Creakings, clickings, tickings, clankings and knockings.

2456718

Comments

  • toshmund
    toshmund Posts: 390
    I have a Boardman Road Comp. Have had the left hand side crank work loose in the past, so have tightened that up in the past, with no torque wrench I am sad to say. Someone posted previously about having to re-tighten. I am concerned about possibly overtightening and doing more damage to the cartridge. What is the prevention? Would a "thread-lock" kind of product work, or is it something more indepth?
  • I really hope someone can help me with this one.



    I have a pair of 15 yr old racing wheels. Very nice, though (Hope hubs, FIR Aria rims and bladed spokes). For a while now they have made a tinkling sound when ridden. I recently had them trued and dished and now the noise is much worse. The sound is definately the spokes but quite how it is caused I'm not sure. The rims do take on water when it's very wet as the valve hole is fairly large - perhaps a design flaw. Interestingly, the wheels quieten down in the wet.



    A shop recently failed to come up with an answer, saying yes, lovely wheels but they are old. Well, yes, they are, but I know of many older wheels that are ablutely fine. Could the water have caused some corrosion? I empty it out as best I can when this happens. Why is it worse now the spoke tension has increased?



    Are there any experienced wheel builders out there who might know? Has anyone had this problem before?



    Thanks in anticipation.....
  • went out on a rode ride this morning and increasingly, every time i was out of the saddle climbing my bottom bracket made a creak. i have a bianchi 1885 from 2005 if that helps.
    does anyone know what to do/how to fix it? any help would be great.
    cheers,
  • Jimenysprocket - you say the valve hole is large. I had a noise from my wheels caused by the valve rattling around in said hole. I made up some plastic inserts so that the valve fitted really well - and bliss! Silence......
  • The most irritating and annoying creak and groan on my bike is me, especially out of the saddle up hill :oops: :lol: :shock: :D

    Surprised no-one beat me to that one :roll:
  • I had a creaking whilst putting the bike under pressure when climbing, mostly when out of the sadlle, tried tracking it down, taking everything apart, greasing etc etc, and eventually realised the fork bung had come loose in the steerer, and when re-tightening it creaking went..
    Hope this helps
    63 miles to go and the break is up the road
  • normanp
    normanp Posts: 279
    I had an irritating small pinging noise from the rear Fulcrum Racing 1 when straining uphill in a low gear. Disappeared when I put a small drop of lubricant on each spoke crossing point.
  • NaB
    NaB Posts: 105
    I really hope someone can help me with this one.



    I have a pair of 15 yr old racing wheels. Very nice, though (Hope hubs, FIR Aria rims and bladed spokes). For a while now they have made a tinkling sound when ridden. I recently had them trued and dished and now the noise is much worse. The sound is definately the spokes but quite how it is caused I'm not sure. The rims do take on water when it's very wet as the valve hole is fairly large - perhaps a design flaw. Interestingly, the wheels quieten down in the wet.



    A shop recently failed to come up with an answer, saying yes, lovely wheels but they are old. Well, yes, they are, but I know of many older wheels that are ablutely fine. Could the water have caused some corrosion? I empty it out as best I can when this happens. Why is it worse now the spoke tension has increased?



    Are there any experienced wheel builders out there who might know? Has anyone had this problem before?



    Thanks in anticipation.....


    try a bit of grease where the spokes overlap...the spokes flex when you ride and if these contact points are dry then a tinkling sound occurs as they rub together
  • ive recently changed my pedals to the new keo crbons and whenever its damp or wet the left one makes a strange achey creak sound. ive just put it down to the new "grip" cleats.
    anyone else had this?

    Have had the same creaks since I changed to new cleats with the rubber grips, can be quite annoying. The rubber strips have started to peel off from use, (only 2 wks) prob best to remove them completely.
  • I had a creaking noise the other day and could not work out where it was coming. After a while I eventually found it was coming from my cleats rubbing on the metal plate on the pedals.

    I have Time Impact pedals.

    How did you fix it Sarge?

    I had the same on my A520 SPD's and a bit of finish line chain lube on the contact points solved it. The creaking was getting loud and very annoying at that point but seems to be silent now.

    I am having this exact issue on my A530 SPD's. Lube solves the issue but only very temporarily, any other ideas?
    Rides a Cannondale Synapse 105.
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,072
    I thought I had a problems with my SPD's when under load, that was until my carbon seat post snapped in half and the noise went away, yey! no wait :cry:
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • liversedge
    liversedge Posts: 1,003
    annoying out the saddle / high torque pedalling that produced a creaking noise turned out to be look keo pedals in need of some tlc (clean and lube).
    --
    Obsessed is just a word elephants use to describe the dedicated. http://markliversedge.blogspot.com
  • i had a similar problem with my keo carbons, if the air was slightly moist or damp the cleats would creak like hell.. pain in the butt, still does it
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Pedal noises, squeaks and rattles could be the cleat, cleats can be noisy.
  • BUICK
    BUICK Posts: 362
    My tricross developed a 'tick' and creak that were intermittent but close to constant - for miles and miles it would go on then when I took it into the shop... nothing! Ha ha. Anyway, it was in time with the revolution of the pedals regardless of what gear I was in, so I started out by trying out my other shoes (different cleats) and then gave the pedals some attention. It didn't work. I swapped out pedals. No difference. SO - given the area it seemed to be coming from and another visit to the LBS we changed out the bottom bracket and it was silky smooth all the way home. Then I set off later for a ride with a friend and sure enough: tick, tick, tick, tickcreak, tick etc.

    One more phonecall to the LBS and we had the answer - I checked the chainring bolts. 3 out of 5 were a little bit loose, so I tightened them :oops:
    '07 Langster (dropped one tooth from standard gearing)
    '07 Tricross Sport with rack and guards
    STUNNING custom 953 Bob Jackson *sigh*
  • ok,

    I ride a plain MTB which is used as a daily commute hack.

    last night I started off from some lights on a high gear (ie had to push hard to get going) when the pedal slipped a bit (about 1/8 a rev)......for the rest of the trip home and also this morning coming in I can pedal about 2 or 3 complete turns and then one of the pedals will slip.

    The slipping is not confined to just one pedal.......I watched on a quiet stretch and as far as I can see the chain is not slipping. there is no associated creak / squeak or other noice, I just loose all pressure with the pedal as it slips

    Have I damaged the bearings in the pedals with trying to apply too much force starting at lights in too high a gear?

    tia
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    I think it is a mechanical impossibility for slip to occur without the chain jumping teeth on the chainrings or (and much more likely) on the sprocket teeth, or for the freehub to be faulty/worn. It may be very difficult to observe, and if it is the freehub the whole cassette and chain will jump together. It would suggest a worn cassette and chain or freehub. An alternative possibility is a stiff chain link, which will jump every complete revolution of the chain. Jumping is more likely to occur in the smaller sprockets.
  • alfa,

    many thanks for that.....it is more frequent in the smaller sprockets.

    it was acquired second hand and if I am honest I have probably mentally reckoned on it needing a new chain / cassette.

    apols for my ignorance, but what is the freehub?
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    All about freehubs here and here. It is the bit on the drive side of the hub on which the cassette slides on, and allows freewheeling and drive. It has pawls (sort of a ratchet system) that allow movement in one direction not the other, and it is what makes the clicking as you freewheel.
  • ah..ok....thats that cleared up for me - ta.

    It is sounding like I need a new chain / cassette then.

    Just had a quick look on Evans & Wiggle's websites and as it is a 5 speed, they seem to not be catered for in the chain department, and I'm not looking to change the whole gearing on the bike :(

    it is also looking like a reasonably costly repair too (chainset + chain + cassette = £100+)...could almost buy a new bike for the same :oops:

    many thanks for the quick replies....
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    You can get a chain for as little as £1.99 here and it looks like 5/6/7 speed chains are interchangeable. You can spend more of course.

    As it is 5 speed and possibly an older bike, you may have a freewheel rather than a Freehub, if so you would need a threaded freewheel rather than a cassette. Could be as cheap as £9.99 (maybe cheaper if you shop around).

    It is much less likely that the chainset would need replacing, they last a lot longer, the smaller rings wear first.

    You really need to get advice from a good local bike shop (LBS), as you need to know exactly what parts you have and need, and also some special tools are required for cassette removal (not too expensive, but they add to your costs). Evans often don't qualify as "good" however, and if you go to a bad one you will probably get sold stuff you don't need and/or pay over the odds, or get duff advice, or get no help at all. A "good" Evans shop will be a different matter, but the skills of the mechanics varies widely. A traditional LBS is also more likely to have experience of your setup and have the parts.

    At best, you could get it sorted for between £15 and £20 using parts bought online, but if the costs do rise a lot it may be worth considering if it is worth spending to keep this bike going, versus buying a new one. Of course it might be a much cherished and / or classic bike which is worth the input, but if it is an old "hack" bike, even a bill of £50 could make it an economic write-off as you could get a much newer and better secondhand hack for that price.
  • alfa,


    superb - many thanks indeed.....

    will be keeping it - was my girlfriends dads bike and has a lot of sentimental value
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    ah, understood (sorry for calling it a hack bike :oops:). So find a good traditional local bike shop and let them help you cherish it. If you talk with them, build up a relationship, you may learn a lot from them about your bike and how to fix things.

    What bike is it?
  • I am not sure of the exact model, but it is a Raleigh 15sp...

    ..will check at lunch and update

    edit: It is a Raleigh Jackal bike, dark red in colour......had a quick google but can only find a couple of private ad sales...

    if I can work out how, I will take a photo later or tomorrow and post it on here
  • jezcc
    jezcc Posts: 111
    I have an annoying pop on my left foot when I get over TDC on the left. I just get this little pop up through my pedal.

    At first I assumed the cleats were worn and replaced these - no joy
    Then I assumed it must be the pedal, replaced them - no joy
    So I've got brand new pedals and I'm still getting a pop up my foot, what is it? Is it my crankset/ The crank arm isn't loose and I can't seem to get any play out of the bottom bracket when I go and test it.

    HELP!!
    FCN 4-6 depending

    2008 Rocky Mountain ETSX
    2008 Ribble
  • Rhods
    Rhods Posts: 400
    I'm new to road bikes and have found that when travelling on roads which aren't particularly smooth (plenty of them in Cardiff), there is a strange buzzing noise coming from the front of the bike.

    The headset had actually worked itself loose (vertical play), but I've tightened the stem lower and the cap tighter and it no longer moves.

    But the buzzing was still there occassionally last night. Is this usual - am I just used to riding an MTB with front suspension?

    Thanks
  • I had a regular clicking / creaking / ticking noise when the bike was being put under load (although rarely under full load). After looking at this link:
    http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/keepitquiet.html, I took the chainwheel apart, greased the sections where the different chainrings contact each other, fully tightened the bolts and the noise has disappeared :lol:

    I now have another creaking noise ... it comes from the front of the bike (I think), so I'm thinking headset / handlebar / stem ... again its worse under acceleration, and bizzarely, its worse commuting back home (after its spent the day in my toasty-warm office) than it is commuting in the morning (after its spent the night in the freezing garage!) Guess its something about metal bits having expanded slightly in the warmer environment?
  • e999sam
    e999sam Posts: 426
    I thought I would share my recent experience in the hope that it may help others. I had a creak in both my best and training bikes both occurred when I was climbing out of the saddle. After changing or cleaning just about every components on both bikes I eventually cured both problems. The creak on my best bike was coming from the head set and I cured it by removing and greasing all the components of the expander bolt. On my training bike I found the creak was coming from the gear hanger on the rear drop out again I cleaned and re greased. Both have been fine since. Just goes to show that a similar noise can come from completely different ends of the bike.
  • Hugh A
    Hugh A Posts: 1,189
    edited May 2009
    Some annoying noises so far:

    Ticking noise coinciding with wheel revolution - usually computer magnet striking something

    Apparently identical noise on pedal revs. - coming from saddle which must be worn where the rails enter the front of the shell!

    It was - I have now sorted this one by taking the saddle off and holding it front end down then filling the nose where the rails enter it with epoxy glue :) [it's a Selle SLR in case you were wondering]

    More clicking on pedal revs. - bottom bracket (tightening usually worked although have had to replace it)

    Very similar noise to that - seat post and saddle rails (sorted by greasing and re-fitting)

    Also similar! - pedals slightly loose (can't tell until you tighten them and noise disappears)

    Creaking/squeaking - usually handlebars or pedal / cleat (some grease applied to the bar clamp or cleats usually sorts that out)

    Tinkling wheels - if mostly at low revs. may be bits of grit or aluminium swarf inside the hollow of the rims. Takes a while to work them out of the valve hole.


    In general the frame distributes noises so efficiently that it can be very difficult to tell where they are coming from
    I\'m sure I had one of those here somewhere
  • wolleur
    wolleur Posts: 30
    Brake cables rattling between the hoods where they 'cross' or intersect had me worried for a while, have zip tied them together.

    My downtube bottle cage rattles when holding a full water bottle, only way of curing that one is by drinkng a few mouthfuls.

    Back wheel binds the brake under heavy load (hills, avoiding being dropped by fat lady on a shopper), no excessive play in the cones so all I could do is let the brake out a little bit.

    Loose stuff in saddle pack rattling cured by adding suitable sized piece of fruit cake.

    Creaking from look keo pedals was just friction and my feet moving in the float, so a blast of silicon spray on each pedal is now a part of routine cleaning/ maintnence and they remain silent.

    Slight ticking from the stem area when out of the saddle, haven't a clue about this one. Everything torqued up so metal fatigue? Not sure if this is anything to worry about.
    Campag taste, jam wages.