Originally Posted by
Jeff Wills
Yep, the flange of the plastic retaining ring has broken off. If you remove the crankarm, you should be able to ride without it making noise unless there's something else that's wiggling.
The noise coming from the seat is probably something different. Here's some recreational reading:
http://sheldonbrown.com/creaks.html
Thanks for the link. I'll have to grease the seat post and see if the sound goes away.
I tested the cranks and don't feel any wiggling. The metal ring makes a pinging sound in addition to the click click click when I press down on the pedals out of the saddle.
Since I like to save money and do things myself, I assume I need a
crank puller and a
bottom bracket remover? The bike is a 1991/92 specialized rockhopper comp with a square taper crank.