Child's bike clunking when pedaling

bruce225

Hi

Just bought a second hand Carrera Luna for the little one and it's her first geared bike.

Noticed when she's pedaling there's a fair bit of clunking, sounding like when you first take up the slack on the chain before pedaling but it's quite constant.

My question is, is this normal due to the little ones riding style of none constant uniform pedaling or do I need to get mucky and investigate it's just hard when the bikes that small that you can't ride it yourself.

andrewc3142

As you suspect, could well just be she's not pedalling in circles yet and the pause and then taking up the slack in the chain causes the clunk.

I'd suggest checking the pedals aren't loose and see if there's any play in the BB. If everything's nice and tight and there's nothing else obvious, such as the crank being bent and clonking the rear chainstay, I wouldn't worry.

If it is just her riding style at the moment, it won't help if the chain and cogs are all gummed up, causing chain suck.

baudman

BRUCE225 wrote:

...it's just hard when the bikes that small that you can't ride it yourself.

Never stopped me. Kid's bikes are built pretty tough.

As per the above. I'm thinking a sticky chain link, but it could be a whole heapin' host of things.

Daz555

As above, check for sticky link but more likely simply the child not pedalling smoothly and losing tension in the chain. My 4yr old daughter does it from time to time as well.

mpatts

baudman wrote:

BRUCE225 wrote:

...it's just hard when the bikes that small that you can't ride it yourself.

Never stopped me. Kid's bikes are built pretty tough.

As per the above. I'm thinking a sticky chain link, but it could be a whole heapin' host of things.

I too always ride Amy's bike to check it. I even took to the trails recently on her old 20" wheel MTB. Handled surprisingly well.