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

Impostor. hippy will merge you with himself soon.

you call him, I'm scare

The result will be a lean fat, mean friendly, 24-hour polo playing machine.

Impostor. rik will merge you with himself soon.

this forum will not cope with a Hippy-Rik Mergatron...

be carefull what you ask for Oliver.

I have a 'clunk' noise on every second crank rotation (i.e. every second time my left foot is forward). (Fixed, all 1/8", <1yr old, clunks only when pedalling hard).
I took the rear wheel out and gave the chain a wipe/inspection/lube, seemed fine, put it back together and the clunk is still there. It really seems like it's the chain because I marked one link and it definitely corresponds with two crank turns, but surely when I removed/replaced the wheel the chain would've ended up in a different position? In hindsight I should've made sure of this but I'd be amazed if I happened to put it back the same.

This happened to me and it was a combination of two things, loose crank arm bolts and bent chainring (bike polo).

Thank you

My pleasure.

take your pedals off, lube em up and stick em back on.

Tried that, no luck.

This happened to me and it was a combination of two things, loose crank arm bolts and bent chainring (bike polo).

Also tried crank arm bolts. Chainring definitely not bent.
Probably should've mentioned that I've checked all the basics.
Think I might try a new chain, this one's been detached a couple of times, I've heard once you break/re-attach the links they're never as good as before..?

for anyone interested - I had a KMC HL710 (black, half link) and it was noisy as hell, put a cheapo KMC Z510 on and it's completely shut up...

Ok heres one - Horrible creaking in left crank when I push off but goes away after one or two creak. When I brake i.e. put pressure in the opposite direction it creaks again. Then when I go to pedal again it creaks once or twice and then is gone again. Almost as if theres some give in the crank arm. Only my LBS Re-fitted / greased my BB / pedals and I got a new chain so it can't be them. Any ideas?

Your crank arm is giving. If they refitted everything properly, then it could be that your crank arm is rounded off. Take it off and have a look at the taper. If it's not square, it won't sit properly on the BB and will only get worse.

When I pull away from lights (just start cycling) theres a creaking sound, seems to be coming from the front fork, but I cant replicate it without riding it. Any ideas?

headset keeps coming loose?
Have a shimano 600EX/arabeseque headset

Bit of a mission to fit, extreme tight fit into both frame and onto forks, but after much checking, it went on straight (months ago).
Cannot get hold of the proper spider tool to tighten it, but with decent quality pedro's workshop size spanners I finally managed to get around the same torque as external BB cups (40-50Nm), anything less than that comes loose in hours, so far the 40-50Nm (ish) seems to be holding. But whilst riding I constantly make an effort to miss any bumps, holes or even mild surface deterioration in the road.
Is this normal for 1" threaded headsets? Do I need more torque? Should I put some threadlock/stopper in there next time?

When I ride slowly or trackstand I can hear a clicking sound from my wheels, they are not vey old and havent had any rough treatment beyond jumping off a curb. I dont think its the hubs making that sound because the noise still comes if im stationary.

Hiya

My single speed has been in the garage for a few weeks, pulled it out a short while ago, and turned the wheel round, I think I have what is known as a flip-flop hub? Fixed one side, freewheel the other.

I've now put it into freewheel mode!

Anyway, I think I put it back at the same position (so the chain tension should be the same), did this visually, and I degreased the chain thoroughly with some spray. Took it for a 30 second test ride, and there's a fair bit of crunching noise now.

I've not yet lubed it up, maybe that will solve the trick, will wait till tomorrow, but if it doesn't, what other things should I look for?

I've probably done 800 miles on the bike, first 300 on freewheel, last 500 fixed.

Chris

is it your knees?

lube the chain. Rock n Roll lube is the best!

headset keeps coming loose?
Have a shimano 600EX/arabeseque headset

Bit of a mission to fit, extreme tight fit into both frame and onto forks, but after much checking, it went on straight (months ago).
Cannot get hold of the proper spider tool to tighten it, but with decent quality pedro's workshop size spanners I finally managed to get around the same torque as external BB cups (40-50Nm), anything less than that comes loose in hours, so far the 40-50Nm (ish) seems to be holding. But whilst riding I constantly make an effort to miss any bumps, holes or even mild surface deterioration in the road.
Is this normal for 1" threaded headsets? Do I need more torque? Should I put some threadlock/stopper in there next time?

i used to get this with the same headset, to the extent that i rode round tightening the race with my hand!

it's definitely not normal, and for me, after doing the race up properly i put a load of torque onto the locknut and this has solved it.
i just used standard headset spanners too.

also personally i'd avoid loctite on threaded steerers just because i don't want to have to do anything that might damage the thread when it comes to taking the headset off, and it shouldn't be necessary

hope this helps

Ok guys. I am having the MOTHER of all creaking nightmares.

I'll start by telling you the things I have done so far:

-replaced BB (external type) with fresh grease and a check over by a bike shop
-replaced and regreased chainring bolts
-replaced and greased seatpost clamp (and sanded the area beneath the clamp to get rid of paint chips)
-regreased seatpost
-replaced (twice) saddle, regreased rails and the mounting points of the rails to the saddle body
-rebuilt front end, put grease everywhere that was sensible - on all bolts, even tiny bit between the stem and bars
-replaced pedals, regreased pedal threads.

Bike is an '07 condor lavoro (aluminium) with full carbon forks.

Still creaks in exactly the same way, repetitive, rhythmic clicks while pedalling (fixed). Seems to happen at a particular point in the rotation of the pedals, and I can make it happen by sitting on the saddle, feet on pedals, rocking back and forth.

It DOESN'T happen when i'm out of the saddle, ever, but it does happen when I'm riding no handed. Everything tells me that it has to be something to do with the saddle/seatpost/clamp... but I'm at a loss.

Oh yeah, and it's impossible to actually tell where the click is coming from. It's travelling through the tubes of the bike, sometimes it sounds like it comes from the saddle, others from the front end...

Only things I haven't done yet are replace the chain/rear sprocket, or have a serious look at the wheels, primarily because of the above.

I can't find any cracks or deformations, just the odd paint chip here and there. I'm really getting worried there is something wrong in the seat tube that I haven't found yet.

It is literally driving me mad. Any help much appreciated.

new bike time

This is the new bike. Bought it off eyebrows about a month ago.

It started clicking after either and incident with a car, or getting wet. Can't quite tell which set it off.

I was worried my bike might have been damaged by the car accident, but at the time I couldn't see any damage whatsoever and didn't notice anything when I rode away from the scene. The car hit the back wheel, and that is still true.

Maybe it has fucked the bike, in some weird way that is invisible but just makes it creak. :(

there is something wrong in the seat tube that [you] haven't found yet.

ftfy

The Guerciotti has developed a few noises: creaking from the bar/stem when I'm pulling on them hard, clicking when I stand up sprinting or climbing and intermittent clicking from the rear wheel even when I'm freewheeling.

SinceI didn't build the bike I'm guessing it needs a good service (it an ex-display) so planning to take it apart and re-grease and tighten everything. The bar and stem are straight forward, and the intermittent click for the rear is probably spokes. However the rotational clicking isn't the pedals as it has done it with 3 sets, greasing and tightening the chainring bolts won't be a problem, but the Athena crankset and BB has got me scratching my head: external BB cups and 2 piece crank, but I can't work out how to remove the cranks. I'n guessing I'm going to need a variety of compatible tools, might be cheaper to chuck it at the LBS

ftfy

yeah, but what? I can't see any cracks, externally or internally with a torch, can't see any excessive flex even when i get someone else to make it make the noise...