The 'noisy wheel' thread

[Regret]

Once it starts on the road you could stop the bike, get off and lift the bike then crank the pedals by hand and see if you can better locate the noise.

Here's the thing - I cannot reproduce the sound without being on the bike. It will go tick tick, I'll get off the bike and crank pedals / spin wheels and it just won't make the noise. I've put it on the stand and can't get it to do it there either.
It's like taking your car to the repair shop with a strange noise - it never makes it while the mechanic listens.

[5 8 5]

Check the rear skewer, lube it, grease the drop outs. Try another if you've got one.

[Regret]

Well ... tried the above advice except replace the wheel.
Removed the speed sensor magnet.
I then stripped the rear hub, cleaned and greased the bearings and cups, replaced pawls and pawl springs, put everything back together again using torque wrench and manufacturers specs. Still tick tick.
Next, I stripped down the front wheel on the off chance the sound came from there - it can be hard to hear. Surprise, the sound appears to have gone away. I have absolutely no idea why any of this helped, the front hub was nice and clean with suitable amounts of grease, all bearings were healthy. But now the tick tick seems to have gone away.

Although I am happy to have fixed the noise, it's still maddening that I have no idea what caused it!

[kbbpll]

My tick tick tick a few years ago was loose valve stem locknut (clinchers). I know it's against The Rules to use them...

[mattyb95]

My clicking was the sealed bearings, they had worn out so would just click as they caught on each revolution. Spinning the wheel felt fine but when turning the bearings by hand they felt grindy.