Bike noise, creak, click, creaks, clicks, clicking, pinging sound - help

^^ regarding the rear 'hub' noise, I have swapped both the freewheels with an old one we had lying around and the noise is gone from both bikes.

So the new unbranded freewheel and the new Shimano ones were both at fault! How lucky I am ? :)

Well, at least the hubs weren't at fault, which could have been worse.

Regarding this, the issue with the Holdsworth was probably because I got a 7/8 Speed chain on a 6 speed freewheel.

Got a 7 speed Shimano one and noise is gone.

I think the same happens with the Gazelle.

7/8 speed chain do work on the 5/6 speed.

It was either that or the freewheel itself. I thought it was that.

To be fair I have the same problem with a 7 speed cassette, that it was noisey, I realised it's mainly due to the paint on the cassette, as the 8 speed one (and previous 6 speed freewheel) were buttery smooth.

The ones I have had no paint...I think it was just some dents a bit bent, in the end these are cheap components.

I'm slowly losing my mind trying to find the source of a clicking on my new ss beater. It’s an old Allez frame, spyder fork, mismatched wheels and some haggard cranks off a unipack bike.

The noise is a hollow metallic clicking, twice per crank revolution (but not evenly spaced, the second click quickly follows the first). It disappears under heavy acceleration and if I’m out of the saddle it’s very difficult to make the noise happen (but it still occurs sometimes).

Putting more/less weight through the bars versus the saddle doesn’t seem to affect the clicking. The noise seems to be coming from the BB area, but it’s hard to tell.

I’ve removed, re-seated and re-greased literally every component on the bike. I’ve swapped out the wheelset, pedals, bottom bracket, seatpost and saddle with no impact on the noise.

Chain and rear sprocket are new, cranks are a bit battered but teeth are in ok condition. Chain tensioner is from my brothers parts bin, very old but still looks in good condition.

Any ideas what could be causing it?

The bike in question...

1 Attachment

Try other things? Chain? Any loose spokes? Freewheel? How do the hubs feel when turned with your hand?

Also I've had trouble with bb cups, try reseating them in the threads using an anti-shake compound?

I have an Allez Sport with its original seatpost but different saddle. Depending where the saddle is positioned, fore and aft, I get similar clicks coming from the clamp/saddle rail interface.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Skully - both hubs are smooth, freewheel is ok and no loose spokes. Plus I've ruled out the wheels by swapping for some others and the clicking persisted. What could I look for on the chain, or is it a case of swapping in a spare to rule it out? (I think I've got enough old 1/8 to cobble together a temporary chain).

Cranky - so your clicks were coming from the seatpost/rails, not the frame? I've tried different seatposts and saddles with no change to the noise but it seems odd that pedalling out of the saddle almost completely stops the clicking.

Forgot to mention; I can't recreate the noise off the bike, i.e. it's only apparent with my weight on it.

I'm tempted to swap all components over to a spare frame on the weekend to rule out the frame/fork flexing/creaking. If that doesn't fix it then it must be something in the drivetrain (cranks, chainring, chain, sprocket, or tensioner?)

There may be a crack in your cranks...

Also slight wear/microweld on tapers of the cranks might be worth looking at...

I think you may be right, as the gas-piped Create these cranks came from had almost every other component replaced during it's short tenure as my pub bike. The build quality of the parts was shockingly-low, thankfully the only bits from that bike I'm still using are the bottom bracket and chainset, so perhaps I should just replace them as they'll likely fail soon anyway (this clicking may be them telling me as much).

Thanks for the help. I'll be on the hunt for a chainset this weekend!

Hi guys. I have Fuji Track Classic Single speed.
Something is clicking in my back wheel. Clicking every 1 second when I'm pedalling, but when I stop pedalling for a second it's gone.
Maybe it's freewheel? It's 4 weeks new Shimano.
Thanks

Was finally enjoying having a silent running bike the other day... then near the end of the ride I approached a small sharp incline which I wanted to get up quickly. Pulling hard on the bars from side to side resulted in a knocking / creaking sound from the headset area. Does this possibly mean my headset is lacking pre-load?

edit: it's a 1 1/8" aheadset if that makes any difference..

Enjoying my time on my SuperSix when I noticed some noise...mainly a click, random, and when they do happen the sounds are spaced apart by a about half a second to a second. I know that sounds travel through frames like crazy, but would would be the best place to look? They only started after I installed aerobars, a new cassette and chain, and a garmin mount.

Sound seems to be coming from the fork/stem area. It's a different click to when I had to adjust the preload on my ksyriums, this sound is lighter as if something is half cracked or something.

Thoughts?

Edit: can make the noise happen by leaning on both sides of the handlebar, and moving my weight from side to side. Clicking seems to be coming from bottom headset bearing. Time to pull the fork and see what's happening and reinstall.

Edit 2: Pulled entire fork, greased all metal to metal contact patches...i.e. just the lower bearing to crown and put it all back together and retorqued. Clicking gone! Now onto the next sounds.

My recommendation is to first tighten up the pedals. Quick and easy, often the problem. Have known people take a bike apart, only to find that it was a very slightly loose pedal.

That new noise could it be the Fredset? It does not seem too loose.

So for the last few rides on the 'dale I've had creaks and groans. No BB30 or anything but GXP so I checked the BB = fine. Hmm, checked skewers were all tight and gave the surfaces a clean and the creaking went away YAY!... for 10 miles. The skewers are 3T ones supplied with the wheels.
Today I didn't want any creaking so remembering Dammits skewer issue I swapped them out with a very basic pair of Shimano ones (they weigh double but hey) and went out chasing hills today. Zero noise all day. Brilliant. Note to self and anyone else who cares - use Shimano skewers.

Can a chain creak? My bike started creaking with each pedal stroke a couple of weeks ago. Since then, for various reasons I have changed the frame, BB and pedals so the only constant in the drivetrain is the Whipperman 1/8 chain, the crankset (campagnolo pista) and the rear wheel inc sprocket. I've tightened the crank bolts and cleaned and re-lubed the chain. Yet the creak remains, mainly under heavy load, with each pedal stroke left and right.

tight link ?

Hairline crack in the BB shell?
Headset?

A lubed chain would have a hard time creaking I suppose.

Try to re-lube the rear hub?

The chain seems the most likely culprit, definitely no cracks in the BB unless both frames used have the same crack! Rear wheel could be a culprit too. Wondering if its worth shelling out for a new chain?

My Canyon Ultimate Al started creaking when going uphill and now it's doing it when I put any effort at all through the cranks. I've tried all the usual stuff - pedals, qr's, spokes, chainring bolts, regrease/install hollowtech cranks. I think it must be the press-fit bottom bracket, so I'm going to take a punt on this:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/park/bbt90-3-press-fit-bottom-bracket-bearing-tool-set-ec057066

which I can also use with my headset press to reinstall the cups.

Has anyone had success using Loctite 641 or 609 when reinstalling press-fit bb cups?