So the bike started making a weird whistling squeak. Noises on a bike are never a good sign, but it took me nearly two weeks to banish this one…
Differential diagnosis:
- Toward the rear: not pedals, not chainring
- Only while pedaling: not sprocket cluster bearings
- Depends on chain speed: not sprocket
Conclusion: it’s the chain.
My shop assistant had done a massive chain-cleaning and lubricating exercise when we got back from vacation, so I guessed that a few links (of 250-ish) had escaped proper lube. I gave ’em a dose that didn’t help, so I went Old Skool on the thing.
Coiled it flat in a saucer, immersed it in denatured alcohol to displace air and water-based cleaner inside the links, then drained the alcohol. Poured a generous layer of light machine oil over the whole affair, let it sit for a day. Drained for a pair of rainy days by hanging from a floor joist in the basement. Used up a bunch of rags while wiping the thing down (I have an oily-waste can, they’re not sitting in a wastebasket).
Put it back on the bike, only to discover the chain was now vibrating something awful. Checked the rear end and found that I’d managed to route the chain through the rear derailleur along almost the right path…
Fixed that and the squeak was still there. OK, it’s not the chain.
The only remaining possibility: derailleur jockey pulleys.
Took ’em off without dismounting the derailleur and, lo and behold, the steel-on-plastic bearing surfaces were bone dry and a bit dusty. They’re supposed to be self-lubricating, which is probably true for the first few thousand miles, but I cleaned ’em out and added a dab of grease.
Problem solved… for a while, at least.
The only downside is that the chain will be flinging oil for the next month, no matter how often I wipe it down. There’s a good reason I stopped using light machine oil on chains!
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
Comments
2 responses to “Banishing a Mysterious Rear-Wheel Squeak”
I misrouted a chain after breaking it doing something stupid, the other day, and boy did that make the drivetrain feel weird. It’s amazing how many times I’ve done that, too. Grumble.
Have you thought about sealed derailleur bearings? I’ve had mostly good luck with them on the mountain bike, and it’s sure a hassle cleaning standard pulleys on a regular basis. I say ‘mostly good’ because I’ve had at least one upper pulley that jammed — they’ve some sideways play on the upper bolt and it was poorly sized — so index shifting wasn’t very pretty unless I spent a lot of time aligning it so the pulley didn’t need to translate sideways to be in the right location.
sealed derailleur bearings?
It’s crossed my mind, what with Phil hubs and a cartridge BB, but these things are so proprietary nowadays that I doubt there’s any aftermarket thing that’ll absolutely-for-sure fit.
Of course, that hasn’t stopped me from fixing the craptastic Tour Easy return-side chain tensioner. I’ll rummage around and put up some pix of that one; it’s an old project that just keeps on working.
[Update: There!]