Clicking/ticking from BB/crank area

lukester

Took delivery of a new Cube from CRC a while back, very happy with it. Recently I've noticed what sounds like an irregular clicking from the BB/crank area, that only occurs when pedalling forwards, doesn't happen when backpedalling. I adjusted the cable tension and lubed the chain at the weekend, and it's not coming from there. The chain isn't hitting the guides. It doesn't appear to relate to load either, as I tried pedalling lightly, and it occurs then too. I note that the crankarms have a sticker stating the torque wrench setting for the securing bolts, which I haven't checked yet, but when I received the bike I tested these and they seemed tight. I'll check them tonight with the torque wrench, just to rule that out.

Just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions?

Thanks

tunney

If its an alu' frame then shards of alu' can get into the BB and need to be cleaned out.

lukester

tunney wrote: »

If its an alu' frame then shards of alu' can get into the BB and need to be cleaned out.

On a brand new bike?

kona

lukester wrote: »

On a brand new bike?

yes in the extremly unlikley event that the BB was faced.

its your cranks that is the problem, common cause is that they aint on tight so , depending on the bike its either a 14mm socket of a 8mm allen key and 40NM of torque.

other problems could be **** pedals, bent gear tooth.

tunney

yes in the extremly unlikley event that the BB was faced.

Its actually quite common.

kona

tunney wrote: »

Its actually quite common.

that they are faced???
nope i have to face bikes myself, especially the one with external BBs, the amount of companies that fit these without facing is insane, especially considering the shimano ones like to give up early.

aluminium in the BB??? only from raping the threads, and even then unlikley, the cups are steel as are the ball bearings, also this will only happen on ****e bikes and i dont think the op has bought from smiths:D
if its a cartridge then its no way its foreign bodies.

lukester

kona wrote: »

that they are faced???
nope i have to face bikes myself, especially the one with external BBs, the amount of companies that fit these without facing is insane, especially considering the shimano ones like to give up early.

aluminium in the BB??? only from raping the threads, and even then unlikley, the cups are steel as are the ball bearings, also this will only happen on ****e bikes and i dont think the op has bought from smiths:D
if its a cartridge then its no way its foreign bodies.

It is a cartridge BB. I'll torque up the crankarms tonight and report back

Cheers

lukester

Update on this..

Cycling home I noticed the sound was apparent while freewheeling. As I made my way home, it started to sound like something cracking. Very alarming. I pulled over and inspected all weld joints. Sounded like it might be coming from the front wheel, took this off and checked the axle, but nothing apparent.

Any ideas what this could be? It appears to be getting worse, and it was getting so bad that I just dawdled the last bit of the journey home.

E@gle.

have you checked any loose spokes on the front wheel

lukester

E@gle. wrote: »

have you checked any loose spokes on the front wheel

Thanks, I checked for that, they all seem tight.

Quigs Snr

I have this on a new bike also or something similar. It could be your hub, be it a problem with the bearings, or it could be that your quick release skewer is too tight or not tight enough

kona

freewheel/freehub ratchet???

1st thing to do is to tighten EVERY bolt.

these things are really annoying and tbh ive spent hours trying to find stray rattles and clicks and i havnt.:mad:

can you post a link to te bike or even better a pic of your actual bike???

Hermy

I was advised to put a smear of copper grease anywhere that there is metal on metal contact. I dismantled the entire pedal/ crank/ chainring/ bottom bracket assembly, applied grease and put it back together again but still have the same creaking. I suspect I may have overtightened the BB at the beginning and that is what is causing the noise.

lukester

kona wrote: »

freewheel/freehub ratchet???

1st thing to do is to tighten EVERY bolt.

these things are really annoying and tbh ive spent hours trying to find stray rattles and clicks and i havnt.:mad:

can you post a link to te bike or even better a pic of your actual bike???

This is the bike:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=24893

(I'll take pics later of the actual bike and put them up later)

I wouldn't mind a click so much, but last night it sounded like something was cracking or about to give, pretty alarming. I was down inspecting the forks at the side of the road. I took off the front wheel last night and checked the axle, checked the spokes, and put it on a touch looser than before.

Cycling this morning I noticed that the noise occurs while freewheeling, but more often when pedalling, which is making me wonder if it's the rear wheel/hub, which is the next thing I'll check.

kona

lukester wrote: »

This is the bike:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=24893

(I'll take pics later of the actual bike and put them up later)

I wouldn't mind a click so much, but last night it sounded like something was cracking or about to give, pretty alarming. I was down inspecting the forks at the side of the road. I took off the front wheel last night and checked the axle, checked the spokes, and put it on a touch looser than before.

Cycling this morning I noticed that the noise occurs while freewheeling, but more often when pedalling, which is making me wonder if it's the rear wheel/hub, which is the next thing I'll check.

what gear do you be in?? does chainging gears make a difference, try to keep the chain in a straight line and see if it makes a difference.

next thing id do is remove the back wheel and make sure that cassette is on tight, as those 9spd close ratios are tricky to put on, at least my 105 one was although it was going on a wheel that was originally a 8 spd.
there will be a silver lock ring in front of the last gear, to tighten it goes in te drive direction, to loosen its the freewheel direction(you may need a chain whip for the latter).

check that all the packaging is off the bike, especially the little plastic yoke that sits between the chainstay and the gears and comes out to cover the end of the QR skewer.

lukester

kona wrote: »

what gear do you be in?? does chainging gears make a difference, try to keep the chain in a straight line and see if it makes a difference.

next thing id do is remove the back wheel and make sure that cassette is on tight, as those 9spd close ratios are tricky to put on, at least my 105 one was although it was going on a wheel that was originally a 8 spd.
there will be a silver lock ring in front of the last gear, to tighten it goes in te drive direction, to loosen its the freewheel direction(you may need a chain whip for the latter).

check that all the packaging is off the bike, especially the little plastic yoke that sits between the chainstay and the gears and comes out to cover the end of the QR skewer.

I'm mostly on the middle ring, but I don't think it's drivetrain related as it happens when I'm not pedalling as well.

I'll check there's no packaging on the bike still, but I'm pretty sure I removed everything. Will remove the back wheel later and see if there's anything amiss there too.


<Edit: The other reason I'm pretty sure it's not the drivetrain is that I tested going through the gears with the bike upside down (ain't got no stand) and it didn't manifest. Seems to be a combination of load and drive that causes it>

kona

lukester wrote: »

I'm mostly on the middle ring, but I don't think it's drivetrain related as it happens when I'm not pedalling as well.

I'll check there's no packaging on the bike still, but I'm pretty sure I removed everything. Will remove the back wheel later and see if there's anything amiss there too.


<Edit: The other reason I'm pretty sure it's not the drivetrain is that I tested going through the gears with the bike upside down (ain't got no stand) and it didn't manifest. Seems to be a combination of load and drive that causes it>

did the cranks take a knock??, i had a click from a crank once that got a whack off a kerb,(really annoying!) try to see if one is bent(could have happend in transit or the bike couldhave been stored on its side:eek:)

lukester

kona wrote: »

did the cranks take a knock??, i had a click from a crank once that got a whack off a kerb,(really annoying!) try to see if one is bent(could have happend in transit or the bike couldhave been stored on its side:eek:)

Thing is, this only started happening in the last few weeks, and the bike hasn't taken any knocks, having been cosseted by myself and living indoors, to the chagrin of my other half

Chips Lovell

Hi lukester,
It's very difficult to diagnose these little noises because they can be caused by so many different things. Could you describe the noise? Is it more of a tick than a creak?

I've come across a few creaks in my time and while they always sounded like they were from the BB area, they often weren't. First was a bolt on a saddle that wasn't tightened right. Second was solved by greasing the skewers.

Ticks are a often something obvious. I was driven mad by one a while back that turned out to be the minipump slipping down from its mount and the crank was rubbing it. Most frequent one is the speed sensor being knocked slightly inwards and making contact with the spoke magnet on every revolution.

lukester

el tonto wrote: »

Hi lukester,
It's very difficult to diagnose these little noises because they can be caused by so many different things. Could you describe the noise? Is it more of a tick than a creak?

I appreciate your point.

This sound started out as more of an irregular ticking, irregular in its timing, and also in loudness. Yesterday cycling home it became louder like something was cracking/about to give. It was loud enough that I was worrying about fork legs cracking, or the front hub collapsing.

It occurs when freewheeling but more so when pedalling.

It only occurs when I'm sitting on the bike pedalling- rotating the cranks without a rider doesn't cause it to happen.

As I'm typing I'm thinking I should check the seat post as well, bars, etc. I'll check/re-tighten everything tonight.

kenmc

Sounds like a typical 'something creaking under load' noise - hard to find.
Does it happen when you're off the saddle or only on the saddle?
Could be something like the frame flexing under load and the chain touching the front mech. Could be the pedals not being tight enough.
Could be the saddle rails creaking, or the seat post clamp.
Could be the pedals.
Could even be the bolts holding your front mech on.
Does it increase/decrease in frequency depending on the gear you're in? (Probably Drive-train related).
Or does it change frequency depending on your cadence (Probably BB/Crank related).
If it doesn't seem to have a dependance on either cadence or gear (and given that it happens when you're freewheeling) it is more likely to be something like the handlebars or seat - i.e. it's something that still does some 'work' (flexs/strains/resists etc) when you are not pedalling - and that includes the pedals as they are a contact point..
Check your headset also.

lukester

kenmc wrote: »

Sounds like a typical 'something creaking under load' noise - hard to find.
Does it happen when you're off the saddle or only on the saddle?
Could be the pedals not being tight enough.
Could be the saddle rails creaking, or the seat post clamp.
Could be the pedals.
and that includes the pedals as they are a contact point..
Check your headset also.

I tightened seatpost, saddle, pedals, headset bolts, and tried it out..no more noise!

I think the most obvious candidate was the saddle/seatpost, as I pushed on this before tightening and it did offer up a bit of a complaint. Also, the bolts had the most tightening in them.

Cheers for all the suggestions- feel a little sheepish, but at least it's sorted, bike is back in stealth mode.