Can anyone offer advice on this...

m4ttc

Hi all. A bit of a shot in the dark.
Added a Boardman Urb 8.9 to the stable. It has a Gates 115t belt and Shimano nexus 8 speed hub.
I have done about 100 miles and it has gone from being the quietest bike ever to the noisiest!

Here is the noise.
https://youtube.com/shorts/K8tr1eZNJC8?feature=share

I haven't took it back to Halfrauds yet but I have spoke to them to be told we haven't got anyone with experience of hub gears...WTF 😳

Any advice would be appreciated

orraloon

No advice on the tech but have a different Boardman model. Have found wide variance in knowledge / experience of in-branch mechanics. Could try contacting different branch(es)? There is also a Boardman Bikes Owners Group on that farcebork thing where I have seen useful Q&A.

veronese68

Again no practical advice on hub gears as they are quite specialist. Presumably it's still under warranty, if they don't have anyone capable they need to send it away and get it sorted.
If you get too involved it may invalidate the warranty. There may be something simple you can do like adjusting cable tension. But read up how first.

arlowood

This may be a dumb observation - but are you sure the gear cable end cap is not rubbing against the sprocket at the back. Difficult to see from the view in the video but it does appear to be fairly close and the small stud things on the outer side of the sprocket look quite shiny as if they are being rubbed/polished by something.

m4ttc

Thanks for the advice everyone. No the cable isn't rubbing. The bike was ultra quiet for the first 3 weeks I had it but then starting making this noise. Loud and squeaky and embarrassing 😭
Halfords will look it on Tuesday now even though their bike tech has now experience of them. A bit poor really..

oxoman

TBH the fact that halfords tech doesn't know what he's doing isn't your problem, it's there's. They should put it right or replace it. You might suggest they do extra training for there cycle tech though.

slowmart

Are you sure it’s a hub based noise?

It’s an eccentric bottom bracket so make sure the two bolts under the bottom bracket holding the eccentric housing are tight.

m4ttc

When I head it first when riding, I thought that is the BB. But it is definitely coming from the rear hub area. It may not be the hub, it may be the belt itself

slowmart

Have you tried adjusting the belt tension?

veronese68

Sounds do travel through the frame and pretend they are coming from elsewhere. Spiteful little buggers.

m4ttc

slowmart said:

Have you tried adjusting the belt tension?

Thanks
Do I need special tools for this ?

MattFalle

what does the booklet it came with say?

elbowloh

Having read the thread title, I was half expecting this to be pictures of a a strange mile that the OP had found on their privates.

I'm relieved.

slowmart

m4ttc said:

slowmart said:

Have you tried adjusting the belt tension?

Thanks
Do I need special tools for this ?

Not at all, release the tension on the two bolts underneath the bottom bracket, you should be able to adjust the tension by rotating the silver housing with your fingers to either tighten or loosen the belt.

If your fingers don’t work just pop a flat head screw driver into to one of the two round recesses on the housing and rotate.

I couldn’t find anything online as to a guide for belt tension so it looks like trial and error.

Good luck

jimbohorizontal

I don't know anything about these, but, If it's anything like a belt driven fan motor then you don't want to be able to twist the belt through 90 degrees.

m4ttc

slowmart said:

m4ttc said:

slowmart said:

Have you tried adjusting the belt tension?

Thanks
Do I need special tools for this ?

Not at all, release the tension on the two bolts underneath the bottom bracket, you should be able to adjust the tension by rotating the silver housing with your fingers to either tighten or loosen the belt.

If your fingers don’t work just pop a flat head screw driver into to one of the two round recesses on the housing and rotate.

I couldn’t find anything online as to a guide for belt tension so it looks like trial and error.

Good luck

Thanks for your advice. I used the Gates belt drive app that measures the frequency of the belt to see if it is within normal parameters.. my testing appears to show the belt is too tight averaging 80hz which appears to above the recommendation.
Halfrauds have agreed to look at it tomorrow so I won't have a mess with it today and let's see if they have a least got the correct equipment to accurately measure belt tension

MattFalle

Why are you calling them Halfrauds out of interest? Do you think it makes you look "edgy" and "down with the clubbie bad lads"?

m4ttc

MattFalle said:

Why are you calling them Halfrauds out of interest? Do you think it makes you look "edgy" and "down with the clubbie bad lads"?

It's a name that has been going around in internet forums for years. Generally because they offer services for cars and bikes without generally training their staff how to do it properly. As well as charging well over the odds for a lot of stuff. In their defence, a lot of the bike services often seem to depend on the luck of the draw as some techs seem half decent and some are awaful. Unfortunately for me, mine has only being the job 4 months and know nothing about belts and hubs at all

But no,.not looking to be edge or down with anyone really

MattFalle

ah, so you've jumped on an outdated internet term generally pandered around by people who buy bikes from lifestyle retailers and who don't realise that stuff like Boardmans are ridiculously good bikes and good value.

gotcha.

crack on.

m4ttc

MattFalle said:

ah, so you've jumped on an outdated internet term generally pandered around by people who buy bikes from lifestyle retailers and who don't realise that stuff like Boardmans are ridiculously good bikes and good value.

gotcha.

crack on.

As I have 4 Boardman's and had more since 2011, I think I am happy with the products and the specs.
As for the retailer, experience are far far less satisfying so I will retain the right to call them how I see fit even if it offends you

But feel to crack on yourself

MattFalle

thank you. i will on my non squeaky bicycle.

m4ttc

MattFalle said:

thank you. i will on my non squeaky bicycle.

Tarby

slowmart

@OP any joy with the shop?

homers_double

I can tell this about my buying experience from Halfords which was for a kids bike, age 4 years.

The cranks on the bike which arrived in to the shop for us wouldn't turn, well they would for me but a small child wouldn't be able to ride it.

I was offered a 10% discount if I accepted it based on the assistants assurance that "they would loosen up".

pblakeney

Last experience with a Halfords bike build was my son bringing the grandson's bike round as the front brakes weren't working right. The fork had been put on the wrong way round.

m4ttc

slowmart said:

@OP any joy with the shop?

I dropped it off yesterday. They said they're were going to get the bloke who fits the car batteries wipers etc to look at it because he used to work in the Bike hut a few years back.
They confirmed they had no tools to measure the belt tension or even a c spanner to adjust the eccentric bottom bracket. I am not really filled with confidence 😳
I don't blame the staff, it sounds like they are not given the training and support to do their job

mully79

The problem with incorrect belt tension is it puts more load through bearings and they fail earlier.

Usually for a belt the spec will show a measured deflection at the midpoint with a certain weight on it but if all else fails resort to the twisting the belt 90 degrees method mentioned earlier in thread.

Reassuring thay they havent got a clue what theyre doing

m4ttc

These are what results I got from using the Gates app

mercia_man

Have you tried adjusting the cable to the Nexus hub? My wife has a bike with the same belt drive and Nexus 8-speed hub gear. If the gears are not properly adjusted you get a clicking sound and in more severe cases some slippage. It’s a very common issue and simple to check and adjust. You put it in gear 4 and tighten or loosen cable adjuster until two yellow lines match up when looking through an inspection window. Adjustment is the same for 7 and 8 speed. There’s plenty of advice on YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b-IHIuSbRhY

m4ttc

mercia_man said:

Have you tried adjusting the cable to the Nexus hub? My wife has a bike with the same belt drive and Nexus 8-speed hub gear. If the gears are not properly adjusted you get a clicking sound and in more severe cases some slippage. It’s a very common issue and simple to check and adjust. You put it in gear 4 and tighten or loosen cable adjuster until two yellow lines match up when looking through an inspection window. Adjustment is the same for 7 and 8 speed. There’s plenty of advice on YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b-IHIuSbRhY

Hi
Yes I did this..thanks. I made sure the yellow dots liked up in gear 4. Only needed very slight adjustment on the barrel connector.
Thanks for the advice through!

mercia_man

I’ve found some advice from Gates about noisy belts. They suggest hosing down and drying the belt to get rid of dirt or grease and then applying dry silicone spray to the tooth side of belt.