Creakings, clickings, tickings, clankings and knockings.

wolfsbane2k

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19719820#p19719820]Wolfsbane2k[/url] wrote:

On a 5 week old btwin 500se, I've currently got a horrid clicking from what feels like the front mech/bottom/bracket area when my drive side pedal is at the 2 o'clock position.

I originally thought it was a loose crank or pedal, or just a chainring, but spend last night taking the cranks, pedals off off, regreasing them, and re-installing them, and tightening all of the chain ring bolts.

Re-fettled the gears to account for cable stretch and managed to make the gear changes worse!

None of this made any difference on today's ride in.

Next step is probably a BB (octalink) remove, check and re-fit, but any other recommendations would be appreciated, as I would like to try and fix this before I take it back to Decathlon for it's 3 month service - purely, so I know I can fix this in the future.

Ta

Well, took the BB out, inspected and looked all -ok, no obvious signs of play. Put the whole lot back together again ( no Torque wrench unfortunately), and no change to the situation. Will see if I can find a torque wrench and check again, but not convinced

tom.hall.me

Hello, I am having issues with my De Rosa Merak.

I'm really unimpressed with my De Rosa Merak, the rear derailleur hanger makes creaking noises which stops me from enjoying the bike. I have had this problem over the past year, it has been back to the bike shop AW cycles in Reading countless times and back to the distributor I-Ride and back to the De Rosa factory in Italy. The derailleur hanger has been replaced twice and refitted countless times all of this has taken most of this year and I have been without my bike for months at a time and not been able to enjoy my bike for this season and I am still waiting for a resolution. De Rosa have been really slow at responding to rectify the issue and I am really unimpressed why it has taken so long to resolve.

I have spent the past year chasing daily to get some feedback on what is happening but it takes months for De Rosa to respond. I don't think I would purchase another Italian bike again.

wolfsbane2k

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19721072#p19721072]Wolfsbane2k[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19719820#p19719820]Wolfsbane2k[/url] wrote:

On a 5 week old btwin 500se, I've currently got a horrid clicking from what feels like the front mech/bottom/bracket area when my drive side pedal is at the 2 o'clock position.

I originally thought it was a loose crank or pedal, or just a chainring, but spend last night taking the cranks, pedals off off, regreasing them, and re-installing them, and tightening all of the chain ring bolts.

Re-fettled the gears to account for cable stretch and managed to make the gear changes worse!

None of this made any difference on today's ride in.

Next step is probably a BB (octalink) remove, check and re-fit, but any other recommendations would be appreciated, as I would like to try and fix this before I take it back to Decathlon for it's 3 month service - purely, so I know I can fix this in the future.

Ta

Well, took the BB out, inspected and looked all -ok, no obvious signs of play. Put the whole lot back together again ( no Torque wrench unfortunately), and no change to the situation. Will see if I can find a torque wrench and check again, but not convinced

Took it back to decathlon, they took it all apart again, regreased and put back together, and gave it back to me.
This morning's ride was just as creaky

wolfsbane2k

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19727737#p19727737]Wolfsbane2k[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19721072#p19721072]Wolfsbane2k[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19719820#p19719820]Wolfsbane2k[/url] wrote:

On a 5 week old btwin 500se, I've currently got a horrid clicking from what feels like the front mech/bottom/bracket area when my drive side pedal is at the 2 o'clock position.

I originally thought it was a loose crank or pedal, or just a chainring, but spend last night taking the cranks, pedals off off, regreasing them, and re-installing them, and tightening all of the chain ring bolts.

Re-fettled the gears to account for cable stretch and managed to make the gear changes worse!

None of this made any difference on today's ride in.

Next step is probably a BB (octalink) remove, check and re-fit, but any other recommendations would be appreciated, as I would like to try and fix this before I take it back to Decathlon for it's 3 month service - purely, so I know I can fix this in the future.

Ta

Well, took the BB out, inspected and looked all -ok, no obvious signs of play. Put the whole lot back together again ( no Torque wrench unfortunately), and no change to the situation. Will see if I can find a torque wrench and check again, but not convinced

Took it back to decathlon, they took it all apart again, regreased and put back together, and gave it back to me.
This morning's ride was just as creaky

And hopefully this is now solved. Took the drive side off, dismantled it down to parts, cleaned and regreased. Could not believe the amount of little metal shavings between the pedal and bottom bracket, despite it being well greased. After putting it back together seems nice and quiet on a 1 mile spin. We'll see what the morning brings.

wolfsbane2k

9 mile ride, click returned within 2 miles.
Time for a round trip again to Southampton for a new bottom bracket at decathlon's costs.

bigmul

New Cannondale CAAD12 ultegra....BB30a creaking on every single rotation of the crank, sitting or standing. Have put carbon paste in the seat tube, have got a torque wrench to make sure everything else don properly - can't ride it with noise :-(

Pilotdavo

I have a Focus Mares AX Cross bike. I've a sharp metallic sounding creak/crack that occurs irregularly under drive train load.

I've changed pedals to eliminate that. It occurs in or out of saddle so not post, rails or clamp. I've checked and lubed chainring bolts. Spoke crossovers and nipples lubed. BB replaced with Hope ceramic. Rear derailleur hanger lubed. Freehub splines lubed.

I'm running out of options. Bike is 6 months old.

Could be freehub or chain possibly? Any experience of chains or freehub causing this type of noise?

bianchi_dave

Pilotdavo wrote:

I have a Focus Mares AX Cross bike. I've a sharp metallic sounding creak/crack that occurs irregularly under drive train load.

I've changed pedals to eliminate that. It occurs in or out of saddle so not post, rails or clamp. I've checked and lubed chainring bolts. Spoke crossovers and nipples lubed. BB replaced with Hope ceramic. Rear derailleur hanger lubed. Freehub splines lubed.

I'm running out of options. Bike is 6 months old.

Could be freehub or chain possibly? Any experience of chains or freehub causing this type of noise?

Quick release skewers tight, with small amount of grease in dropouts?

The complaining tadpole

Had new bottom bracket fitted due to intermittent clicking on pedal stroke. Less than 300 miles later same noise is back.
Intermittent click only when pedalling, silent on freewheeling but can make the noise occur every time when out of saddle
& swinging bike to the right. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated as its driving me mental!

ugo.santalucia

The complaining tadpole wrote:

Had new bottom bracket fitted due to intermittent clicking on pedal stroke. Less than 300 miles later same noise is back.
Intermittent click only when pedalling, silent on freewheeling but can make the noise occur every time when out of saddle
& swinging bike to the right. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated as its driving me mental!

Assuming it's Shimano: check the allen bolts on the crack, they might come slightly loose. Chainring bolts can give that problem if not tight.

Also, shimano BBs last very little if the bearings are over-pressed, meaning if the plastic bolt on the left cranck is overtorqued, which can happen

Pilotdavo

Bianchi Dave wrote:

Pilotdavo wrote:

I have a Focus Mares AX Cross bike. I've a sharp metallic sounding creak/crack that occurs irregularly under drive train load.

I've changed pedals to eliminate that. It occurs in or out of saddle so not post, rails or clamp. I've checked and lubed chainring bolts. Spoke crossovers and nipples lubed. BB replaced with Hope ceramic. Rear derailleur hanger lubed. Freehub splines lubed.

I'm running out of options. Bike is 6 months old.

Could be freehub or chain possibly? Any experience of chains or freehub causing this type of noise?

Quick release skewers tight, with small amount of grease in dropouts?

I should have said it's a thru axle. The axles are lubed but maybe I could look at the contact points on the frame.

Giraffoto

I have a click/creak which I am almost certain is the saddle/seatpost . . .

It only occurs when I'm sitting down - it can't be persuaded to happen when I'm out of the saddle.

It's roughly the same place in the pedal stroke (regardless of the gear I'm in) but not

exactly the same place, nor is it every pedal stroke.

It becomes much less when I consciously try for a more circular effort (rather than up/down) with the pedals

I have a Praxis bottom bracket adapter which should be immune to the normal BB30 issues

. . . so I'd like a bit of advice. Does a carbon post in a carbon frame need to be greased? Should it be regular grease, or carbon assembly paste? How about between the seatpost and saddle rails(Aluminium and steel respectively)? And between the seatpost clamp and the frame? Is Isopropyl alcohol a good choice for cleaning carbon parts?

Secteur

Giraffoto wrote:

Does a carbon post in a carbon frame need to be greased? Should it be regular grease, or carbon assembly paste?

Yes. Carbon assembly paste - I use Finish Line Fiber Grip*, and twice a year remove the seat post, clean & re-fibre grip it.

*http://www.wiggle.co.uk/finish-line-fiber-grip-carbon-fibre-assembly-gel-50ml/

Giraffoto wrote:

Is Isopropyl alcohol a good choice for cleaning carbon parts?

Yes, or any other simple bike degreaser e.g. MucOff chain cleaner / degreaser. Harsher degreasers (e.g. engine degreasers etc) might strip the paint or make it hazy.

Mustrum

Hi

I've recently fitted new Shimano R540 SPD pedals to my road bike, replacing the previous ones. After only a few miles I've noticed a 'click' in the left pedal (more felt than heard), it seems to come and go a little depending on amount of effort exerted but seems to be there most of the time.

Normally I'd put it down to needing the bearings cleaned and regreasing, however, should I really need to do this on new pedals?

Any thoughts welcome

Secteur

Mustrum wrote:

Hi

I've recently fitted new Shimano R540 SPD pedals to my road bike, replacing the previous ones. After only a few miles I've noticed a 'click' in the left pedal (more felt than heard), it seems to come and go a little depending on amount of effort exerted but seems to be there most of the time.

Normally I'd put it down to needing the bearings cleaned and regreasing, however, should I really need to do this on new pedals?

Any thoughts welcome

Tighten the pedal to torque (and probably put some anti-seize copper grease on the thread)

Mustrum

Secteur wrote:

Tighten the pedal to torque (and probably put some anti-seize copper grease on the thread)

Thanks, I've already used the anti seize, however, I'll try retightening the pedal and see if that has any effect.

Giraffoto

So, I decided to tackle the creak . . .

Step 1. Remove the seatpost and the binder. The Specialized CG-R has a load of information printed on it, and one of the instructions is DO NOT APPLY GREASE. So I cleaned off the gritty assembly paste from the seatpost using a rag and finished the job off with the good old isopropyl alcohol. The inside of the seat tube is a bit trickier, but a rag and a stick should have got most of the forbidden grease out. The binder needed a bit of grease on the bolt threads, and I applied a smear to where the bolt head bears on it.

Step 2. Remove the saddle and disassemble the clamping part of the seatpost. This is probably where the creak was happening - it's taken a lot of muck over the Winter and some of that has worked its way into the clamping mechanism. Clean everything, smear of grease on the various parts of the clamp and the saddle rails.

Step 3. Torque everything up properly

Step 4. Back in the saddle. No creak!

brianjeff

I have annoying clicking which I think is coming from the rear derailleur area but only when in the middle couple of cogs when under load.
It's a Shimano Tourney on a cheap (Mr Tesco) sports bike. Gear changing works fine and I've checked alignment at extremes. Definitely not coming from the front shifter.
What can I check now?

itboffin

Brianjeff wrote:

I have annoying clicking which I think is coming from the rear derailleur area but only when in the middle couple of cogs when under load.
It's a Shimano Tourney on a cheap (Mr Tesco) sports bike. Gear changing works fine and I've checked alignment at extremes. Definitely not coming from the front shifter.
What can I check now?

I wish I knew I have the exact same problem, new wheels, crankset, cassette and chain.

Checked everything and haven't a clue what it could be

drlodge

itboffin wrote:

Brianjeff wrote:

I have annoying clicking which I think is coming from the rear derailleur area but only when in the middle couple of cogs when under load.
It's a Shimano Tourney on a cheap (Mr Tesco) sports bike. Gear changing works fine and I've checked alignment at extremes. Definitely not coming from the front shifter.
What can I check now?

I wish I knew I have the exact same problem, new wheels, crankset, cassette and chain.

Checked everything and haven't a clue what it could be

I had a problem much like this on my Rourke - a bit upmarket compared to Tesco bikes, its got Campag Super Record on it!! Gear changing on some of the middle sprockets just wasn't spot on, had some chain rattle but no matter how I adjusted the gears it always stayed the same. Just couldn't figure it out. Then my rear derailleur cable snapped. After replacing the cable, problem vanished. I figured the problem was due to the cable being frayed and not moving freely.

May be inspect or change your rear derailleur cable?

itboffin

It's worth a go, can see anything obvious but then again the internal cable routing through the shimaNO shifter was a bugger to get in so it might be snagging, just seems weird that it's happening now when it's been fine for years.

jonathanuk

Just fitted new KMC chain and Shimano 105 11 speed 11-32 to my bike which previously had 11-28 and a Shimano chain. I measured out the new chain length by following a YouTube video - biggest on the front and back, add two links, seems to be fine. There are no problems shifting, there are a few mm clearance between the top jockey wheel of the derailleur and the cassette (I have the medium cage 105). As soon as I set off up a hill I got a tick - tick - tick like there was a stiff link in the chain, but I couldn't find one (being a new KMC chain I have my doubts it is anything to do with the chain, used a quick-link exactly as instructed, snapped shut with a little pedal pressure).

The clicking changes frequency according to how fast I pedal, in one forum I saw someone mention that this kind of tick could be a worn chainring snagging the chain on a tooth (difficult for me to check while riding), it has only done about 1200 miles but I do a lot of hill climbing.

I have never replaced a chainring so unsure of what I need - like for like? It is an FSA 46/36T 110mm BCD N10/11, don't know what all of those numbers mean. It is a Gossamer crank. Can I use a chainring that says it is for 10 speed?

I'm considering putting the old chain and cassette back on to eliminate anything such as the bottom bracket - that should be a good test for that, right? The ticking wasn't present before I changed the chain and cassette.

drlodge

How regular is the tick-tick-ticking, as this will point to where its coming from...once per revolution its likely the crank, once every two-three revolutions and its more likely the chain, twice per revolution its the rear cassette somewhere. Does it occur in every gear or just certain gears? Both chainrings?

jonathanuk

drlodge wrote:

How regular is the tick-tick-ticking, as this will point to where its coming from...once per revolution its likely the crank, once every two-three revolutions and its more likely the chain, twice per revolution its the rear cassette somewhere. Does it occur in every gear or just certain gears? Both chainrings?

It is every gear, every chainring (though sounds slightly different); from memory it is once every chainring revolution, often it will be a click with a couple of lesser clicks immediately following the main click, but definitely a predictable rhythm to the main click which I believe did coincide with one full revolution of the crank.

This is not evident from having the bike on a stand and turning the pedals, it really only happens when I am on the bike and putting some effort through the pedals.

One interesting thing - a couple of times I stopped to see if I could find a stiff link in the chain so I wiggled each link (not all of them, just the ones near the gears when I stopped pedaling as soon as I heard the click), for a few seconds afterwards when I set off the click was not there, then it returned same as it was previously.

Giraffoto

drlodge wrote:

How regular is the tick-tick-ticking, as this will point to where its coming from...once per revolution its likely the crank, once every two-three revolutions and its more likely the chain, twice per revolution its the rear cassette somewhere. Does it occur in every gear or just certain gears? Both chainrings?

Once per revolution could also be the saddle or seatpost - a good way to eliminate the possibility is to see if you can summon the noise when you're out of the saddle. My experience has been that it's one of the more common regions to get a creak, probably because nearly all of the components are held in place by metal/metal or metal/carbon or carbon/carbon friction and the whole thing is susceptible to road spray.

drlodge

jonathanuk wrote:

It is every gear, every chainring (though sounds slightly different); from memory it is once every chainring revolution, often it will be a click with a couple of lesser clicks immediately following the main click, but definitely a predictable rhythm to the main click which I believe did coincide with one full revolution of the crank.

Its not the chain then, nor the cassette. You need to look at things that move with each rotation of the crank, so that's the crank itself (obviously) and as above, things like seat posts and other movable parts. BB bearings are notorious for creaking, you only need to tiniest of movement but normally I find its not the bearings per se, but movement between the bearings and whatever they're mated to (bearing cup or BB spindle).

jonathanuk

Giraffoto wrote:

drlodge wrote:

How regular is the tick-tick-ticking, as this will point to where its coming from...once per revolution its likely the crank, once every two-three revolutions and its more likely the chain, twice per revolution its the rear cassette somewhere. Does it occur in every gear or just certain gears? Both chainrings?

Once per revolution could also be the saddle or seatpost - a good way to eliminate the possibility is to see if you can summon the noise when you're out of the saddle.

Thank you all for the help with this so far, I will try it standing up. I will also try refitting the original chain and cassette - if the tick goes away then it surely cannot be the saddle or any other part of the bike, it must be the chainring that is worn? Just my luck that the weather has turned cold and rainy now, and unfortunately my workshop consists of a bike stand out on the driveway. May have to wait for the next opportunity to do some mechanicking.

madassteve

I have been hunting a clicking noise on my Giant Defy 5 for over a year now.

The FSA bottom bracket was worn out and that was causing a lot of clicking when pedalling hard, so I have replaced that with a Campy Chorus groupset and everything is running much more smoothly. To my surprise there was still a clicking noise that occurs in or out of the seat, on or off the pedals and on or off the handlebars, so I replaced the Defy 5 Overdrive headset with the FSA sealed Overdrive headset form the higher end Defy bikes and I have fitted a Mavic Kysrium Elite wheelset. So the only components that are original on my Defy 5 are the seat and the frameset. And the clicking is STILL there.

I have recently tried different wheels, different skewers, removed, cleaned a greased all manner of things including the seat, the rear derailleur hanger, the drop bars, different quick release tightnesses. The sound appears to come from the headset area but it is so difficult to tell with tubular frame bikes.

I have checked every single connection and joint on the bike and I can't find any cracks in the frame. What are the chances that there is a crack on the inside of one of the welds that has not made it to the surface yet? Would Giant do a warranty replacement if there is no crack visible?

I just disassembled the headset again and I am not convinced that the sealed headset bearing is compatible with ally forks... Can anyone confirm this?

ic.

I'm usually pretty good at tracking down a click but this one has me puzzled.

Cervelo R3 - 2015, 6870 groupset

Getting a 2 clicks in exactly the same place on the down stroke of the right pedal. 2 click in quick succession (obv depends on cadence)

Thing is, it only happens when using the 36 chain ring and the top half of the cassette, so when climbing essentially.

I've had the BB replaced, removed Rotor PF30 and Wheels MFG adpaters and replaced with Rotor PF3- to Shimano adapter BB, but the clicking remains.

Cleaned and regreased pedal threads, no improvement.

I guess it could be that it is there all the time but I can only hear it when going slow enough. Definitely feel like it's coming from the BB/Crank/Pedal area. I've also swapped cassette and it still clicks

Any ideas?

chrisgal

Could it be a couple of loose crank bolts?