spelger

not sure exactly, sound seems to occur only under higher torque like when climbing standing or applying enough force while seated in both the middle and big chain ring (not sure about little ring, yes, a triple 8 speed).

maybe the drive side crank? maybe the BB? here's the story...i recently replaced my BB (cartridge) because i thought it was the source of a creak (turned out that was the interface between the kicker trainer and the concrete garage floor). since i had the cranks off i cleaned up the chain rings and noticed that the big ring had been installed incorrectly from inception (pin to prevent chain drop between ring and crank was not in the correct place), so, i disassembled the chain rings, cleaned them up pretty good and reassembled correctly. replaced chain with nearly new (i swap between two chains from a hot wax bath). also happened to replace the RD at the same time.

aside from riding for a few weeks that is the extent of what has occurred. i highly doubt the RD is the source/cause. chain i think not likely since it used to be on this bike with the same chain rings and rear cassette, 2-3K miles on both the chain that came off and the one that went on. that leaves me with the BB and the big chain ring oriented differently with respect to the crank. do either of those sound remotely possible as to the cause?

i still have the old BB so i could remove and replace and see how that goes. the big chain ring? i might be able to reorient the big ring back because i had taken a picture of the back side, not the side with the pin. but that does not account for the middle ring. the BB seems most likely now that i think about it.

the shell had been cleaned out well and i used a copper based anti-seize compound on the threads. torqued to spec.

any tips would be appreciated.

incidentally, after BB replacement i notice that i am in the big ring more often that i had been before. that tells me that the old BB had a lot of friction in it. possible relationship?