What is that noise? (Voting)

[AUbicycles]

I have a noise that I can't pinpoint - and it is getting louder. As a result I taken time to investigate and happy for ideas.

The noise is associated with pedalling, when I pedal and turn the right foot over I get the sounds "tick tick" which seem to be coming from the front chain-ring. Likewise on the when pushing down on the left, a softer (single) tick sound is audible.

What I know is that the gears are setup well - I re-did them again today and they are extremely smooth, so no rubbing again the front derailleur or halfway between gears front or back. I measure for chain stretch and the chain appears to be perfect - no stretch and I took the chain off, no kinks or 'stuck' links. As the sounds occur in time with pedalling rather that each revolution of the chain, it doesn't seem to be a chain issue.

When I don't pedal, there are no sounds, likewise when I pedal but don't put any pressure it is quite. I normally put pressure in when pedalling, and this is when it happens, the volume increases with the amount of pressure.

I have checked the front chain rings - the sound occurs both on the small and large chain ring - but while there is light wear (black paint has worn) there don't seem to be missing or bent teeth.

The pedals have been checked, nice and tight but I did them again likewise the cranks - it is Shimano Ultegra and bolted on the left side.

The bottom bracket is one part I can't easily get to however I removed the chain and the cranks spun freely - not for a very long time but it didn't feel that the bearings had a problem. When pedalling out of the saddle, the sound remains (I am suggesting that because I have Carbon Fibre road bike that if it is a creak from the saddle, that it would stop).

My obvious next move is to replace the chain however this is a bit of a mystery it seems that I can rule out each item.

Happy for any tips and suggestings, and also taking votes as I have to get this sorted and if I can do it myself will make it the mechanics problem:)

[rustychisel]

not voting sorry. You don't say what bike, but here's my list in descending order.

stem bolts, either at steerer or bars, grease, retorque
Front derailleur band on not tight enough
chainring bolts, lube, retighten
bottom bracket, lack of lube or grit, a little play in the shell
rear wheels dust seals, dropouts or freehub
headset bearings or adjustment, in particular crown race not perfectly seated on fork
front wheel dropouts

now go do your homework

[trailgumby]

Saddle rails in saddle sockets is a regular one for me. Does it make the noise when you pedal out of the saddle?

[open roader]

I had an MTB which I rode mostly on black top and made up gravel roads which produced a double click when pedaling only. The click noise grew louder and after much hair tearing and another 12 months the right pedal spindle began grinding......... ( old syle Shimano DA 7410 pedals which were NOS when fitted - only lived for 18 months)

But there are so many potential click points - I'd get a drop of oil/grease onto some of those saddle/bars contact points too......

[AUbicycles]

Thats for the tips it is a Giant TCR advanced 2 running Shimano Ultegra. Will start with the suggestions, beginning around the BB area as this is where the sound is coming fom - this means the bolts on the chain ring and BB itself.

On the saddle, the noise continues out of the saddle... however on my to buy list is 'fibre grip' for the seatpost... but needs to accommpany a torque wrench.

[thecaptn]

Saddle rails in saddle sockets is a regular one for me. Does it make the noise when you pedal out of the saddle?

Yes he says that it does, otherwise that's what I would have thought too.
Bottom bracket is my guess.

[Duck!]

Headset. Make sure the expander plug is seated properly; they creep out, resulting in loss of bearing tension.

[Mulger bill]

You don't by any chance have a Connex link on the chain fitted upside down? Unlikely but a simple check.

[boyracer]

^^^
this or a cracked /missing chain roller?
I had one that was cracked ,but not had not come apart and fallen out on 10 speed chain. Ended up going over it with a magnifying glass!

[hkgts]

Seriously sounds like its time to buy a new chain... even if it doesn't solve your problem, the new chain feeling will make up for it!

[VRE]

Or you could do what I did yesterday to try to minimise some of those Winter bicycle noises

It was a very, very quiet ride to work this morning.

[TDC]

Check tightness of QR skewers

[MattyK]

sounds like (sorry) my noisy cleat/pedal issue.

[Grog]

Post deleted - inappropriate attempt at humour

[Duck!]

Frame material is irrelevant. All large-section, thin-walled tubes will act as very efficient amplifiers for any noise, regardless of what they're made from.

[twizzle]

I'm going to say "other", because it will never be what you think it is. Best click I ever tracked down was the seat post - after riding in the rain the bottom of the seatpost would 'click' in the seat tube, clean and regrease every time. My other common annoyance is Shimano's 2-piece cranks - some wick-in loctite on the spline interface stops the bloody thing from moving and clicking.

Simple solution - strip and rebuild the bike. If the noise doesn't go away, get a new bike.

[VRE]

I'm beginning to think that a semi-regular creaking noise I get is due to the seatpost, which is not good, because for some time now, my seatpost has been firmly stuck, and so if I want to remove the noise, I'll have to somehow remove the seatpost so I can grease it . I've tried turning the seatpost using the seat as a lever, and also banging at the seatpost for a while with a rubber mallet, but haven't tried any of the more exotic remedies yet (e.g. those from Sheldon's web site).

[AUbicycles]

Don't fancy pulling apart the bottom bracket.. and don't have the tools.

Have to admit that some of the Carbon Fibre paste is still on my 'to buy' list. Considering I have been told specifically NOT to consider buying a new bike, this is a problem to solve.. now where is time when I need it.

[Duck!]

Being professionally familiar with your model of bike, I can assure you it's not the bottom bracket. It'll almost certainly be the headset, and a slim chance it's the front hub, although with non-adjustable preload on the hub bearings, there's no removing of play if any is present.

Seriously, one-minute job: Loosen stem clamp bolts. Remove top cap. With 8mm allen key, loosen expander plug. With allen key still engaged in plug, tap it firmly to ensure it's seated snug on top of the steerer. Tighten firmly, more than it was. Replace top cap, tighten until no play is felt in the headset (grab a handful of front brake & rock the bike back & forward to test). Tighten stem bolts. Ride with only the sound of the wind in your ears.

After having a fair few TCRs come back with exactly the noise you're describing, and without exception the headset being the source due to creeping expander plugs (the hub possibility was actually on the cheaper Composite models, but still worth mentioning for purposes of investigating & eliminating), every bike I build with a carbon steerer tube gets its expander tightened another 1/4 turn before leaving the workshop. Funnily enough, they seem to shut up after that.

[Goatlips]

I had a similer sound on my bike. It turned out that if I put some grease on the pedal threads that the sound dissappeared. It only drove me mad for about 2 months.

[jacks1071]

I've had similar tick noises, one time it was the end of the cable on the front derailieur hitting the crank! Sounds dumb but two mechanic's failed to find it!!

Other time it was a popped plate on the chain, if you ran the chain through your fingers you could feel it but you couldn't really see it (until it was found by feeling..)

I have had it another time using a "shimano" chain joining link which I don't think they make anymore. I think the link was every so slightly wider than the chain and would cause a ticking noise.

[Duck!]

I have had it another time using a "shimano" chain joining link which I don't think they make anymore. I think the link was every so slightly wider than the chain and would cause a ticking noise.

Those things were utter poo. Only made for the first year of 7900-series Dura-Ace (late'08-'09). It's not so much that they were wider than the rest of the chain, more that they got longer much faster than the rest did, so they'd ride up on the teeth then drop in at the top of the cassette rotation.

[AUbicycles]

Duck! ... thank you. I will provide feedback.

[scotto]

rear drop out. tighten the bugger up a lot and then re-test.

or a loose chainring bolt

[jacks1071]

I have had it another time using a "shimano" chain joining link which I don't think they make anymore. I think the link was every so slightly wider than the chain and would cause a ticking noise.

Those things were utter poo. Only made for the first year of 7900-series Dura-Ace (late'08-'09). It's not so much that they were wider than the rest of the chain, more that they got longer much faster than the rest did, so they'd ride up on the teeth then drop in at the top of the cassette rotation.

I had one and it got replaced pretty quickly due to the "ticking" noise - took some looking for