# Zipp 404: insane creaking noise



## Lionel (Nov 22, 2004)

My rear 404 creaks like hell. This is a pre-dimpled 404 about 4 years old. Not used a lot. I recently changed the cassette body to put it on one of my campy bikes (this is the hub called 202 I think).

- The creak (quite loud) only happens when I pedal. When I cruise no noise.
- I tried a different skewer, still there. So not the skewer.
- I also glued the carbon dust cap that was rattling before (common pb with Zipp). So probably not that either.
- I removed the wheel yesterday and the axle was not tight (second time it happens), so I re-tightened it.

I think that it may be coming from the cassette carrier or the hub axle. This is driving me nuts though. Any helld would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,


----------



## pkgdave9144 (Nov 21, 2006)

my buddy had that too on his zipps - it turned out to be either the axle creaking where it touches the bearing inner race and/or where the axle touches the dropout on the frame. We greased both areas and noise was gone... so it could have been either. Try the axle/dropout interface first. 

Noise was bad... creaking/popping/cracking. Sound like your situation. Same model year wheels as yours.


----------



## Lionel (Nov 22, 2004)

Hi,

thanks. I have actually tried to grease the drop out area. I have not tried inside where the bearings are. Maybe I will give that a shot.


----------



## s2ktaxi (Jul 11, 2006)

Friend of mine had the same symptoms on his Zipps- turned out to be a cassette that needed to be tightened.


----------



## Hoffman (Jul 29, 2008)

Just for safety/sake of argument, make sure the structural integrity of the rim is intact. I've seen carbon frames develop small cracks that move against each other slightly under load causing a helluva ruckus.

Use your thumbs to press around in various areas and listen for noise. Could be a longshot, but safety first, eh?

Hoffman


----------



## Rubber Lizard (May 10, 2007)

Are you sure it's the wheel? Bike noises are notoriously difficult to track down. A creaking headset may be your bottom bracket. A rear hub may be your seatpost. A crack at the dropout may sound like your BB. 
Just sayin.....


----------



## Lionel (Nov 22, 2004)

Thanks. Yeah, it's the wheel. If I put another back wheel on, no more noise....


----------



## Lionel (Nov 22, 2004)

*zipp cassette issue*

Some update on this issue. The rear wheel is still creaking like crazy after I lubed everything.

I decided to remove the cassette and saw this:

Some of the edges are slightly dented.

Could it be the source of the noise??

I had changed from SHimano to campy body recently and the noise started after that.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## Hoffman (Jul 29, 2008)

Those grooves are fairly common, I doubt its the source. You could check by greasin' it up.

If you still have the Shimano FH body you could replace it (back to original setup) and see if it still happens...

If it goes away I would suspect the freehub body cartridge bearings. In a Zipp FH there are 2 cartridges in the FH body, could be either. Was the Campy body new? It would be unusual for those cassette grooves to be so apparent/distinguished after low mileage...

Hoffman


----------



## Lionel (Nov 22, 2004)

The Campy body was new. I put it on about 2 months ago. I noticed that this seems to be a fairly light aluminum body. It did not look too strong to me...

Are you suggesting to actually grease the hub body itself?


----------



## Hoffman (Jul 29, 2008)

If the noise is the individual cassette parts rubbing on the FH body (where the grooves have formed) then you can diagnose it by greasing the splines, reinstalling cassette and taking a test spin. Definitely not a long term solution, but a diagnostic tool.

If that doesn't make the problem go away, I'd guess you have a faulty FH body bearing. It seems you've tried everything else.

If you bought the FH body at your LBS perhaps they have another you could install as a diagnostic measure. If that makes the noise go away, I'd suggest they should make that a permanent swap (warranty).

There is a chance that perhaps you did not tighten the cassette properly at the outset and now the damaged splines are your problem to have to deal with. If so, regular greasing will help until you are ready to pony up for a new one. I'd try the warranty route first though.

I'll be interested to hear what happens, good luck and keep us posted!

Hoffman


----------



## Lionel (Nov 22, 2004)

OK I will try that. I bought the cassette body directly from Zipp at their recommendation as I was initially thinking of putting a Campy compatible cassette on the Shimano freehub (one company makes these).


----------



## sethkauf (Aug 28, 2012)

*Zipp 303's NOISY*

Tried to get the creaking when out of the saddle to stop forever. Tightened bearings, Zipp rebuilt hub, nothing worked. Happy with my Mavic Ksyrium SLRs now!


----------

