cny-bikeman

Yes, that does generally work, and is a perfectly logical way to isolate the problem. The fact that you had a very unusual problem does not invalidate the test.

SlvrDragon50

I'm slowly starting to isolate the problem.

1) It is related to cadence AND pressure. Very slow cadence does not cause the ticking.
2) It is something mechanical because I am feeling it through the pedals at specific points of the cycle. Specifically, when my left pedal is somewhere near the highest position.
3) I am suspecting something is getting loose from all the bumps I ride over, but I will just look over everything.

cny-bikeman

OK, now we have info that can help. Pressure on the left pedal transmits force through the crank arm to the spindle, which then turns the right crank and drives the chain. The right crank on the other hand applies force directly to the chainwheel/chain, although there is also some downward force applied to the spindle. Therefore the problem is likely the left pedal/crank or left crank/spindle interface. Problems in the BB would not often tend to be restricted to pressure exerted by one crank, although that's still a possibility. It cannot be the chainring bolts. We now need info on what you've tried, particularly if you have followed dsbrantjr's advice: "Remove the pedals, clean male and female threads and the faying (mounting) surfaces, grease threads and reinstall, torqueing firmly." Follow the same process for the left crank arm interface with the spindle. Also check the left pedal to make sure the cage is securely mounted to the main body.

rekmeyata

If I was a guessing man, which I am, I would say it's the bottom bracket.

But if you have another set of pedals laying around or on another bike do a pedal swap and see if the noise goes away before diving into the BB.

biknbrian

Does the left crank arm have pinch bolts or is it a single center bolt?

The non pinch bolt, outboard beaing FSA cranks are junk in my opinion. They use a press fit to hold the crank arm on and a wave washer to try to hold preload. This allows a little but of wiggle under load which shows up as a click as force on the crank shifts from side to side. These non pinch bolt cranks also have a tendency to come loose and once the press fit tolerances change the cranks will never stay tight again.

It is a piss poor design that was devised in order to market carbon fiber cranks since you can't flex carbon and use pinch bolts. In fact Shimano was one of the last players to offer carbon cranks because they knew you couldn't just omit the pinch bolts. They resisted carbon cranks for years until they developed their own way of securing carbon cranksets. I can't remember the details of their design but it solved the single press bolt problem.

I learned all this after having two bikes with FSA cranks develop the same issues. The unfortunate part is that a lot of cheaper bikes use these garbage FSAs to keep costs down. They even use the design on aluminum cranks. Now I just automatically add the cost of a new crankset to any bike sold with a non pinch bolt outboard bearing crankset.

F'ing techno junk. Whatever it takes to sell people the latest and greatest crap. Doesn't have to work, just has to look good and spec well on paper.

70sSanO

Your answer lies in how much you actually use the 50t chainring. If you are constantly using the 34t, especially with an 11t, then you might want to replace the 50t it with a 42t, 44t, or 46t. You'll probably need to talk to a shop to figure which rings work best. What you want is gearing on the outside chainring that you can use most of the time and only use the 34t when you have to on hills, or riding into hurricane force winds.

I am a proponent of replacing a 50t on a compact if it is rarely getting used because a 34t is a horrible cruising ring.

John

SlvrDragon50

Hmm. I honestly have no clue how to tell what kind of bolt it has. I just see a bolt that tells me what direction to turn my wrench on the left side

I lubed my pedal threads with grease, but i haven't had a chance to ride because of rain. I am thinking it is the bottom bracket though.

And thanks for the tip John. I definitely find the 50T too big to use on the street. I am probably going to switch to maybe a 46 but for now I'll think of it as strengthening my legs!

CafeVelo

was going to suggest looking at ring bolts. Better yet since you're constantly cross chained, swap the rings for mid compacts (52/36), which will fit your spider already. When you install them just torque the bolts to spec, and maybe grease them a little just to be safe.

Edit: depending on how you cross chain you may want to gear down as well, and do CX gearing. It all depends on if it feels generally tall or under geared;

SlvrDragon50

Well, good news. I think the noise is gone! Greasing the pedals seems to have done the trick!

Steiner74

Try checking the chain ring bolts time and time again its proven to be the culprit for myself

Lazyass

No one posted the big one. Even that link didn't have it. Tighten the rear wheel skewer. 95% of the time with I get a tick with each crank revolution in and out of the saddle I pull over, tighten the skewer a hair and then it's gone.

cny-bikeman

C'mon folks - no, and no again. As noted the noise only occurs on the LEFT arm downstroke. Neither the rear Q/r nor the chainring bolts are likely to be affected only when one crank arm is stressed. The OP already noted that "greasing the pedals" worked.

Lazyass

Yes, and yes again. You're absolutely wrong. It happened again to me three days ago. A click on the right side every time the crank was at the 3 o'clock. Pull over, tighten skewer (I had removed the wheel a few days prior), click gone. You're wrong.

cny-bikeman

Well, I di say not likely rather than not possible. Yours is a very out of the norm situation. I would hardly call a q/r caused click "the big one."

Lazyass

No it's not, it's pretty common man lol

cny-bikeman

I guess you're the expert.

Lazyass

I don't claim to be an expert, but you certainly aren't. I'm just going off 30 years of experience from myself and other guys I've been on group rides with over the years who had the same issue. Not only is it common, it's the very first thing you should check because you don't need tools and it takes 10 seconds.

rekmeyata

Make sure something weird like laces aren't hitting the crank arm.

Try putting some lube on your cleats and on your pedals springs, if the click is still there after doing that then try swapping the right pedal with a right pedal from a different bike and see if the click remains.

Then see this if the issue is still there: Creaks, Clicks & Clunks...

DDmason

phtomita

Good to know - Saturday while riding I notice a tick-tick noise every time I pedal on my left foot when I was on a short hill.
On flats I couldn't hear so I tried to have on a higher gear and stand pedal on flats and I hear the noise.
Stopped and checked if left pedal is loose or has some wobbling but it seemed not. Took the opportunity and relieved myself - nothing to do with noise.
After a while even on flats I started hearing without figuring out what it is.

Today I was riding a bit and on hill up I hold the handle very close to the stem and quiet. Have to double check, but it seems coming from the right handle brifter.

Did someone had tick noise from handlebar before?