for you and your GF. Light, reliable, common parts, cheaper.

http://www.velocityusa.com

That is kind of what I have in mind, using the Rolf hubs, which are
light, and I have. OTOH, the Rolf's freewhell is one of the noisiest
around. At least I can hear the GF coming up behind me (sledom) or
know when I'm catching her!

Ken

On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 09:57:55 -0700, KD kmorton.at.dsl-only.net@
wrote:

That is kind of what I have in mind, using the Rolf hubs, which are
light, and I have. OTOH, the Rolf's freewhell is one of the noisiest
around. At least I can hear the GF coming up behind me (sledom) or
know when I'm catching her!

Ken

Consider simply sanding the Rolfs smooth, and check that the brake
pads are not the evil kind:
http://www.chainreaction.com/brakeshoes.htm

Also maybe get some of that special grease for the star ratchet.
Really makes it a lot quieter.

"Qui si parla Campagnolo " wrote . Have the LBS take
apart both hubs,
clean, oil and grease. Also a bit of lube where the sppkes enter the rima
dna
hub.

Hi Peter,

What oil/grease/lube do you recommend on spokes and nipples when building a
new wheel? I've noticed that Sheldon has come under some critcism for
suggesting blue Loctite on his website. Are commercial products like
SpokePrep better than off-the-hardware-store-shelf products?

Thanks,

Bow

bow- What oil/grease/lube do you recommend on spokes and nipples when
building a
new wheel? BRBR

I use Mobil One for the nipple to rim interface and boiled lindseed oil for the
spoke to nipple interface. NEVER loctite.

Spocprep stuff, like wheelsmith smell like ammonia(?) and are expensive. Any
kinda lube will work, But the build is the most important part.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 20:05:20 -0500, dianne_1234
wrote:

Consider simply sanding the Rolfs smooth, and check that the brake
pads are not the evil kind:
http://www.chainreaction.com/brakeshoes.htm

Damn, that looks just like the Dura-Ace pads I pulled off her Trek!

Also maybe get some of that special grease for the star ratchet.
Really makes it a lot quieter.

Tell me more!

Ken

Check the thickness of the brake surfaces, they can wear too thin and
fail catastrophically. Sanding isn't recommended.

You can get the rims replaced with the Bontrager as they are nearly
identical. Unless you can find an inside source, its shipping off to
Trek/Bontrager.

What you need to look at in addition is cracking of the spoke holes.
The Sestrieres have this problem.

Special grease? Just use Phil Wood. Make sure all the old stuff is
cleaned out.


--
Weisse Luft

On Thu, 05 Aug 2004 14:03:03 -0700, KD kmorton.at.dsl-only.net@
wrote:

On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 20:05:20 -0500, dianne_1234
wrote:

Also maybe get some of that special grease for the star ratchet.
Really makes it a lot quieter.

Tell me more!

Ken

Try a Trek dealer; I think Trek carries little tubs of the DT special
grease.

From page 4 in this document
http://www.dtswiss.com/data/files/MA...0105140837.pdf
"DT special grease Art.Nr. vFett20"


Same document, from page 24:
"CAUTION :
Never use normal grease in the freewheel mechanism,
because this will impair the function of the star ratchet
teeth. Only use DT Swiss recommended special grease
for this procedure !"