Crankarm clicking

[howard2107]

@Yellow Saddle

Many thanks for your words of wisdom. I have replaced the pedals but to no avail. I have now bought all the tools I need to get my cranks off the bike, and will remove the BB, clean, grease and refit. Hopefully this will cure it as the clicking is now getting worse, though seemed to go away for a bit.

Am I OK to keep riding the bike in the interim or should I wait until it's repaired?

If the problem is developing as you say, then it isn't going to get better, i would sort it out before going out again. I am not yet very familiar with the inner workings of bicycles, but as an engineer who has 30 plus years experience of machines and their problems, am familiar with things going wrong. If you continue to use the bike in this condition you risk the chance of doing further damage to other components, which will involve more expense and inconvenience, and the worst case scenario if you get a sudden failure then you may get injured.

 

[dee.jay]

Well I mean the odd day or so of commuting - I didn't mean months of use of course! I will get it sorted as soon as I can.

 

[slowmotion]

I had a click from one crank that got louder and louder over the course of a ride. The bike was almost new. I had visions of it being some horrendous BB problem. It wasn't. A fellow rider ,@ianrauk, tightened the hex head bolt that fixed the crank to the shaft and the problem went away. It hasn't come back.

 

[dee.jay]

Hm I will try this too, admittedly I haven't. Regardless, I haven't wasted any money by having the tools on hand.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

@Yellow Saddle

Many thanks for your words of wisdom. I have replaced the pedals but to no avail. I have now bought all the tools I need to get my cranks off the bike, and will remove the BB, clean, grease and refit. Hopefully this will cure it as the clicking is now getting worse, though seemed to go away for a bit.

Am I OK to keep riding the bike in the interim or should I wait until it's repaired?

It's a pleasure. A clicking crank/BB will cause no damage to the bike at all. Ride it until you are ready to take it off.

Do you have the little squiggly star-shaped tool to remove the preload cap on the left crank? I see I forgot to mention it in my instructions up above.

 

[dee.jay]

Ah great, I am pleased to read that! It is annoying but only seems to occur when pedalling hard, I.e. Uphill. On the flat, where I am maintaining my momentum at constant velocity the clicking is nonexistent which rules out pedals completely but I will double check that they are attached correctly too.

I looked up videos on YouTube about how to get shimano cranks off and indeed it pointed out need for the extra little tool so that was bought too.

 

[Ticktockmy]

I had what I thought was a clicking BB, I stripped down cleaned it and still when I cycled uphill it still clicked, Then I found if I was off the saddle it did not do it, it turned out amazingly to be the Saddle support arms clamp stressing under pressure. the sound was being transmitted down the down tube.

 

[dee.jay]

@Yellow Saddle - Hi, sorry to tag you again... I've realised that my torque wrench doesn't go high enough to the 35-50Nm recommended by Shimano for the BB. I have a Sealey one that is 2-24Nm.

What torque wrenches do you use for the BB job, if at all? I think the one I've got will be suitable to get the cranks off and for most other jobs around the bike, except for this one.

Oh and how do you make sure you get one that's left hand thread compatible.

Phew, I thought this would be a simple job!

 

[Kbrook]

I'm sure yellow saddle will be along but in the meantime, I have never used a torque wrench to fit a BB like yours. Just fo it up good and tight, it has a natural stop position so I just tighten it to that. There will be writing on your BB which will infuriate whether yours is a English or Italian thread. Just order the correct one, all suppliers will stock both.

 

[Kbrook]

Just checked your picture, yours is an English thread do you need to order one of those.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-bb-r60-ultegra-6800105-5800-hollowtech-ii/

Just select English thread from the drop down box. Even though it's Ultegra it's compatable with your Sora drivetrain

 

[dee.jay]

Mine is a British thread, have already found that one out.

Other posts on the internet suggest that I just need a wrench to tighten it up, 3/8" one now as I've got the right BB tool.

 

[dee.jay]

Also, I don't need a new BB, I'm just removing to clean it, regrease it and re-fit in order to get rid of the annoying clicky

 

[Kbrook]

You are welcome. Crack on with it.

 

[dee.jay]

Oh yes, thanks for all the contributions!

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Kbrook said it all but I'd like to define "nice and tight". It is not so tight that you strain and pop a vein. Imagine pruning a tree with a pair of bluntish loppers. Now cut through a 15mm branch by pushing the lopper levers one in each hand. Now imagine your spanner in that same position and push. Your spanner will however be much shorter than the long lopper which will give you more leverage and thus not tighten the BB as much as a long lever would have - that's tight enough. If anyone else can verbalise the feel of 40NM, I'd love to hear.

You will really have to struggle to find an Italian threaded BB so don't worry, it will just about by default be British, which is left-handed on the right hand side. Always look at the arrows and read the text ---> Tighten. Often I find people messing up on the translation, almost like people pushing on a Glass door with a transparent sticker on the other side that says Push. The brain reads the mirror image perfectly but doesn't translate the action into Pull. That was a long-winded story to say that you should rememver that Loosen is the opposite of Tighten.