Bicycle Mechanics - Wierd sound coming from..... pedals?

There is a really wierd (plastic hitting plastic / creaking / popping your tongue against the roof of your mouth) sound that I hear. It seems to only happen when I am climbing hills, weather I am going at a crawl or relatively fast. I can't tell where its coming from, but my best guess is somewhere around the BB or pedals. The pedals are platform with cages.

I've checked the front derailure for chain rub and made sure everything is tight. I have no idea what is causing this.

My rear dérailleur is kind of noisy (very clicky as the chain goes through). But I don't think this is related... maybe it is though.

Any ideas what could be causing this? The bike is an old road bike 10 spd with stem friction shifters.

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Well, I had a creaking/cracking sound that sounded like it was coming from the pedal area after I did some BB bearing work. It only made the sound when in high torque situation, like hill climbing. Turns out it was coming from the cranks not being tightened fully on the axles. I thought I had them tight when I put them back on, but apparently they settled loose after a few miles.


-k

I did re-install the cranks recently. I'll check that out if I have time tonight. Thanks.

I did re-install the cranks recently. I'll check that out if I have time tonight. Thanks.

No. Do not ride the bike until you've re-torqued the crank bolts. If the crank arms are moving on the spindle, they will distort and can be ruined in short order. Tighten the bolts to the correct torque with a torque wrench.

If the noise persists after you've done this, read up: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/creaks.html

You will only get a guessing game when it comes to creaks/clicks/etc unless you have done the work to eliminate most of the causes before posting. It's best to go to the New Posters - please READ THIS (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?338432-New-Posters-please-READ-THIS) (first post and mine near the end - ones in between only if you have time on your hands) and then sheldonbrown.com shortcuts (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?253025-sheldonbrown.com-shortcuts), both of which are the 1st items in the forum for a reason.

So I made sure everything was tight (cranks, stack bolts, and pedals) as well adjusted all my shifting to make sure it wasn't chain rub, and I was still hearing the noise. So I had to hope it was something with the pedals. I switched them out with a mismatched pair I had laying around.... and the noise is gone!! :D

Thanks for the help and the link to sheldon brown's site. I've learned so much from him... can't believe I didn't think to check there for this problem. Now I'm off to his site to see if I can learn to fix the pedals.

So I made sure everything was tight (cranks, stack bolts, and pedals) as well adjusted all my shifting to make sure it wasn't chain rub, and I was still hearing the noise. So I had to hope it was something with the pedals. I switched them out with a mismatched pair I had laying around.... and the noise is gone!! :D

Thanks for the help and the link to sheldon brown's site. I've learned so much from him... can't believe I didn't think to check there for this problem. Now I'm off to his site to see if I can learn to fix the pedals.

Try putting the original pedals back on- but first, clean the threads and then apply a film of grease. Tighten them thoroughly. Not having enough grease on the pedal threads can cause a mystery creak- don't ask how I know.

It appears that the noise is coming from the spoke things that connect from the outside of the pedal to the center spindle (you can see these in the first pic pretty well). They don't seem to be attached, but just held in place by pressure. Is this normal? or safe?