CUBEe

Hi Everyone!
I am new to this forum as have an issue with my bike that irritates me a lot!
I own a Cube Attain GTC SL DISC '16 bike with full ultegra 6800, disc brakes and through axles, carbon frame, etc.
The bike has max 1000 km on it but I think I have been to the service at least 10 times too much.
It makes this irritating (although not very loud) clicking noise in the mid sprockets (mainly #5) of the 11 speed cassette. It is audiable the most when on the big chainring and frequency of clicking is cadence related. You can hear the sound on the stand but under load it is very distinctive.
I have been to 5 different mechanics (including shimano service center) and no one can resolve the issue.
Reportedly suspicion was on faulty hub, chain, derailleur and cassette have been excluded. mech is adjusted well (shifting is indeed super smooth), hanger is not bent.
they are saying that clicking of the 11 speed cassette happens and very often related to frame.
Has anyone had anything similar and managed to resolve it? I can't believe that ULTEGRA 6800 was designed with "clicking potential".
It is just so an annoying when an expensive (OK, it is not the best/most expensive bike, I get it) like that is ticking and ticking.
Thanks
P.s. I did find a way to minimize clicking by increasing cable tension but then switching to the smaller sprockets is rough (with a delay).

fietsbob

Its worn down first, because you use it most?

CUBEe

Doesn't look worn down after 1000 km - it is really peanuts for it. Plus mechanics reportedly swapped the cassette and the noise was still there

trailangel

Cadence related would be your pedals or crank.

CUBEe

Why would the clicking get much quieter with increased RD cable tension?

trailangel

You need to adjust your RD

Scooty Puff Jr

Welcome to the forum. How were the items listed above been excluded ? Did they replace every part one at a time, or just visually inspect them ?

Never heard of that one, did they offer to replace the frame ?

Its not designed that way, sounds like they are giving you a line to get rid of you.

I know the feeling, I've gone through the same issue with drive train noise, was told over and over "its normal", "it will go away over time" etc etc. The only way I could rule out anything was to start replacing components one by one until the issue was solved. My issue turned out to be a defective and/or mismatched chain, not sure what was wrong with the chain but it fixed the issue. Your shifting delay sounds like you just need to adjust your RD at the barrel adjuster.

70sSanO

Is the clicking cassette related or chain RPM related?

What I mean is at a cadence of 90 and a gear ratio of 3 to 1, you should hear the clicking 270 times in a minute one for each revolution of the cassette. Basically 4 times a second.

If the chain (or pedal/crank) had a bad spot you would hear it 90 times in a minute.

John

CUBEe

Thanks for the detailed response.

I was not present during the testing but the mechanics told me that they put a new cassette and a new chain.

I was stupid enough to buy the bycicle 300 km away from my house so I gave up driving back and forth after 3 visits. The frame comment actually came from a local service which I don't fully buy to be honest...
Adjusting the cable tension returns the clicking and smooth shifting comes only with clicking.

The clicking the rear mech related as it definitely mor frequent than cadence. But what I was trying to say that the higher is the cadence the more frequent is clikcing.

CUBEe

John, it is more like 300 clicks per second. Have a new chain as of This Wednesday feels more like cassette so will likely need to go to one more mechanic who would actually replace all the parts in my presence.

CUBEe

And the dealer actually blamed the hub and said he replaced it under guarantee...

70sSanO

I'm not as familiar with 10/11 speed cassettes, but I thought the cogs were spidered in clusters of 2 or 3 cogs. So are the clicking cogs only spidered together or does the clicking cross over other spidered cogs?

John

CUBEe

This I don't know. Haven't seen a dissambled cassette yet.
Is it normal that some teeth are slightly bent (really a bit)? Or all should be as straight as knife's bald?

70sSanO

Yes the teeth are different based on their location to the cassette cog ramps. But the angled (twist) ones should not be wider that the overall cog width.

John

70sSanO

Did they eliminate the shifter?

If everything is smooth and quiet at both ends and the clicking is in the middle only, and alignment is fine, (which may be debatable), maybe the problems are from the source.

John

CUBEe

Thanks John. Will check the shifters somehow. Noticed today that it is more audiable when clicking from up the cassette than down. Don't know if it means anything though.

70sSanO

There are people here much more versed in modern drive trains... and real mechanics. But for my older mtbr shifters I find as shifters wear this seems to be an issue. The chain will rattle one way but up and back eliminates it. Don't know if this helps you at all, but it could be bad or prematurely worn ratchet gear in the shifter.

Makes more sense than the frame causing it.

John

oldbobcat

I'm suspecting that the derailleur hanger or the cage has a subtle twist that throwing off the alignment of the chain as it passes from the derailleur to the sprocket. Visually, does the chain align on the middle of the cassette the way it does at the ends? Does shifting the chainring up front change the behavior of the chain at the cassette? Shift into small-small. Is the derailleur cage parallel to the wheel or does it angle in or out a little? Try applying a little English on the derailleur. Gently twist the cage with your hand to see if that quiets it down.

prokyon

I registered just to post a solution to this - I had the same problem on brand new Canyon - here's what I did:
1) Shift to the gear that's causing clicking noise - large gear up front, whatever gear is clicking at the rear
2) Check indexing - if it looks good proceed
3) Check which cog on the gear is causing the clicking noise (which tooth)
4) Hold the rear wheel with your hand to provide resistance and pedal with right hand - find just the spot which clicks and look at the teeth on the next gear up and down (so if the chain is on gear n, look at the teeth of gears n-1 and n+1). In my case one tooth (just one) on gear n-1 was holding the chain, so when the chain was going around gear n it would get held by that tooth on gear n-1 and would then click in eventually, causing the noise
5) Mark the problem tooth with white chalk marker (water soluble)
6) Take the rear wheel off
7) Either carefully file down the problem tooth to allow it to not catch the chain or use a cutoff wheel (be careful) to sand it in the right direction.

I was impatient and used cheap Dremel knockoff from HobbyKing to file the tooth down - put the wheel back on and no more noise. I came in at an angle and filed it down just enough to not catch the chain - so most of the tooth is original, just the part which was catching was filed down. Be careful to not cut adjacent teeth!

So there you go - problem solved. It looks like a production line issue at Shimano... I hear mild clicking on the other teeth of the cassette, but since the bike is new those should wear in - can't hear it when riding, just on my the work stand.

Hope this helps someone!

Sweetwater

prokyon – I am going to have to look into this. I have a brand-new bike with a Shimano RD-R8000 GS 11-speed rear derailleur and it has been rattling on the 7th highest gear from the beginning. Local bike shop adjusted it several times, to no avail – it shifts fine but rattles on the 7th gear, whether on small or big chain ring, whether down shifting or shifting to a higher gear. LBS replaced the derailleur hanger but that made no difference, either. When I get a few minutes, I will try this and try to remember to update the forum. Thanks!

Kimmo

I suspect the new resin carrier for the middle cogs is somehow to blame.

Oh hang on, this is 6800, not 8000...

prokyon

I had the chain make clicking noises (same problem) on the other lower gears after - I was able to fix that by just tightening the rear derailleur cable (rotate adjuster barrel counter-clockwise). I basically had to index the gears by sound - visually indexing is fine.

In general the rear cassette is noisy, or it could be the chain - when pedaling I can really hear the chain wrap around. On my commuter bike I barely hear anything. Same goes for the freewheel - super loud! I don't need a bicycle bell - just stop pedaling and folks hear the freewheel clicks and move out of the way.

Sweetwater

prokyon – Okay, I am officially stumped. I floated the idea of the bad cassette cog to my LBS and he was happy to play along. Took my bike in and he installed a different wheel with a different cassette. Took it for a test ride – NO rattling! So they installed a new cassette on my wheel and reinstalled it. Took it on a test ride; it IS rattling! I still hear the same rattling sound when in 7th highest gear. Grrr! So I think it must be the hub – though I cannot fathom how the hub can rattle on just one gear. Anyway, they reinstalled my cassette cog set. Will try and find a good time to have them rebuild or troubleshoot the rear hub.

AndrewJB

Take the cassette off and carefully inspect the splines of the hub. Look for a burr or nick that might be causing the one gear to not seat properly.
Based on your description, I won't go so far as to say it is the only explanation, but it's all I got...

Sweetwater

Andrew - thanks, I'll check that.