linberl

I'm hearing a "ticking" sound that appears to be coming from the front of my bike. It is not cyclical or rhythmic. It mostly happens when going over a lump in the road and the front wheel unweights.
Here are the things I've done so far:
1. retightened QR after greasing
2. applied oil to spokes at nipple and at cross points
3. removed stem (nitto quill) and greased and reinstalled
4. greased and retightened QR on stem (this is a Bike Friday folding bike)
5. removed and greased seat post
6. greased and oiled seat where leather meets metal
7. checked BB, crank and pedal bolts
8. checked handlebar bolts

I hear it less if I stand and cruise instead of pedaling. I hear it if I am sitting and not pedaling. That made me think it was the seat post but that's clearly not it (I've tried with 2 different seat posts).

The noise is new, not had it before. Started shortly after I replaced the brakes with Avid's. I cleaned and greased the posts before installing the new brakes and have checked all the bolts.
The sound is almost like a brake cable end pinging against something (the cables are secured behind the post on the brakes). Driving me nuts. What am I missing as a possible cause????

Crankycrank

Check for loose spokes.

maddog34

i see no mention ofchecking the steering head bearings.... do so.

okane

Just got through fixing a ticking problem from the front wheel.

The speedo magnet was making "slight" contact with the sending unit. I only moved it a fraction and noise stopped

Weird in that it only occurred at speeds in excess of 8 mph and did not occur when I was off the bike spinning the wheel by hand.

woodcraft

Check further for cable rattling. I have a bike that does that- cable housing hitting stem.

Tape valve stem at rim.

linberl

I will check all those things later today except the headset (don't have to required tool). I'm going to try to eliminate things that don't cost me $ at first; that's one of the few tools I don't own already.

FrenchFit 

Two weird wheel noises I've solved-

Fishing line wrapped around axle cone. Very hard to see until you start to disassemble the axle.

Hairline crack in rim wall. Noticed under stress, hard to diagnosis when bike is at rest until it widened a bit, dirt started filling in.

seedsbelize 

It isn't enough to oil the spoke crossings--in fact I've never done this. The spokes need to be squeezed, in pairs, to unseat themselves.

Lazyass

I recently bought a '17 Diverge, used with low miles. And the owner had just had his free 90 day tune up done on it. I had the EXACT same issue as you. I even went so far as to grease every stem bolt and the lips of the stem spacers.

The tick would just not go away so I dropped the fork. Turns out the headset was installed incorrectly. The lower bearing race was not pressed on all the way before the builder dropped the rubber seal around it, and the seal ended up getting pinched underneath the bearing race. When I dropped the fork I was able to pull the race off without prying it so I knew instantly that was it. Just that little bit threw off the whole alignment just a hair and made it tick. The bars also turn smoother like they should have now.

Even if that's not what's wrong with yours it could still be the headset. Perhaps some road grime has become caught up around your bearings. I'd pull it apart to clean and inspect everything.

linberl

Checked the spokes, squeezed them, checked the rim. Since i have to go to a shop to buy the right tool for my headset, I may ask them to ride it and see if it identifies itself for them. At this point, I think I checked everything that could be a safety issue, except the headset. It came on so soon after I installed the Avid brakes that I think I will spend some time really checking out the cables, ferrules, etc. Too coincidental. If that doesn't resolve it, and the headset is okay, I may just ignore it (if I can).

seedsbelize 

Have you checked to see if the chainring bolts are tight?

Lazyass

What special tool do you need for a headset?

linberl

The Bike Friday Headset Bearing Preload Press Tool - need to be able to properly reset preload if I take it apart.

Lazyass

Ah, gotcha