weird sound

[Kooler]

I have a Rize Leisure with 1400 km. Whenever I'm travelling above 20 km/hr, I hear a rattling or scrapping sound (kinda sounds like a blackbird chirping) from the front wheel or fender. Even when coasting above 20 km/hr. As soon as I slow down, it stops. I've tightened all fender screws and bolts. Any ideas?

 

[JRA]

Check your front hub bearings

 

[Kooler]

Check your front hub bearings

will do, thanks.

 

[Kooler]

I had the bearings checked, not the issue. Has anyone else had this happen?

 

[AHicks]

Loose spokes?

Did whoever checked the bearings add a little dab of grease to the bearing seals? They can make you nuts if too dry.

Don't assume this noise is relevant to your model e-bike, or even e-bikes in general. The front of your bike is no different than any other bike on the road. Components are fairly generic.

 

[tarhead]

It can be difficult to pinpoint the exact source of any noise while riding. Does the Leisure have an adjustable handlebar stem? If so, check that the hex bolts are tight; the ones on my RX Pro came loose a couple of times and resulted in clicks and squeaks.

 

[PedalUma]

My bet is that something is acting as a centrifugal governor. It is expanding with speed. A tire can do this. Particularly if it is fat and low pressure. Spin it fast and it expands out. Slow down the spinning and it contracts again. Place some chalk at the closest part of the fender to the tire. The brakes could also be rubbing with a speed wobble. That will chirp.

 

[Nashville615]

I had this problem on my RX pro and it drove me nuts. Spent hours watching YouTube videos on bike noises to try and figure it out. Fixed it by taking someone’s suggestion on lubricating the spoke touch points with Teflon spray on a thin shop towel using a squeeze. One drop of that Teflon stuff hits your rotor or caliper and their toast. So be careful lubing the touch points. I did mine when I was swapping rotors and wiped off all excess material.

 

[Nashville615]

And yes mine always happened within that speed range for whatever reason

 

[Kooler]

I've boiled it down to a very slightly bent rotor. I did a manual caliper adjustment by eye and made sure the rotor was centered. It calmed the noise down for the most part so at least I know what's causing it. Rize sells the rotors for $35 so it's a cheap fix.

 

[Nashville615]

Yeah mine would spin perfect on the stand, would only make the noise when riding. Usually in cruising speed. Hit a bump sometimes it would go away for a while. Highly annoying.

 

[David R]

I have a Rize Leisure with 1400 km. Whenever I'm travelling above 20 km/hr, I hear a rattling or scrapping sound (kinda sounds like a blackbird chirping) from the front wheel or fender. Even when coasting above 20 km/hr. As soon as I slow down, it stops. I've tightened all fender screws and bolts. Any ideas?

If you have spokes check to see if all of them are tight.

 

[Kooler]

Thank you everyone for all your ideas. As it turns out, I replaced both tires as they were bald. On the one that was making the noise, I found the tire liner to be way off center. Between straightening it out and replacing the tire, the noise is gone.

 

[PedalUma]

Thank you everyone for all your ideas. As it turns out, I replaced both tires as they were bald. On the one that was making the noise, I found the tire liner to be way off center. Between straightening it out and replacing the tire, the noise is gone.

It would be fun to pull a valve core and insert bb's. April first is two weeks away.

 

[PedalUma]

It would be fun to pull a valve core and insert bb's. April first is two weeks away.

@AHicks, The guys and gals at my local bike shop (LBS) pull jokes on each other all the time. Such as putting RF security tags deep into another person's frame or in the HB and headset tube, so it will set off alarms every time they cross the threshold. BB's would add to the fun. I supply them with beer and get nice discounts. It is a nice place to hang out. Much better than any bar.

 

[AHicks]

A handfull of BB's in a tube would be an absolutely evil trick to play on somebody. I can't even imagine the noise that would make, nor can I imagine how long it would take me to figure out where that noise was coming from. Thinking that is something you'll end up confessing to after torturing the victim for a few days....