Help! My bike has a click

For discussions about bikes and equipment.
slowster
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Posts: 4629
Joined: 7 Jul 2017, 10:37am

Re: Help! My bike has a click

Post by slowster »

Graham O wrote: 17 Sep 2021, 6:38pm I think all my quick releases have been shimano and these are some other brand. Perhaps they need more tension that I've been giving them?
I suggest you swap the skewers to see what difference they make.

Incidentally, Sheldon Brown and many others whose judgement I respect consider external cam QR skewers to be a bad design. I have had them come loose on two occasions, and will now only use internal cam skewers, which largely means Shimano because they are now almost the only internal cam QR available.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/skewers.html
Graham O wrote: 17 Sep 2021, 6:38pm Now I've been putting wheels in and out for years without problems, so that would suggest that I know what I'm doing, but even so, it does look like the problem could be there.
It might be worth turning the bike upside down and resting it on the saddle and bars, then open the skewer and see if the wheel stays aligned in the plane of the frame, and whether it remains so when the quick release is tightened and loosened again.

I'm sure I've read of at least one case where the surfaces of the drop outs which rest on the upper surface of the axle were not properly aligned, with the result that the axle on one side was not in contact with the drop out at the 12 o'clock position, but rather at the 11 o'clock or 1 o'clock positions. Under significant pedalling load the misalignment resulted in movement of the axle despite the clamping force of the QR. I suspect such misalignment might not be easy to detect, but it might become apparent if you try holding the tyre lightly close to the bottom bracket and wiggling the wheel slightly from side to side.
roubaixtuesday
Posts: 5815
Joined: 18 Aug 2015, 7:05pm

Re: Help! My bike has a click

Post by roubaixtuesday »

Graham O wrote: 17 Sep 2021, 6:38pm
cyclop wrote: 17 Sep 2021, 6:22pm Surely far too simple an explanation:........is your quick release fastened up properly(rear wheel of course)?
The same thought occurred to me about 10 minutes ago and I've just been outside for a test. Fitted a different rear wheel and no clicking, put the original wheel back in and after 2 or 3 clicks, it was silent even under full load. Now I've been putting wheels in and out for years without problems, so that would suggest that I know what I'm doing, but even so, it does look like the problem could be there. I will investigate more fully tomorrow. I think all my quick releases have been shimano and these are some other brand. Perhaps they need more tension that I've been giving them?
I was going to suggest QR.

I find it's quite a common source of creaks, especially on my Al frame.

Greasing ask the contact surfaces at the dropouts is invariably effective.
pwa
Posts: 17371
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: Help! My bike has a click

Post by pwa »

Another possibility is the seat post. A while back I had a click that tended to be in time with pedalling, but with occasional clicks when not pedalling, and even the odd one when out of the saddle. I mucked about with the bottom bracket, the pedals, the chain ring bolts and other things, but the cure was to take out the seat post, apply more grease to it (use paste if it is carbon) and do the bolt up a little bit tighter than before. No more clicks since then.
Bonzo Banana
Posts: 416
Joined: 5 Feb 2017, 11:58am

Re: Help! My bike has a click

Post by Bonzo Banana »

You can get clicking from bearings in the wheel hubs as you shift your body sometimes. To be honest clicking has so many causes. I remember a forum posting where a bike had chromoly tubes for the main triangle of the frame but lower quality high tensile steel for the stays and the bike had a sort of frame click. I've always used copper grease to fit bottom brackets etc as that stuff is a miracle for quietening bikes as the copper particle layer seems to stop sound being transferred or stops vibration. Also years later even if the grease itself has disappeared the copper particles prevent or reduce galvanic corrosion so parts are fairly easily removed without problem. Just seems like a no brainer to use it.
Graham O
Posts: 669
Joined: 27 Jan 2007, 7:54am

Re: Help! My bike has a click

Post by Graham O »

Well it's a lovely sunny day here in Central Portugal but best of all, the bike is silent! I just wish I knew what was different from the normal configuration.

The click went away when I put another back wheel in, but after an initial click or two, the original wheel has been silent since then. Did the other wheel transfer something to or from the dropouts which cured the click? I don't know what the cause is, but on the basis that nothing else has worked, then it appears to be something to do with the rear dropout and/or QR. This morning I've tried it with the QR at "normal" tension, less tension and with more tension, but haven't been able to get it to click. And it's not as if the wheel hasn't been in and out many times before since the click started, so not as simple as put in wrong originally and never touched.

I do remember some thing from the dim and distant past about applying grease to the dropouts on Al frames, so the on bike toolkit, now has a small amount of grease in it in case it returns.

Thank you everyone for your help.
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