MutatedGamer

Hey guys, I'm having a very annoying issue. I have a Diamondback Sorrento bike, for a couple of months. I had a popped front tire a few days ago, so I changed the tube. Ever since then (although I'm not sure it's directly related), when I pedal fully, on the downstroke of my left pedal there is a popping sound that I can feel in my foot. I have no clue what's causing it, but it's insanely annoying.

I tried using some WD-40 on the chain to no avail. I'm not positive, but when I stood up I think it went away, and it's hardly there if I'm going extremely fast.

Does anybody have some things I could try?

I'm not very good with parts or maintence. I usually go to a bike shop when I have problems. I was going to take it there anyway to get my front brakes replace since a pad fell off, should I just let him deal with it? I'm afraid he'll overcharge me for something very simple, though.

fietsbob

"Does anybody have some things I could try?"

New set of pedals?

or swap in some that you know are fine; and tick-mark, off pedals as being the problem, from the list.

MutatedGamer

I was going to try that, but I do not own another set of pedals .

fietsbob

well go shopping , maybe a Bike shop can see your bike and test it, I'm at a keyboard, cannot.


whole long set of blind guesses will follow ..


Next? ... over ...

MutatedGamer

Hmm, okay. I will likely bring it to a shop just to see what they think it is, then.

Is there any other small tests I can perform at home, though?

FBinNY 

The two most common causes are a loose pedal in the crank and the crank being loose on the spindle. Both are fairly common on newish bikes. If the dealer is still giving free service on this let him test ride and fix, other wise you can pay for service or DIY.

In any case, don't put this off, either of these are easily fixed if attended to early, but both can become non repairable or expensive ignored.

Retro Grouch 

I think that there's lots of possibilities. None of them is individually very likely, but one of them is "it".

The first thing that I'd do would be to check that the pedals, crankarms and bottom bracket are tight. I don't know what kind of crank and bottom bracket you have but I use a torque wrench on that stuff because otherwise I'd under-torque them. Don't even assume it's in the bottom bracket area. A slightly loose seat clamp or handlebar clamp can seem to come from the bottom bracket.

I once chased a all-but-inaudible "clicking" sound for weeks. It turned out to be my derailleur cable hitting my crankarm.

Good luck.

Rootman

First thing try another set of pedals as already recommended. I too had the same thing, the clicking was bad enough but the fact I could feel it all the way up to my knee drove me nuts. I put the original platform pedals back on and no more clicking, I put the no-name SPDs back on and it came back, I pulled them apart, re greased them and tightened them back up. After remounting the click came back. So I bought a better pair of genuine SPDs and all is good. I suspect that they had a little crack in them somewhere.

MutatedGamer

I just got back from the bike shop.

He looked at it and told me he can't see any reason it would do that besides the crank being very slightly loose.

I'm going back on Tuesday to replace my front brakes. I needed new ones as one of the springs for the front brakes broke off. He ordered new ones and told me to come back Tuesday, and he'll look at that then too.

MutatedGamer

Jesus. Christ.

I got back from the bike shop just now. The guy knows what he's doing, he fixed everything else. He's a nice guy. But, he said he couldn't find anything wrong with the pedal to make the sound. He said if anything it was the crank, and he tightened it all the way. I rode it home and it started popping again.

Here's the sound: .be *video may be processing, just uploaded*

What the hell is making this sound?!?!

ThermionicScott 

Is your left crank hitting the kickstand?

MutatedGamer

No it is not, I already checked that :C

cny-bikeman

Same answer - crank arm on spindle, pedal on crank arm, and if bought new the dealer should fix. If it took him two tries and he still can't resolve it no, he's not so good.

MutatedGamer

Is there any way I can fix it myself? I don't want to take it all the way to the other bike shop. I'd have to drop it off and walk home and back, and it's a 40 minute walk between my house and there.

I only took the bike to him once, by the way.

ThermionicScott 

Your shoe, perhaps? Try taking the kickstand off (or tightening it if loose.)

cny-bikeman

Try removing both pedals if you are able (left has reverse thread) clean face of crank arm and reinstall pedal with grease or oil on threads. Use a 14/15mm socket to tighten both arms (don't go overboard). Tighten all chainring bolts, can't hurt to give them a shot of wd-40 or other spray lube. If that does not work you're stuck going back to the shop.

MutatedGamer

GOD. DAMMIT.

I went to the other shop. He took a look at it. When he put the pedal in a 5-6 oclock position and pushed down the sound came out. He told me it needed to be tightened more, so he did it with an air gun. He said if it fixed it, just ride it home. If it still makes it come back.

It still made it. I took it back and he told me that he would have to take the entire assembly apart and tighten the inside of the crank or something, I don't know. He said it would take a few hours and it's about a 25 dollar job. I didn't have time today.

He told me it should be entirely safe to ride, but it'll just be annoying. If I want to have it fixed, I should bring it in tomorrow morning and he could get it done by noon. :|

MutatedGamer

It's not my shoe, as the other bike shop was able to make the sound using his hand and pushing down.

MutatedGamer

I would do it, but I'm not sure how to even remove the pedals . Is there a special tool needed?

cny-bikeman

All you need is a wrench that will fit the flats, thin enough to get in there but strong enough to put a lot of torque on the pedal. Google remove pedal. If you can't remove them then spray with some penetrating oil, tap the end of the pedal hard a few times to attempt to work it in, then tighten the pedals (again, left pedal is reverse thread).

MutatedGamer

What the heck. My friend came over with some tools. He was gonna take the crank arms off and try to look at the bearings. The problem is, the nut doesn't get the arms off. He was trying to figure it out for 10 minutes. He unscrewed this thin circular piece at the end of the arm (near the inner part), but it didn't help either. He said screw it, and put everything back. The noise didn't happen when we rode it after that. What the hell happened?

So I mean, it's fixed, for now. I wonder how long it'll remain fixed...

cny-bikeman

The cranks arms are a very tight press fit on a tapered spindle - takes a special tool to remove. What probably happened is that he tightened it more, or perhaps there was some rust scale or other contamination between the bolt and the crank arm that was removed in handling. Glad it's fixed.

ThermionicScott 

A bike shop used an air gun to tighten the cranks? Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that sounds like a great way to ruin parts. A torque wrench should be used.

You and your buddy should spend more time on www.sheldonbrown.com and www.parktool.com -- the cranks aren't supposed to just fall off when you remove the nut. A crank-extracting tool engages the fine threads to pull the cranks off.

MutatedGamer

Yep he did. I really don't like that shop, though. The only reason I went there was because he's much closer than the first one I was at, and he said I wouldn't have to wait and I could just bring it in.

Ah. I KNEW there was another thing I had to do to get it off, but I didn't want to say anything, lol. Well, I just hope this damn thing stays fixed.