spelger

not sure exactly, sound seems to occur only under higher torque like when climbing standing or applying enough force while seated in both the middle and big chain ring (not sure about little ring, yes, a triple 8 speed).

maybe the drive side crank? maybe the BB? here's the story...i recently replaced my BB (cartridge) because i thought it was the source of a creak (turned out that was the interface between the kicker trainer and the concrete garage floor). since i had the cranks off i cleaned up the chain rings and noticed that the big ring had been installed incorrectly from inception (pin to prevent chain drop between ring and crank was not in the correct place), so, i disassembled the chain rings, cleaned them up pretty good and reassembled correctly. replaced chain with nearly new (i swap between two chains from a hot wax bath). also happened to replace the RD at the same time.

aside from riding for a few weeks that is the extent of what has occurred. i highly doubt the RD is the source/cause. chain i think not likely since it used to be on this bike with the same chain rings and rear cassette, 2-3K miles on both the chain that came off and the one that went on. that leaves me with the BB and the big chain ring oriented differently with respect to the crank. do either of those sound remotely possible as to the cause?

i still have the old BB so i could remove and replace and see how that goes. the big chain ring? i might be able to reorient the big ring back because i had taken a picture of the back side, not the side with the pin. but that does not account for the middle ring. the BB seems most likely now that i think about it.

the shell had been cleaned out well and i used a copper based anti-seize compound on the threads. torqued to spec.

any tips would be appreciated.

incidentally, after BB replacement i notice that i am in the big ring more often that i had been before. that tells me that the old BB had a lot of friction in it. possible relationship?

Iride01 

You are feeling these clicks more so than hearing them? How many per crank revolution? If one, maybe it's one of the pedals needing to be serviced and greased. If two, then both pedals.

yannisg

I had a creaking problem from the BB area that troubled me for awhile that was caused by the chain ring mounting surfaces. I cleaned thoroughly all the mounting surfaces, lightly grease them, and used loctite 202 on the chain ring bolt threads. Occasionally, I disassemble the chain rings for cleaning without problems. No loosing of bolts either.

Rolla

If I had to guess, I'd say the BB might have backed out a tad since you recently installed it, but be methodical and address only one thing at a time until you find it. Pedals, crankarms, chainring, BB. If the noise occurs under heavy load while standing, check the bar clamp and headset/stem too. Noises can travel.

Davidb67

Had an annoying, worsening click at the “transition-point” on drive-side crank at between 12-o-clock/1-o-clock position.
Had ruled out bb, bearings, saddle, seatpost, sets, bars etc. Turned out to be failing bond on Shimano Ultegra 6870 hollow tech crank (drive side).

AngelPedaller

When standing, you are also stressing the wheel axles because of frame tilting and flexing. Common suspect I would start is by tightening the rear wheel quick release and check for jiggling on the wheel if untightened conical bolts of the axle exist.
If everything is ok and stiff enough on the rear wheel sorry... it is the BB which is a completely different story...

adipe

put some sort of grease (anti seize is best) on the seatpost, insert it back in the frame with grease there. if you grease the bolt - as you should - then you should not have more than 8Nm torque tightening it. grease the bolt both on the head (to bring friction down) and the threads. maximum torque for tightening seatpost clamp (the frame collar) is 9Nm usually but if the friction coefficient is brought down to 0.15 or even lower by a proper grease then i'd recommend the 8Nm value. a careful and experimented mechanic can feel the material losing rigidity (the strain/stress curve) when applying torque and then back down but this rarely happens with most folks, they never learn and also don't use a soft approach with their fingers but apply the torque with the clenched fist on the rather short tool. anyway, it's best to tighten that collar bolt repeatedly so that you mark the point where you left the seatpost before going riding. meaning that in case the seatpost slips then you tighten the clamp a bit more etc.

the bolt should have some lubricating coating from the factory but it wears off after tightening and loosening it repeatedly. i won't go into detail about what grease is best suited for bolts. additives involved etc.

with that 8Nm tightening torque (supposing the friction coefficient is brought down to 0.15) the seatpost should not slip under your weight unless you apply 300kg on it. that is if the friction coefficient for the seatpost-frame contact is brought down even lower than 0.15 (~0.11) and remember, aluminum-steel contact has higher friction, even if grease is there.

clicking noise can occur from the seatpost-frame contact. dont go crazy with tightening the clamp while avoiding putting some paste on that seatpost. it most probably won't solve the creaking/clicking.
you should also put some of grease or anti seize compound where the saddle rails are held by the seatpost bits. clicking and creaking can also occur there.