Bicycle Mechanics - My 3-Piece Cranks are clicking

I have a 2002 Specialized Vegas TR-X which has 3-peice forged cro-mo cranks. They keep clicking. :mad: Not everytime, only when I am riding slow they don't click. I told a guy and he said to take it in and get them cleaned. So I did, and it fixed the problem but then 2 hours latter they started again. :mad: Can you think of anything else? :confused:
Thanks.

If it's a 2002 it obviously fairly new so it may be that the crank arms are creaking. Have you tried tightening them? You might have to tighten them several times until they seat well. Mine loosened up several times when my bike was new. The other possibility is the bottom bracket creaking.

Check the pedals as well.

Ok ...process of elimination time . start at the pedals ..clipless? try a quick squirt of wd-40 on the bindings..still there ?..remove the pedals and grease the threads ..still there?.. ok , remove the cranks and remove the BB .. check the feel of the BB for a tight spot.. ok ?.. grease the threads in the BB shell and do up tight as poss .. have a look at the mating surfaces between BB axle and cranks.. any signs of "movement ? ie: uneveness on the square surfaces of the cranks? I don't "normally" suggest this but ...a light coat of grease on the spindles of the BB axle .. reinstall the crank arms and tighten 'till you turn blue ! .. still there ??? Hmmm.. check for clicking in your seatpost clamp and surrounding area and the saddle itself for that matter.. you see a bike frame is like a big amplifier for noises !! and sometimes it's hard for the inexperienced to define where exactly the "noise" is coming from !!..is it a tight link in your chain? get off the bike and backpedal watching the rear der for a quick fwd/bwd motion .. now I don't know if this "noise" has been there since you got the bike ??, but it might be this also : NO, .. first tell me how you go with the above mentioned and also let me know what sort of drivetrain your running ..I assume it's 9 speed.. Is It shimano ? please let me know ..as I have another possible cause for "clicking" , But It's only in the Shimano Deore 9 sp ch/rings !! ..

Buddy says: Is it a tight link in your chain??? Buddy may very well be right...

What Buddy said about the seatpost is very true. Mine still does it occasionally. You'd swear it was the BB or cranks. It sounds exactly like that's where it's coming from but it's the seatpost for sure. Mine was greased pretty heavily when I got it new. I wiped most of it off and the problem cleared up. Now after several months of hard riding I hear it occasionally, but not enough to bother me.

Has anyone ever worked on these cranks becuase I got told to take of the pinch bolts first and then the spindle bolts but I can take of the pinch bolts with a 6mm allen key but the spindle bolts I can't figure out because an 8mm fits in it but it is a tiny bit lose and dosen't go in enough to turn without it trying to strip. Any suggestions? :o

Oh! and another thing I forgot to say is that I have had it for 3 1/2 months. The chain isn't tight either and I put oil on the chain yesterday adn tighten my seat up really good today but still no good. I will try what you have told me and come back to this forum latter.

This may seem like a crazy answer, but many times the clicking sound seems like it is coming from your bottom bracket or crank/pedals when it really is coming from some other place entirely.

For example, I once found that the crank arm was hitting the kick-stand which simply needed to be pushed in a hair toward the wheel.

Another time, a maddening search revealed that the clicking sound (which only happened when I turned the crank arm) was coming from the lock+cable swinging from the saddle bracket and banging against the frame.

Try this: ride your bike in your bare feet. Yup, it's dangerous, so be careful. Sometimes you can feel where the problem is better than you can hear it.

Best of luck!

Yer I know. When i was riding it home from the bike shop, every revoultion I would hear this little click. It ended up being the brake cable hitting the cranks. But it isn't that. I will try what you have said and yes it will hurt because my pedals have press pins on them.
Thanks.

Mysterious noises that have almost turned me grey for a while:

Shoelace catching crank

Cable excess from front derailleur catching crank

Loose water bottle cage

Loose U-lock frame bracket

Leaves trapped under mudguard (fender ;))

Pannier insecurely clipped on

And yes I still panic everytime I here a noise :)

Richard

alan, BMX stuff is very aggravating. Regarding you 8mm bolt, it's probably SAE sizing thus iit's more than likely a 1/4" (I think). BMX parts used to be all SAE, but since some/many parts are now the same for a mt. bike they've adopted the metric sizes, but not for everything.

As far as the creaking, I know Specialized products and the Vegas bike pretty well. I'd bet you a buck (virtual buck that is) that the clicking is coming from your pedals! Unless you've got some expensive sealed bearing pedals. The stock Specialized pedals have huge tolerances and regardless of how well I clean mine and readjust, they creak!

The cranks you have are chromoly cranks with a pinch bolt on the end right? Use grease on the spindle and borrow a torque wrench and go to recommended torque!

If the creaking persists, take it back to the shop and demand they solve it. You've got a one year warranty on your bike utilize it!

L8R

Originally posted by alan
When i was riding it home from the bike shop, every revoultion I would hear this little click. It ended up being the brake cable hitting the cranks.

Ah, the joys of chainstay-mounted rear brakes! I rebuilt the BB and replaced the grannie ring, and then heard a scraping sound which I was afraid meant that I had run out of clearance between the grannie ring and the chainstay. Fortunately, it was the end of the brake straddle cable.

Well I have re-greased the pedals threads and re-greases the pinch bolts and the clicking is still happening. I can also feel it through my feet when I ride.

You got some excellent advise! But if I owned a new bike I would have to ask the bike shop to try and repair it. Also, maybe e-mail the company they may have had this problem. You can never tell if they might have had a bad run on parts.
Happy Riding!

I changed the pedals to some other 9/16" pedals and they still clicked. I will probably take it back and ask the, to fix it and I will also ask how they take them off.
Thanks.

Well I finally took it in today. They said that they are probably loose so they are going to tighten them. Can't wait to have a normal bike again.

Well, they are finally fixed. They ended up being loose and now they are as good as new. Thank-you for all of your opinions and your time. ;) :beer: