I've beaten back so many noises over the years and across the fleet that I thought I had heard them all. Brooks saddle springs and frame creaks. Stem. Seatpost. Chainring bolts. Rear wheel spoke tension gremlins. Brake pads. You name it, I've chased it I think...
Earlier this week, however, I started hearing a new noise--a soft clunk. Rhythmic, synced to pedal rotation.
'Crank bolts' I told myself. And snugged them up. Nope. Still there. I had just gotten around to adjusting the rear bearings on a new wheel. 'Bearing clunk' I told myself. Rebuilt it rather than just adjusting it. Nope. What the heck, I was gonna rebuild it this winter anyway.
Then I went back to SheldonBrown.com's page on noises at
http://sheldonbrown.com/creaks.html and there it was...loose fixed cup. I ran the trouble shooting procedure, check. It clunked, just as the page said. Pulled the crankset. Tightened the fixed cup. Readjusted the bottom bracket. All of which had been done 300 miles ago when I put this star of the fleet '82 Schwinn Super Sport S/P back on the road.
Took it for a ride. Voila. Silence. The bliss of a righteously adjusted cup and spindle bottom bracket.
What's next, I wonder?