A Mystery Clicking noise while riding

mercurykev · Post by **mercurykev** » 26 Jan 2007, 3:57pm

This might be a vague issue to raise on an internet forum but i'll give it a bash.

My bike, a 4 month old super galaxy, has recently started clicking while it is being ridden. Through deduction, I have discovered that the noise only occurs during the down stroke on the left side pedal. It's not there while freewheeling and not there during the right side pedal down stroke. It also appears to be proportional to the power behind the downstroke - e.g if I pedal lightly is doesn't happen. The click also only happend once per revolution of the crank and always at the same point in the revolution.

OK - I hope you got all of that.

Through deduction, I think that it might be something to do with the left pedal (possibly the bearing even though the pedals were new at xmas) or the bottom bracket. But I might be wrong.

Does anyone have experiance of this sort of issue? If so how do you solve the mystery? I've tried greasing my pedal and bottom bracket.

Help is appreciated.

Kevin

David · Post by **David** » 26 Jan 2007, 4:30pm

Can you feel it click in your foot ? Are your cleats tight ? Is your crank tight ? Check for a bit of play on the pedal spindle. I have had pedals do this with a bit of use and cured the problem by adjusting them. Some pedals are not adjustable though. If you can't find the problem, you could always take the pedals off another bike and try them. It should eliminate/identify the pedal as the problem.

axel_knutt · Post by **axel_knutt** » 26 Jan 2007, 4:40pm

Are you sure it's not you? I had a curious clicking, but only realised it was my knee when I still heard it after I changed the bike.

Post by **Mick F** » 26 Jan 2007, 4:50pm

I had a clicking too, Axel. Mine too was at Pedal Rate, only in the low gears, and not when freewheeling. It may have been my joints, either way, the noise went away. Never found out what it was.

Creaking, on the other hand, came from the saddle! That too was at Pedal Rate, only in low gears, and not when freewheeling.

Sorry, not too much help am I?

Mick F. Cornwall

mercianman · Post by **mercianman** » 26 Jan 2007, 5:06pm

Hi

I had a similar problem so I eventually changed my pedals but the noise did not go away. In the end I finally got rid of it by tightening my cleats.

Have you tried that yet?

mercurykev · Post by **mercurykev** » 26 Jan 2007, 6:30pm

thanks for the responses.

The sound is definitely coming from the crank/pedal area on the left side and is metallic in nature.

When it first started, I thought it might be my cleats but it is still there when I'm not clipped in and using the non-spd side of my pedal. I have also checked the crank bolt and it isn't loose.

What I'm going to do is put on another pedal and see if the noise is still there. If it is the pedal I'll take them back as they are only a month old!

I'll let you know how I get on.

Kevin

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 26 Jan 2007, 9:53pm

Does it happen in all gears? If does not, then it might be the chain against the front gear mech. Because of the much greater pressure when pedalling normally, this would not necessarily be apparent if you held the bike in a stand or similar and manually turned the pedals.

Are you sure the left crank is tight?

The other similar thread running at present highlights many of the unexpected causes of this sort of thing such as a creaking saddle.

vernon · Post by **vernon** » 27 Jan 2007, 8:41am

thirdcrank wrote:Does it happen in all gears? If does not, then it might be the chain against the front gear mech. Because of the much greater pressure when pedalling normally, this would not necessarily be apparent if you held the bike in a stand or similar and manually turned the pedals.

Are you sure the left crank is tight?

The other similar thread running at present highlights many of the unexpected causes of this sort of thing such as a creaking saddle.

Do check the left crank. I had a myriad creaks and groans from the bottom bracket area which probably was an ever so slightly loose left crank. By the time I'd acted on the crank the square hole in the crank had been irreperably damaged and the crank proved impossible to tighten up without it undoing itself within 10 minutes. It was an expensive failure to correct as I was 30 miles from home, no railway station nearby and a wife engrossed in a freshly started Liverpool FA cup match so transport home was at best a 2.5 hour wait. A new chain set bought a t a bike shop got me sorted.

Apparently the left crank is more likely to loosen than the right....don't know why.

mercurykev · Post by **mercurykev** » 29 Jan 2007, 1:37pm

I think that I have managed to find the source of the clicking. I think that it's my chain clicking off of my front mech.

I slight adjustment should sort it out.

Thanks for your input.

Kevin

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 29 Jan 2007, 2:12pm

mercurykev

Thanks for the feedback - it all adds to the collective knowledge.

David · Post by **David** » 29 Jan 2007, 8:59pm

So it wasn't on your left side then :-)

mercurykev · Post by **mercurykev** » 30 Jan 2007, 12:00pm

I think what was happening is that when I powered the left side pedal, the bike dipped slightly to the left and caused the chain to ping off of the front mech. This is why I had linked it to the left side of the bike, although technically it was 1cm over to the right.

CJ · Post by CJ » 30 Jan 2007, 1:01pm

So it happens only in one chainring? Has adjustment cured it?

In case it's any help to anyone else: I once had a similar (identical?) click that I eventually tracked down, by the fact that it never happened when I stood on the pedals, to the Brooks saddle. (And I think some Super Galaxys have such a saddle.) The noise was made by slight movement of the underframe in the nose clip, and a drop of oil silenced it.

PW · Post by PW » 30 Jan 2007, 8:13pm

I spent ages chasing one of these. It turned out to be the front mech cable rubbing the crank. :oops:

Yes I should have known that one at my age!

blakey · Post by **blakey** » 30 Jan 2007, 9:17pm

I practically renewed the drive train of my mountain bike only to find that one pedal was not quite fully tightened and the thread in the crank was dry and creaky.