Annoying "Clicking" noise.

[Kestevan]

My bike has developed a massivly annoying clicking noise.

Its a definite click rather than a squeek or grinding sound; just like something is catching on a spoke.

It sounds to be comming from the back wheel, but in fairness noises are sneaky buggers, and it could be anywhere.

It only happens when I'm riding it, spin the wheels or turn the crank on the stand and no clicking.
I dont think its the BB, as it happens when I freewheel. Still there if I stand up, so probably not the seatpost.

All the spokes seem tensioned OK (but I have a feeling it might be wheel related).

Any thoughts on how to track this down, as it's slowly driving me nuts

 

[Renard]

Wheel bearings?

 

[Gerry Attrick]

I had this problem on my hybrid which has a cheapy Shimano drive train. I tried everything including a post on this forum. The only thing which cured it was a new chainset. I'm not saying that's what you need, but only what sorted out my problem.

 

[montage]

regular clicking?

 

[Aperitif]

Flexing of the forks with your weight shift from R to L etc and subsequent engagement of the magnet with the sensor of your speedo?

Loose cleats on shoes? Stickiness etc of cleat retention system?

Broken bearing ball in the bottom bracket? This will probably only occur if you are applying weight to the BB axle - not when in a stand etc....*

The seatpost is a classic one for 'wherethebloodyhellisitcomingfrom' noise too - grease it and refit.*

* general info - not for you as you have already eliminated...

 

[buggi]

could it be your cleat? don't laugh... had this once, drove me round the bend. even had the LBS strip my bike down, grease everything and put it back together. eventually narrowed it down to the pedal but it wasn't until i stuck someone else on the bike and they pedalled around the car park without cleated shoes, that we realised it was my cleat when it was in the pedal.

bit of lubricant sorted it out.

 

[upandover]

When I had this on mine, it was linked to pressure on the pedals, and appeared to be the crank/bottom bracket. May be quite different, but worth checking out?

Steve

 

[bike_the_planet]

My bike has developed a massivly annoying clicking noise.

Its a definite click rather than a squeek or grinding sound; just like something is catching on a spoke.

It sounds to be comming from the back wheel, but in fairness noises are sneaky buggers, and it could be anywhere.

It only happens when I'm riding it, spin the wheels or turn the crank on the stand and no clicking.
I dont think its the BB, as it happens when I freewheel. Still there if I stand up, so probably not the seatpost.

All the spokes seem tensioned OK (but I have a feeling it might be wheel related).

Any thoughts on how to track this down, as it's slowly driving me nuts

You need to be logical when investigating this sort of stuff.

Does it happen once every wheel rotation or once every pedal rotation? A bit of pedalling and gear-changing followed by freewheeling will identify which. If it's happens each pedal revolution then it will be one of the following:

• Bottom bracket - re-torque to correct settings - depending on your BB setup you may have to remove the cranks top do this
• Cranks - retighten if they are of the old taper type
• pedals - remove and tighten slack bearing if necessary
• Cleats - check they are screwed in correctly and tightened

Still no joy? Get out magnifying glass and look around BB area. This depends of what frame material you have. Either way, look for discolouration of paint or outright cracking. With carbon frames cracks can be extremely small and may require a frame repairer to have a look and see if they can find them.

If it's once per revolution of the wheels then for both wheels check brakes are not binding (back off brakes if necessary for this, but give yourself plenty of room to stop!)

Check wheels are true.

Check release levers are tight

Check there is no play in the bearings of both wheels. If there is - strip down cones, regrease, of if balls worn, replace as well. Re-assemble wheel.

Check tyres aren't excessively worn (I once had a cracked tyre that must have been slightly pinching on the tube causing a squeaking)

If it's neither per pedal or wheel revolution it could be the chain itself - examin links with magnifier.

By this time you should have some idea of what it is.

Cheers

 

[Domino]

I've got this problem as well, it's really annoying. I'm hoping to take the BB apart tomorrow and inspect, re-grease and re-tighten in the hope it fixes it. It's not so bad when whizzing along the flats with the wind in my ears, but slow uphill climbs and click, click, click every revolution is driving me bonkers.

 

[dan_bo]

it's your knees stoopid!

 

[Domino]

it's your knees stoopid!

Oils knees. I shall see if this works tomorrow

 

[byegad]

I had a similar problem for months on my tourer. Loud enough to be really annoying on a quiet road!

It turned out to be two layers of the seat flexing at the edge where my thigh rubbed it. A little glue in between the layers solved the problem.