Originally Posted by progre-ss
Check you seat. Could sound like it's coming from the drivetrain but it's really sitting right there under your ass!
it's definitely not the seat, i put my bike on the seat and checked just to be sure. thanks for the other suggestions. the chain is as tight as it's always been, so i don't think there would be a problem with that. i do need to tighten the chainring bolts, so hopefully that will be the solution. now it's just a matter of acquiring the tools, since i don't have anything with me at school...