Clicking!!!

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fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
I tend to pull bikes to bits, even new ones, and re-grease all the important bits. Check all contact points, pedals, saddle, bars. Wobble cranks to see if there is play. Check nothing is catching or knocked from your crash - especially the mechs.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Apart from the dangling dog tag, the other noise sources that I found were:
  • Cleat bolts were not tight enough
  • The raised tread on the sole of one of my (mountain bike style) SPD shoes was rubbing against the pedal so I trimmed it back
  • The bolts holding the plates on the tops of the pedals were not tight enough
  • The headset was not tight enough
  • The brake/shifters may not have been fixed to the bars tight enough
  • The chainring bolts may not have been tight enough
The reason that so many things were not tight enough was that I don't have a torque wrench and have damaged things in the past by overtightening bolts. I had obviously been overcautious on this bike because all is now quiet!

Oh, and a clicking sound on another bike was caused by my right ankle catching the end of the cable to the front derailleur once per pedal revolution.
 
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BretonM

BretonM

Well-Known Member
Apart from the dangling dog tag, the other noise sources that I found were:
  • Cleat bolts were not tight enough
  • The raised tread on the sole of one of my (mountain bike style) SPD shoes was rubbing against the pedal so I trimmed it back
  • The bolts holding the plates on the tops of the pedals were not tight enough
  • The headset was not tight enough
  • The brake/shifters may not have been fixed to the bars tight enough
  • The chainring bolts may not have been tight enough
The reason that so many things were not tight enough was that I don't have a torque wrench and have damaged things in the past by overtightening bolts. I had obviously been overcautious on this bike because all is now quiet!

Oh, and a clicking sound on another bike was caused by my right ankle catching the end of the cable to the front derailleur once per pedal revolution.
Yeah I'm gonna go and check my bike tomorrow morning and tighten things up. But not too much.
Thanks.
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
One extra thing to look at is to make sure you are not clipping the cable on your FD when the crank passes. That could explain it only occurring in certain gears.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Check the saddle is on tight - possible lightly grease the rails.
I thought you greased the saddle clamp bolt, not the rails. You want the rails to be gripped snug.

Oh, and a clicking sound on another bike was caused by my right ankle catching the end of the cable to the front derailleur once per pedal revolution.
Similarly, I've had the bit on the end of my shoelaces ping the FD.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Oh, and a clicking sound on another bike was caused by my right ankle catching the end of the cable to the front derailleur once per pedal revolution.
One extra thing to look at is to make sure you are not clipping the cable on your FD when the crank passes. That could explain it only occurring in certain gears.
Blimey, there is a really loud echo in this room! :okay:
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
I thought you greased the saddle clamp bolt, not the rails. You want the rails to be gripped snug.

I grease the contact points on the rails. The saddle isn't going to come loose ! Same with bars and stem - grease the contact points where they clamp. I hate annoying clicks, and I don't get any from anywhere by doing this.
 

ChrisEyles

Guru
Location
Devon
Don't think anyone's mentioned this before - if you're using a square tapered BB, are the crank bolts nice and tight? When I bought my first MTB off Gumtree I had a similar clicking develop after a few miles, that only ocurred when putting a fair bit of force on the pedals, and this was the cause. If so, you want to fix it sooner rather than later, or the square holes in the cranks will round out and become unusable.

All other suggestions equally plausible though, it can be quite hard to track down a creak/click (as others have said BB is often the culprit).
 
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