Creakings, clickings, tickings, clankings and knockings.

timbo_tim

Help please!

My single speed (square taper) BB is creaking so badly it sounds like the frame's about to crack (its not). Noise is 100% coming from the NDS - either crank (ambrosio - cheap) or the BB (Shimano UN26 replaced about 2 years ago, no more than 3,000 miles on it). I tried greasing the crank - it prevented tight enough "seal" and fell off BB; degreased crank and it was silent for two days commuting; greased the plastic NDS cup too...

Nothing seems to work so I am out of ideas (will try PTFE tape on BB cup tonight) but if that fails is it likely to be the cheap crank rather than the fairly industrial (but cheap) BB?

Many thanks
Tim

kajjal

Bumo_b wrote:

As I said earlier, try greasing the face of the derailleur hanger with the appropriate grease (carbon/alu frame specific). Worked for me

Thanks I will give that a go when I get a chance. It is just about the only part of the bike I have not regreased and tightened

kajjal

Stripped down and reinstalled drivetrain from scratch now back to normal. No idea what it was.

doogan

My shimano Tiagra gears are making an awful clicking noise when the chain is positioned on one particular ring on the cassette. The gears seem to be indexing okay and the bike was only purchased in January so I can't imagine any components have worn down yet. I've also cleaned the chain (although everything looks dirty in the video).

Does anyone have any clue what could be causing this? It seems really odd that it only occurs when the chain is in one particular ring, roughly in the middle of the cassette. I'm happy to go to my LBS but would prefer to learn a bit more about maintaining the gears, if I can.

I've attached a video below (poor quality - I can make something better if it helps...):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpwAv8xGvpk

kajjal

Sorry forgot to post back, stripped down and refitted entire drivetrain and all fine now. Not sure what the problem was.

kajjal

doogan wrote:

My shimano Tiagra gears are making an awful clicking noise when the chain is positioned on one particular ring on the cassette. The gears seem to be indexing okay and the bike was only purchased in January so I can't imagine any components have worn down yet. I've also cleaned the chain (although everything looks dirty in the video).

Does anyone have any clue what could be causing this? It seems really odd that it only occurs when the chain is in one particular ring, roughly in the middle of the cassette. I'm happy to go to my LBS but would prefer to learn a bit more about maintaining the gears, if I can.

I've attached a video below (poor quality - I can make something better if it helps...):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpwAv8xGvpk

Assuming all other gears work fine that gear will either be damaged in some way or have something jammed in it. If it is the gear you use most often it will likely just be down to wear and the rear cassette needs replacing.

doogan

Kajjal wrote:

doogan wrote:

My shimano Tiagra gears are making an awful clicking noise when the chain is positioned on one particular ring on the cassette. The gears seem to be indexing okay and the bike was only purchased in January so I can't imagine any components have worn down yet. I've also cleaned the chain (although everything looks dirty in the video).

Does anyone have any clue what could be causing this? It seems really odd that it only occurs when the chain is in one particular ring, roughly in the middle of the cassette. I'm happy to go to my LBS but would prefer to learn a bit more about maintaining the gears, if I can.

I've attached a video below (poor quality - I can make something better if it helps...):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpwAv8xGvpk

Assuming all other gears work fine that gear will either be damaged in some way or have something jammed in it. If it is the gear you use most often it will likely just be down to wear and the rear cassette needs replacing.

Thanks for the reply. I think I'll order a new cassette and change it over to see if that solves the issue. It's fairly inexpensive to try.

heavymental

Just came across this useful vid from GCN with a rundown of everything you can do to remove noises... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEiIFbIklJg

MissedTheBreak

I recently built up a new bike with Tiagra 4700. All is running well other than a rattling noise coming from the rear derailleur over anything slightly bumpy. I mean it is mainly on a canal path on 25mm tyres at 90psi but still seems odd, I don’t remember my old bike rattling so much. Any ideas?

Bumo_b

What is the chain tension like on the rattling Tiagra derailleur?

MissedTheBreak

Bumo_b wrote:

What is the chain tension like on the rattling Tiagra derailleur?

Not quite right I think, just compared it to the pic on the Sheldon Brown tutorial and it’s probably a link (maybe two) too long. Probably why it occasionally slips on the chainset too?

It’s a Shimano chain with no master link, how do you resize it again? Try to find the original locking pin, push it out, remove a link and then rejoin it?

keef66

MissedTheBreak wrote:

It’s a Shimano chain with no master link, how do you resize it again? Try to find the original locking pin, push it out, remove a link and then rejoin it?

No, you want to be finding anything but the original joining pin. Push out a couple of normal pins to break and then shorten it, and rejoin with a Shimano joining pin or a KMC missing link or similar.

lemonenema

Focus Cayo road bike clicking when pedalling almost consistently when right crank is at top of stroke and left is at bottom.
Ive changed BB, tried different pedals, tried different rear wheel, happens in both chainrings, nothing is touching the crank arms, it makes the sound when im sitting or standing so not saddle related. No cracks in frame.
Anything else I can check?

webboo

Cleats?

keef66

Hubs / QRs? In the past I've silenced a mystery click by pathologically cleaning the QR skewers and hub/ dropout interfaces, and reseating the wheels with the QRs lightly greased and securely clamped.

Same for stripping, cleaning, reassembling and adjusting the headset components.

Carbon frames are great at making noises appear to be coming from somewhere they aren't.

I spent 50 miles of a charity ride thinking my BB was on the way out before I realised the single squeak per crank revolution was the saddlebag straps squeaking on the saddle rails...

MissedTheBreak

Bumo_b wrote:

What is the chain tension like on the rattling Tiagra derailleur?

Finally got around to resizing the chain and that has sorted it out nicely. Was also surprised at just how stretched the old chain had become in 1000km!

bmxboy10

I have a new Roubaix Comp 2018 and it sounds like a bag of spanners as soon as you hit the rough road surfaces. I noted the future shock spacer was loose but have now fixed that. I have also done the following;

Lined the internal gear cables with foam/rubber tubes as advised by Specialized
Cable tied the gear and brake cables together as they were touching each other
Checked the torque on the headset, cassette, chain ring bolts, pedals, bottle cages and removed the bottles and tightened every single bolt and screw etc
Tightened inner tube valve washers
Fitted donuts to the inner gear cable in the chain stay

The rattle seems to come throw the future shock/headset or the BB area its very hard to source where the sound is coming from.

Any ideas? The only thing I think I can try is to line the hydraulic cable in the down tube or it may be the disc brake pads or ask for the dealer to check the future shock and headset.

Driving me nuts!

abtrumpet

I have a Shimano Ultegra 50/34 on my bike that constantly creaks. I went to a tech and he told me the "wavy" washer I was using was for SRAM and not Shimano. I suspect that is the cause of my creaking. This is just FYI for anybody who might experience the same issue.

shaun1961

Creaking noises can come from your bars where they are fastened to the stem,and likewise your saddle where the rails contact your seat post.Remove them,give the contact area a clean then apply some grease where they contact one another.Worked for me. Got this tip from Zinn and the art of road bike maintenance.

imposter2.0

Shaun1961 wrote:

Creaking noises can come from your bars where they are fastened to the stem,and likewise your saddle where the rails contact your seat post.Remove them,give the contact area a clean then apply some grease where they contact one another.Worked for me. Got this tip from Zinn and the art of road bike maintenance.

Not sure if that's particularly good advice. Creaking implies movement - and if you want to stop something creaking (ie moving), then adding grease to the interface or contact surfaces is probably the last thing you need to be doing, for obvious reasons.

mugensi

lemonenema wrote:

Focus Cayo road bike clicking when pedalling almost consistently when right crank is at top of stroke and left is at bottom.
Ive changed BB, tried different pedals, tried different rear wheel, happens in both chainrings, nothing is touching the crank arms, it makes the sound when im sitting or standing so not saddle related. No cracks in frame.
Anything else I can check?

Chainring bolts?

My recent creaking turned out to be dry jockey wheels (that was after I changed the bottom bracket) and more or less stripped, cleaned and re-lubed every single other component on the bike.

rnath

BMXboy10 wrote:

I have a new Roubaix Comp 2018 and it sounds like a bag of spanners as soon as you hit the rough road surfaces. I noted the future shock spacer was loose but have now fixed that. I have also done the following;

Lined the internal gear cables with foam/rubber tubes as advised by Specialized
Cable tied the gear and brake cables together as they were touching each other
Checked the torque on the headset, cassette, chain ring bolts, pedals, bottle cages and removed the bottles and tightened every single bolt and screw etc
Tightened inner tube valve washers
Fitted donuts to the inner gear cable in the chain stay

The rattle seems to come throw the future shock/headset or the BB area its very hard to source where the sound is coming from.

Any ideas? The only thing I think I can try is to line the hydraulic cable in the down tube or it may be the disc brake pads or ask for the dealer to check the future shock and headset.

Driving me nuts!

Had a similar sounding problem... turned out the chain had been cut too long and was slapping against the chainring on rougher roads. The Park Tool website has good info on how to size a chain correctly...

keef66

My bike's transmission sounded like a bag of spanners when I reassembled it after its recent deep clean. I'd done the thing I said I'd never do again and routed the chain the wrong side of one of the tabs on the RD :roll:

Once I'd silenced that I thought the rear hub sounded noisy. Bearings out, cleaned, re-greased and carefully adjusted. Axle spinning smoothly when turned by hand. Back in the bike and it's grumbling again. Heading out on it last night I finally twigged that the FD cable end was rubbing on the tyre. Amazing that the carbon frame could amplify something so trivial and make it sound like grumbly bearings.

So I bent it out of the way. Then found it was catching the back of my calf which was even more annoying. Think I'll have to trim it a bit shorter...

bennettp23

Hi,

New Giant TCR 2018 with full dura ace.

When in the small front cog pretty quiet but when in big cog it is noisy and I can actually feel it is not smooth when pedalling with my hand in all rear cassette gears.

Any ideas?

Indexing is fine. Not touching/rubbing front derailure. A bit stumped. I don’t think it’s the chain as it is fine in the small cog.

It’s like I can feel the chain going onto each of the big cog teeth.

Thanks in advance!

pippi_langsamer-2

bennettp23 wrote:

Hi,

New Giant TCR 2018 with full dura ace.

When in the small front cog pretty quiet but when in big cog it is noisy and I can actually feel it is not smooth when pedalling with my hand in all rear cassette gears.

Any ideas?

Indexing is fine. Not touching/rubbing front derailure. A bit stumped. I don’t think it’s the chain as it is fine in the small cog.

It’s like I can feel the chain going onto each of the big cog teeth.

Thanks in advance!

Chain too short maybe?

pilot_pete

bennettp23 wrote:

Hi,

New Giant TCR 2018 with full dura ace.

When in the small front cog pretty quiet but when in big cog it is noisy and I can actually feel it is not smooth when pedalling with my hand in all rear cassette gears.

Any ideas?

Indexing is fine. Not touching/rubbing front derailure. A bit stumped. I don’t think it’s the chain as it is fine in the small cog.

It’s like I can feel the chain going onto each of the big cog teeth.

Thanks in advance!

Assuming the big chainring is not worn significantly (as you say ‘new’ 2018 TCR, I’d put my money on the chain being the cause.

I had this on Dura Ace earlier in the year - chain wasn’t that old, displayed little wear when dropping a chain wear indicator in, but I had exactly the same feel as you describe - like each roller seating itself on the ring. It also did the tiniest little skip on the rear cassette periodically as you pedalled it forwards in the work stand. It was again like the roller wasn’t quite seating in between the teeth on the cassette first go and then just slipping into correct engagement. I was convinced it couldn’t be the chain as it had little wear, was always meticulously cleaned and lubed, but sure enough, fitted a new chain (Ultegra without the hollow pins) and it is sorted.

So, I’d buy a new chain, size it correctly and give it a go. If it isn’t the cause you have eliminated it and you have yourself a spare chain which won’t go to waste anyway.

PP

pippi_langsamer-2

Picture of your set up in "big to big" would help...

bennettp23

Pilot Pete wrote:

bennettp23 wrote:

Hi,

New Giant TCR 2018 with full dura ace.

When in the small front cog pretty quiet but when in big cog it is noisy and I can actually feel it is not smooth when pedalling with my hand in all rear cassette gears.

Any ideas?

Indexing is fine. Not touching/rubbing front derailure. A bit stumped. I don’t think it’s the chain as it is fine in the small cog.

It’s like I can feel the chain going onto each of the big cog teeth.

Thanks in advance!

Assuming the big chainring is not worn significantly (as you say ‘new’ 2018 TCR, I’d put my money on the chain being the cause.

I had this on Dura Ace earlier in the year - chain wasn’t that old, displayed little wear when dropping a chain wear indicator in, but I had exactly the same feel as you describe - like each roller seating itself on the ring. It also did the tiniest little skip on the rear cassette periodically as you pedalled it forwards in the work stand. It was again like the roller wasn’t quite seating in between the teeth on the cassette first go and then just slipping into correct engagement. I was convinced it couldn’t be the chain as it had little wear, was always meticulously cleaned and lubed, but sure enough, fitted a new chain (Ultegra without the hollow pins) and it is sorted.

So, I’d buy a new chain, size it correctly and give it a go. If it isn’t the cause you have eliminated it and you have yourself a spare chain which won’t go to waste anyway.

PP

Thanks - will try a new chain. It is a brand new chain so maybe its faulty.

bennettp23

Pippi Langsamer wrote:

Picture of your set up in "big to big" would help...

Will get a picture later and maybe a video with the sounds.

What are we looking for on Big to Big? The tension on the chain?

bennettp23

Is it this chain I need?

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shi ... prod170322