Laika

i have a mystery sound coming from the crank arms/front derailleur/bottom bracket/pedal kida area. just a double tick sound, always at the same part of my spin, during the right side downstroke, regardless of which ring i'm on. if i don't put pressure on the pedal, i don't get it, when the bike's on the stand, i don't get it either. i've lubed the chain and the pedals, tightened the tension on the cleat release mechanism on the pedals, and i don't see a lot of wobble in the chainline. recently broke the chain and replaced it and the cassette, the noise seems a little worse since then. sometimes during and after being caught in rain, it goes away.

any ideas?

thanks so much in advance for reading & thinking it over!

Rowan

What cranks and BB (ie, square taper or octalink)? Other possibilities could be seat/seatpost/seat clamp (clue here is no sound with light pressure on pedals). If you have a quill stem, it might also be a culprit and need regreasing.

Norm Smith

Hi Laika,

I've had that sound in the past. My LBS clued me in. It's probably the bolts on your chain rings. My LBS told me to remove my chain ring bolts, then put a little (I stress little) lube on the collar of the bolt ( but not on the threads).

That worked for me, hope it does for you.

Norm

wagathon

maybe a frozen chain link?

Laika

that's what i thought until i changed out the chain and cassette due to the broken chain...the problem persisted tho. thanks all for the suggestions.

Laika

thx!

jqnj

Interface between cleat and pedal. Try slapping some grease on your cleats. If that diminishes or eliminates the click, could be time for new cleats.

Laika

I was thinking that on the way home so when I cot home, i pedalled around a bit wearing sneakers and got the same click.

FXjohn

If you put the bike on a stand and spin the bike with just the crank arms do you get it?
Can you change out a set of pedals? For some reason i think it's in your pedals

Laika

no, it really only seems to come when i am putting force into it. they spin noislessly on the stand and even if i spin while coasting w/o really applying any force to the drivetrain.

Surferbruce

regrease the bottom bracket threads and re torque. just took care of a tick on my ride exhibiting the same symptoms.

ThatWhichRolls

I had the same sound recently. I serviced the BB and went for a test ride and it was still present. On Bike Forums-sanctioned advice, I removed the pedals, greased the threads, and then put them back on and made sure they were nice and snug. That solved the problem for me.

OTOH, it's important to note that these sounds can be coming from almost *anywhere* in the bike...sound travels easily via hollow tubes, and everything's pretty damned close together in the first place. I'm just giving this advice as my symptoms were similar: the ticking only occurred while the pedals were in rotation and only under weightload...couldn't replicate it in the stand. If it's not the chainring bolts or the pedals, try removing, regreasing, and re-installing the seatpost. The slight shift of weight on various points of the saddle that happens during pedaling could be shifting the seatpost ever-so-slightly. Extra grease would reduce friction between the post and the seat tube, which in turn would mean a quieter ride. It's probably not a bad idea to do this anyway if it's been a while since the last greasing of the post. (no euphemism intended)

wahoonc

I had the same problem with my son's Haro MTB. He is a clydesdale (6'-6" 240#) so he was getting a lot more noise out of it than I was. I finally came to the conclusion that the threads in the crank arm where the pedal goes in were stretched. I replaced the offending arm and the noise went a way. On his bike it was the left crank arm. I think it may have been caused by either a partial misthreading of the pedal during orginal installation, or a pedal loosened up and he rode it for a bit before the pedal got tightened up.

Aaron

Laika

thanks all for the excellent suggestions. rowan and surferbruce win...it ended up being the bottom bracket after all, but a nice regreasing later, all's quiet and it's smooth, silent spinning. thanks again!

Al1943

If you stand on the pedals (butt off the saddle), does the noise continue?

RussB

I had the same problem. Only on the downstroke of the left pedal. It was there most of the time but not all the time. If I used less force on the pedal it would stop. And I couldn't recreate it on a stand. I have a triple in the front and changing gears made no difference.

The solution: the crank was slightly loose. I understood that a worn bearing in the crank will give the same sound