erpdat

My bars are a bit too small for the stem, so I used a couple of shims from coke cans to make it work. Was working perfectly for a few weeks and then the other night the shim kind of slipped out resulting in shifting bars and me taking a slam.

I got the shim back into place, tightened the stem up and its fine until I get my new bars.

Now there is a noise that is driving me bat-**** crazy. It's constant, not with every pedal rotation, just constant. The rougher the streets the louder the noise is. On the freshly paved roads that ride like butter, there is no noise whatsoever.

When I lift my bike up and spin the cranks, the noise isn't there.

I check chain tension to make sure spokes weren't causing this by squeezing them together looking for a similar sound.. Seems to be okay.

At this point I took my bike over to my LBS and my friend there rode it. He greased the pedals and the spoke nipples. "That's what its gotta be. It's not your bottom bracket, no way the shim is making that noise and your wheels seem fine."

Sound is still here. I can't really describe the sound. Its not a creaking sound a bottom bracket makes and its not a clicking noise either. More of a constant, "rubbing" sound. Sounds like a sword fight.

Any ideas? I am going insane riding with this noise.

THANKS!

TRaffic Jammer

Loose spoke(s)? I had a hell noise(rattle) this past week on my new road bike ... turns out it was a loose bottle cage bolt. What did you slam on the bike?

vw addict

someone put a ball bearing down your seat tube.

erpdat

It could be spoke(s) but I don't wanna pay to get em tensionsed only to find that wasn't the problem.

I don't remember what I crashed. It was in the rain, it happened real fast and I couldn't really see.

Come to think of it, its more a rattling noise than rubbing. And I don't have water bosses on my frame. I AM SO CONFUSED.

It wasn't that hard of a slam. Yeah, I gashed my eyebrow open but the bike didn't go down too hard. Figuring this out tomorrow no matter what.

TRaffic Jammer

Do you have eyelets on the rims? Can't be chainring bolts as it's not with every pedal stroke, but constant.

Scrodzilla

Does it only happen when seated? If so, try putting a few drops of oil on your saddle rails.

erpdat

Okay! The sound is still there when I am out of the saddle but I greased the saddle rails regardless.
I showed it to my friend who works on bikes a lot. He said, "Bro, its cos you need to tighten your chain. Everything is fine."
I tightened up the chain a bit and the noise is still there. I think I figured out the problem, this is ridiculous.

You know the little metal fasteners on the straps? They are jangling, making the noise. I am 99% positive this is the issue.
How the hell do I stop it? They never did this til' I crashed. They're leather All City doubles, bought about 2 months ago.

I have been contemplating buying Toshi doubles since they're supposedly the best foot retention you can buy other than clipless and they last forever... $100 though. Damn!

Help me. <3

Scrodzilla

A few drops of a wax-based chain lube (like White Lightning Clean Ride or Pedros Ice Wax) on the moving parts of your strap fasteners should do the job. Apply it and let it dry...noise should go away. You'll most likely need to re-apply as it flakes off. Also, you may be able to pinch them slightly with pliers to make them fit together a bit tighter.

If you use those little knurled retaining nuts on your tube valves, check those as well. It sounds totally dumb but I had one drive me absolutely crazy for about a week before realizing what the source of the noise was.

jimmytango

I had the same issue. I was going to take it in to the LBS and went to check the pressure (i do before every ride), and noticed it was loose. Glad I didn't go to the shop for that.

erpdat

I lubed up the fasteners and let it dry for a couple hours. No luck.
My tube valves had those little knurled retaining nuts but are no longer there. Could have possibly blown em off when I was pumping up my tires? Could that be the issue here? Its getting to the point where this is ridiculous. I checked cranks, BB, headset, seat post, saddle, pedals, straps, stem, bars. Thanks for all the help/advice.

Squirrelli

You aren't riding your bike fast enough if you can hear it clicks. HTFU!

erpdat

It has nothing to do with that brother, I am fast. Looks like its going to be a $200 repair (iPOD.)
It NEVER made this noise before. I am going to remove my seat post and see if someone really did drop a ball bearing in there like vw addict said.