Badger6

BB has less than 1000 km on it, and the tick developed with somewhere around 200...

DUB BSA BB, Quarq crank (with DFour spider). Chain was new at same time, and has no visible issues, to include no "frozen" pins. I took the cranks off about 300 km ago, and check the bearings for any rough spots and of course there were none. On the stand the "tick" is not present, on the road with moderate to high power it appears....but only every other revolution of the crank. It generally ticks at the same point int he crank revolution, but does move around a little, in a 45° arc near the bottom of the rotation of the right crank arm. It gets away when one legged pedaling with the left foot, but is present when doing the same with the right foot. The shifting is handled by Di2, both derailleurs are aligned, and properly trim adjusted. I am at a complete loss.

Ideas? I'm, about to go take the cranks off, remove and reseat the BB, and change the chain....maybe I'll find something...but in the meantime, any ideas or thoughts would be helpful. This is driving me nuts.

dsbrantjr

Try swapping the pedals for a known-quiet pair, preferably platform type to rule out shoe and cleat noises. Clean and grease the pedal and crank threads; just doing this may help the noise.

Iride01 

Most ticks believed and sworn to be in the BB aren't. But if you are a good bicycle DIY'er go for it.

I had a tick once that I was thinking was the BB but was instead the right pedal when under slightly more than normal power and near the bottom of its stroke relative to me. (not the vertical axis)

veganbikes

I would also double check and make sure you don't have any cable ends poking out where they can get hit. Make sure any QR skewers or Thru-axles or other wheel fastening devices are properly tight. Those can sometimes also be the cause of the mysterious BB noise that is not the BB.

masi61

If the tick mysteriously disappears when climbing out of the saddle, then check your seatpost. The clamp might not be doing it’s job.

dsbrantjr

Also clean your chainring bolts and nuts, and lube the male threads before reassembling and retorquing.

Badger6

Only thing I haven't done...

Forgot to mention, I had swapped in a different set of pedals...still had the tick. Tick is constant, in or out of saddle. This evening, I took the crank off, removed BB, relubed all the surfaces, reassembled all to specified torque. Axles are torqued properly. No wires ends sticking out anywhere (Di2 and hydraulic brakes). I will redo the spider bolts and chainring bolts...

Thanks for the suggestions.

Iride01 

I'll tend the think that if you only hear the tick that it probably is something hitting the frame somewhere or perhaps a spoke creaking. Usually bearing issues are also felt as well or more so than being heard.

Press fit bb? I've never had one, but can imagine a tick at the start of what might become a creak. Others that have had press fits will have to comment on that though. I have an active imagination for things I've no experience for.

Badger6

BB is BSA, English thread. Though I've had PF types where the ticking and creaking were definitely the BB...both PF into cups in frame (BB90), and bearing in cups that thread together (OSBB/PF30). Nothing is striking the frame and spoke tension is good. I think it might be an issue with the 8 bolts that hold the spider to the crank (Quarq AXS type DUB). I removed all of them last night, cleaned them, relubed and reinstalled. We shall see if it gets the ticking out...

Kovkov

Shoelaces do nice ticks 😉.

Badger6

LOL...if I was a pro, I'd have shoe laces....

Badger6

UPDATE: the crankset uses a threaded preload collar inside the non-drive side arm to take up the last few micrometers of play...should have just checked it first, it was the simplest thing to adjust/set and it is most "imprecise" part fo the assembly. But, it happened to be the culprit. I loosened the set screw, backed the collar off a full turn, then turned it back on and checked again for play (grabbed the arms and tried to move them side to side), when satisfied it was set, I reset the set screw, and set off on a Metric Century. Tick is gone. Upside, my entire crank has been cleaned, lubed, and all torque values reset. It was a dream today!

biker222

Not always. I had a tick/creaking when out of saddle and ended up being seatpost. Removed and lubed and reinstalled. Problem disappeared.