Originally Posted by
elihu23
...night before last I took the chain off the the chain rings and gave the cranks a spin--no noise. I assume this means that the BB is okay.
No, spinning them puts no stress on the BB, so that does not eliminate anything. You may be able to isolate w/out taking pedals off - just put your feet directly on the cranks and stand up off the saddle while holding onto something to keep the bike upright. I would think it unlikely that both pedals would have the same problem or that one pedal would make a noise twice per crank revolution.