Bent chainring or cranks?

hey eeehhhh,
this sounds eerily similar to a problem i've been having for ages. i hear and feel a sort of clicking at certain points but had no idea what it was for a long time.

i thought i'd finally figured it out—my chainring is extremely close to the chainstays (wide enough to slip a spoke card in, maybe a bit wider), which wasn't a problem for the first six months or so, but when i looked closely at the chainring spinning slowly it seemed to be rubbing the stay slightly at certain points, hence the clicking. i checked again this morning, though, and could feel it clicking, but it was hard to tell if the chainring was actually touching the frame at those moments. after reading your post, i'll try spinning the cranks with the chain off in the morning and see if that's what it is. it's probably unlikely, but is there any chance this is what's happening with your chainring (ie, it's rubbing the stays at certain points)?

That's what I thought it was at first, but it's not. I rolled blue tack between the frame and chainring wherever it might contact, and it doesn't knock it off.

what also struck me about your post is that there seems to be lateral movement in my chain, too, except it doesn't move side to side, just looks as though the chain is bent to the side and then bends back again. [sorry if this isn't clear, mechanics aren't my forte and i'm finding it hard to describe, let alone fix] i always thought it was the chain just being full of grit, or slightly bent, but it's a fairly new chain, so i don't know what's wrong.

I think I see what you're saying, sounds similar to my case!

anyway, let us know if you figure out what is wrong and manage to fix it, i'm curious to know if we have a similar problem, and/or whether this is a common issue for fixed/singlespeeds. cheers.

I'll be heading back down to Condor on Monday/Tuesday, so I'll post back after then.

I reckon it's either that the lengths of the arms on your crank spider aren't all the same - so a manufacturing fault which shouldn't be likely on those miches - or it's your peddling* motion that is pushing the chain off line, maybe try tightening your cleats/straps?

*that's as in turning the pedals not hawking goods ;-)

I'm beginning to think it's the length of the spider arms as well. Definitely not the pedaling motion because it happens when I'm turning the cranks by hand, and with no pedals on the cranks.