Ticking sound coming from crank

nitrogen

When pedalling, I'm getting a low ticking sound from the crank, although no problem changing gears. Could this be down to grit and be resolved by a degreaser or should I take it to a bike shop?

It's Shimano ultegra and half a year old.

Thanks

irishmotorist

Do you know how many KM you've done on it?

I've had a similar problem myself for quite a while and it's been getting worse. I took a good close look yesterday and now I think it's actually my right pedal that's at fault. I'm gonna change pedals tonight for a different pair to see if that's it.

72hundred

I've had this problem, and it annoyed the hell outta me for a while.

What'd I'd say it is - is that the screw that hold the chain rings on to the crankset need to be tightened. I went to LBS with the problem and the broke out some over sized allen key to do it! Apparently very high torques required!!!

ArraMusha

Had something kinda similar a few weeks ago...got worse at low gears and under strain..I though it might have been the crank but turned out to be the rear derailleur allignment. Fixed it by alligning the chain and gears.

Tau

I had this for a while, a few drops of oil into the pedal bearings (without even taking them off the bike) sorted it. Try that before you try anything else!

nitrogen

irishmotorist wrote: »

Do you know how many KM you've done on it?

I've had a similar problem myself for quite a while and it's been getting worse. I took a good close look yesterday and now I think it's actually my right pedal that's at fault. I'm gonna change pedals tonight for a different pair to see if that's it.

Around 2,000km.

It's very hard to see where it's coming from, as it only happens under strain. If the bike is upside down and I spin the pedals, there is no ticking sound.

I'll look into the suggestions you have all made.

Thanks, folks.

Quigs Snr

I had similar. The hollowtech Bottom Brackets can tend to work themselves a little loose. I would remove the BB, clean it, grease it up with some lithium grease, then tighten it. Fixed my problem anyway. Common thing with these.

Ryaner

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I had similar. The hollowtech Bottom Brackets can tend to work themselves a little loose. I would remove the BB, clean it, grease it up with some lithium grease, then tighten it. Fixed my problem anyway. Common thing with these.

I get this all the time with mine. Have to regrease mine at least every 2-3 months

anoble66

this is a useful link for tracking down the source of the noises.

http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/keepitquiet.html

Signal_ rabbit

I had this too for a while and found that the right crank arm was hitting the tail end of the dérailleur cable! Doh!

rebel.ranter

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I had similar. The hollowtech Bottom Brackets can tend to work themselves a little loose. I would remove the BB, clean it, grease it up with some lithium grease, then tighten it. Fixed my problem anyway. Common thing with these.

Had the exact same issue, BB is probably loose.

feck sake lads

i had that problem for two years ,eventually found the problem after trying everything known to man ;)the hollowtech bottom bracket was cross threaded causeing it to creak on every turn of the peddal's.
the only way i could fix the problem was to get a steel b/b and gently thread it in making new threads i then fitted a new b/b cups. job oxo.;)

irishmotorist

nitrogen wrote: »

Around 2,000km.

I'd imagine that's low mileage for the BB to be gone so it's unlikely to be bust, but not impossible. As you can see here though, ticking when pedaling is a tricky one to figure out because of the number of components in this. A bit of loosening and re-tightening is probably a good thing to try.

beans

That linked article even tells tale of a tick on crank rotation that was fixed by greasing the seatpost! I had a very similar problem, turned out that my left-side crank-arm needed to be tightened - once it was on as tight as I could get it, the ticking went away

These kind of niggling mystery-problems can be so annoying...

Piercemeear

I've experienced a loose left crank on a few bikes and it always sounds (and feels) like the ticking you're describing. You can tell it's on the left side, though, you feel it in your foot.

From reading the responses here it sounds like just about anything can cause a ticking.

nitrogen

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I had similar. The hollowtech Bottom Brackets can tend to work themselves a little loose. I would remove the BB, clean it, grease it up with some lithium grease, then tighten it. Fixed my problem anyway. Common thing with these.

What tool do I need for this? Do different cranks use different sizes of this tool?

iregk

A handy way to tell if a bottom bracket is loose or not is to put one of the crank arms up and parallell with the seat tube. using your hands if you can pull the crank arm in towards the seat tube then its loose and tighten it up. there should be no give in it, well nothing mad anyway.

Hungrycol

72hundred wrote: »

I've had this problem, and it annoyed the hell outta me for a while.

What'd I'd say it is - is that the screw that hold the chain rings on to the crankset need to be tightened. I went to LBS with the problem and the broke out some over sized allen key to do it! Apparently very high torques required!!!

I'd second this suggestion. My bike has this type clicking at the moment and I'm sure it's related to the chainset rings attached to the crank arm. Not the pedals (new), not BB (ISIS very hard wearing), not chain (overhauled/oiled).

BUT.... Any suggestions on keeping the nut backing in place while tightening the allen key front? Sometimes when turning the nut the backing moves too which is very annoying.

blorg

Hungrycol wrote: »

BUT.... Any suggestions on keeping the nut backing in place while tightening the allen key front? Sometimes when turning the nut the backing moves too which is very annoying.

There is a tool for holding them in place.



I think some people have had luck with a flat screwdriver but may as well use the right tool for it.