It's not cable end hitting the crank arm. The frequency of the tick is much higher than the pedaling frequency (think when you are cruising along without pedaling, the sound goes like tick tick tick tick tick... continuously). The sound seems to come from the right side toward rear. It's not in clear sync with pedal or wheel, but seems to be like every 2-3 pedaling cycle (to the best of my memory--I'll pay more attention next time to get it more exact). It only occurs occasionally and briefly, like 5 or 6 occasions during a 30 minute ride.
- What is the bike model, and how old is it, purchase new or used?
Raleigh Detour (hybrid), 2.5+ yrs, new.
- When did the problem start, and did any kind of incident, equipment change, or repair procedure immediately precede it starting?
Since a week ago after I "screwed up" the derailleur limit screws (both front and rear) and re-adjusted them. No other incident/accident whatsoever.
- Does it occur in certain gear combinations (front/rear) or any combo?
I never changed the front gear (always on "2", the middle one). For the rear (which has 1~7) I only used 4, 5 and rarely 3, 6. It just happened out of nowhere: say I was on 2/4 for a long while, then suddenly heard the tick (the sound is not bothering at all, very smooth and not loud), so I switch to, say 2/5. Sometimes the sound disappears, sometimes not. Then I switch back to 2/4. After one or two tries, the sound disappears. So I have no idea what made it disappear (and reappear some time later).
- Does it occur under light/heavy pedal pressure or both?
I ride leisure speed, so it's light pressure.
- When it occurs are the cranks (specify right/left) in a certain position?
Again it's a continuous tick ("ticktickticktick...", not "tick, tick, tick..."), not just when the cranks are in a certain position. But as mentioned above, the sound comes from the right side.
- Have you tried anything to correct it or eliminate a possible cause, and what did you do?
Just switch gear back and forth, but not sure that was the reason the sound disappeared.
- Normally I would ask about the frequency - in time with pedals, wheels, every x pedal strokes, or random, but you seem to be saying that it happens either about once per pedal rev or twice - is that correct?
Here is what it's like: Imagine the following two (a) and (b) happening at the same time:
(a) Pedal---------pedal---------pedal---------pedal---------pedal---------pedal--------pedal---------pedal
(b) __________ticktickticktickticktickticktick____________________ticktickticktickticktickticktick____
It's definitely not cable or shoelace or other "foreign" stuff hitting the bike parts. Seems coming from right side rear, maybe rear derailleur or wheel?
P.S. Maybe the closer characterization of the tick sound is it's like the sound when you pedal
backward. (which is similar to the cruising sound)