Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

My left pedal (Shimano PD-M540) has an issue. If I pull up on the upstroke, it clicks like it's loose. It only does this on one side of the cleat. If I'm not pulling up, I don't get the noise.

Any tips for tweaking it? It's for a commuter so I'm not interested in winding up the tension, i have it pretty much on the minimum but I gave it half a turn previously in an attempt to reduce this clicking (worked temporarily)

Worn out?
I replace my cleats and clicking noise stopped.

A loose pedal can also sound like this. Just to eliminate a simple-to-fix possibility, you could check that the pedal is tightly screwed into the crank.

Only on one side of the pedal?
Make sure the three screws holding the front binding in place are tight. Maybe pull it off and add a faint smear of grease to its contact points before refitting.

Not worn out, only a year or so old, only used for commuting, no dirt wear etc. I upgraded from my previous M505s for the same reason...

Will check those screws, thanks MB

Grease on the pedal surfaces.i do mine every few weeks to stop the creaks.

I had the same issue, a clicking pedal only on one side of the bike. Changed pedals and cleats and still the problem occurred. Turns out it was the actual shoe making the noise rather than the pedal. Have you checked this?

If mine click or grind a little I just put some grease on the metal surfaces of the pedal and it goes away. I think in my case it's clicking/grinding between the metal cleat and pedal.

Crank issue ? Loose ? Bearing on way out ?

As said above it only happens on one side of the pedal, if I flip it over the cleat on the other side is fine. So no, I don't think it's a crank/BB/pedal bearing/shoe cleat problem.

I come bearing sympathy, not solutions - I have a similar clicking noise on one of my bikes and am hunting high and wide of the cause / solution. It seems you have been able to narrow it down more than I have, in that while I think it is the pedal, I am open to other possibilities.

If you do solve your problem let us know as it will be one more thing for me to try.

I had a look just now and think I can see a possible source. There is a small gap between the platform of the pedal and the base of the cleat, that can be affected by a rolling motion. Which is likely as you pedal and lift your foot/push down again.

Rolling to the right:


Rolling to the left:


I also managed to tighten up the front binding a bit, maybe 1/32nd - 1/16th of a turn on each screw, though all four bindings were like this.

Will see how it goes on the ride home tonight

It's the fibres on those silly trousers making your bad knee click !

I think the pictures have nailed it.

Build up the sole of the shoe with Shoo Goo. It will only be temporary but it will fill the space, can squash to make a firm fit and won't make walking any worse.

Cheers,

Cameron

Have you had any luck solving the click Matt ? I checked my pedals & shoes & have the same gap as in your photos

No luck. I haven't attacked them with lubricant yet though. (Principally because my 17 month old loves to hand crank my bike if it's within reach...)

MattyK wrote:No luck. I haven't attacked them with lubricant yet though. (Principally because my 17 month old loves to hand crank my bike if it's within reach...)

I have tried lube, tried replacing the cleat & everything else listed here, with no success. Newer cleat did reduce the volume of the clicking, but it is still there.

Next attempt will be sticking a rubber pad on the pedal.

BTW handy hint #357 don't use degreasing wipes to remove the greasy evidence off hands & face - the red mark will last longer than the grease would have. I was seriously considering a chain guard just to stop my 20 month old from grabbing the chain. Ended up settling for a bike hoist to get it out of arms reach, at least for now.

I pondered a belt drive instead...

I too have the SPD click, and it's all only about 200 km old.

Interested to hear of any solutions.

Time permitting I'll pull it all apart and put it back together with some fancy grease.

Hmmm,

Click

I get it occasionally (like you on one side of the pedal only), I replaced the cleats and it did fix it for a while (even though it seemed to be clip specific), but then it returned. A thorough degreasing & re-lube fixed it for about 2000km and then it returned again. I just unclip and clip into the other side when it annoys me now

thomashouseman wrote:I just unclip and clip into the other side when it annoys me now

That's been my temporary fix too. Or stop pulling up on the pedals.

Pulled my pedals off, greased the threads, put 'em back on and the click was gone*

*After troubleshooting swapping old pedals back over, tightening bits, oiling others etc. Shoulda done the easy one first.

Cheers

Time