You are reading a single comment by @Netakure and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
Netakure
I have a ticking, clicking, crankset (Praxis Zayante Carbon S) or bottom bracket (Praxis M30 T47 E.B.), both of which are fairly new.
I know it's one of the two because I've swapped both out and eliminated the noise that way. Unfortunately I don't have another M30 crankset to check whether it's one or the other.
I'm certain it's nothing to do with the front derailleur, because I can hear it when the chain is definitely not anywhere near rubbing. It's not pedals or cleats/shoes - I've swapped them out to test.
It happens once per pedal stroke, with the right foot forward and going down. It's kind of intermittent, loudest when pedalling regularly at 250w+. I think it goes away at a high power, but I could be wrong there, the noise may be being drowned out.
Having test-ridden it a lot, I think I've never heard anything at all when in the big ring, no matter how I pedal. This lead me to conclude the problem is with the small ring/spider interface. The bolts for the small ring have their own threaded holes, they are separate from the big ring bolts. I cleaned and greased the contact points, and removed, greased and carefully re-tightened the bolts many times. I have stuck to the recommended 10nm torque, and tried to get them tightened evenly and gradually. I replaced the bolts with steel ones. I'm not sure what more I can do here? I could try threadlock on the bolts instead of grease. I could tighten the bolts beyond spec. Nothing I have done with the bolts has seemed to have any effect on the noise. When I found one had been a little loose after a test-ride, tightening it had no effect.
If the problem is not actually with the small ring at all, it could be the spider/crank interface (it's bolted on), but I've checked these bolts and surfaces thoroughly.
It could be the crank arm bolt, which is supposed to be tightened to 50nm. I don't have a suitable torque wrench for that, but at any rate, I think I've had it plenty tight.
It could be the bottom bracket, but I don't know what to do with that beyond removing, cleaning the threads, greasing and refitting. I've definitely had it on tight. The bearings seem to move smoothly, and I have the correct dust caps fitted (28mm x 2mm on NDS, 30mm x 1mm on DS)
There doesn't seem to be any unusual wear on the spindle. I can't feel any play in the crankset, but I have wondered whether the gap between the spider and the DS dust cap (filled by a wavy washer) is too large - it looks quite large to me, and the wavy washer is not noticably compressed (should it be?). On the other hand, nothing I have read about my set-up suggests I should need any extra spacers anywhere.
Does anyone have any suggestions for anything else I should try, please?