substructure

Yeah, I cleaned it out real good. I took the seat and post completely apart and cleaned it up. I also cleaned up my handlebars and stem.

I think the bike is telling me to leave it alone for a while. If it is, I'll be getting a new bike that doesn't talk back

bluehaze

Two possible solutions that I haven't seen mentioned yet here. If your rear wheel has spokes that cross one another, try putting a drop of lube at each crossing. Another possibility that I've experienced, and I don't really have a good solution for is the following. I ride an aluminum Cannondale, and I had a persistent creaking noise coming from the rear of the bike. I tried everything to fix it (BB, seatpost, cranks, stem, etc.), but what seems to cause the problem is when dust gets in between the dropouts and the axle. The paint is worn off the frame here, and I think the metal on metal causes the creaking. Typically removing the wheel and cleaning everything with a rag gives some respite.

Ivan Hanz

Headset? Clean out the races, regrease, maybe put in new ball bearings, like $3. It might help and can't hurt.

I've got a creak in my headset as we speak-I need to listen to my own advice

substructure

SPOKES!!!!! Ah - HA! Mine do cross.
Tonight I will be cleaning them and dropping a bit of lubes there. Thank you.

urbanknight

lol you make it sound like some revelation. I sure hope your spokes cross... at least on the drive side. Anyway yeah, that's a good suggestion I forgot about. Never had that problem myself, though, except when the spokes were actually too loose because I forgot to tension them when building (first set I built on my own).

substructure

Well I was thinking that since I have Bontrager Race Lites and they're flat spokes that cross and I rode in the rain and I didn't clean between them .... you get the picture.

edit:
I did have a nice bike wreck and the LBS had to fix the back tire so I guess they're prolly not loose. But just in case.

watchman

check for play between your cassette and cassette carrier, especially if you have a lightweight rear hub with light, soft al for the carrier. The cassette will dig in to the carrier, but once it frees up it will constantly make clicking noises.

substructure

AH-HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Friday night:
I took my back wheel off and cleaned the cassette really good and the cogs on the rear der. and my chain. Then oiled them nicely. Well the cogs had some thick grit on them and it was actually flaking off. I cleaned the spokes and dabbed a bit of oil between them because there is no clearance and they were kinda squeaking.

This morning I rode 47.04 miles and averaged 18.3mph (I had to throw that in because I was proud of myself). And guess what? NO NOISE AT ALL! NONE! ZIP! ZILCH! The ride was smooth and quiet. It was beautiful. I hit some real good hills where the clicking and popping usually kicks in and the only noise was the wind and my heavy breathing.

Thank you all for your advice. And I hope one day someone can find this thread and fix their clicking problem as well.

urbanknight

Glad to see you solved your problem. Adding cassette to the list of things to check the next time someone has this problem.

Al1943

This sounds to me as if your problem noise could be a loose cassette. Check the torque on the cassette lockring. It was good to clean the cogs but I don't believe the dirt was causing the noise. Lubricating the cogs may have cushioned the loose cogs.

Al

substructure

I checked. It seemed tight.
But what I was talking about was thick grit on the jockey wheels on the rear derailleur. It was actually flaking off. I'm not saying what I did was a permanent solution. It did solve it for the now. But I will check again to see if my cassette is loose.

All in all, Saturday's ride was beautiful.

simplify

Also check your spoke tension on the rear wheel, because if the spokes were making noise at the crossing points, they may be undertensioned. That will cause worse problems than noise, eventually.

Keep up the good detective work, this is all great learning!

substructure

I just had my rear wheel worked on - trued up a bit. But, I may have it checked again soon.

twilkins9076

I just did a major tear down of my old bike yesterday to solve a "popping" problem before I try to sell it. Ended up taking the cranks, chain rings and bottom bracket completely apart before cleaning/degreasing them all and putting it back together again. I used a thin coating of "white grease" on each contact point before re-assembling, and after replacing the chain and cassette, took it for a test ride. Quite as a mouse, and smooth as silk!

I think the culpret was a little bit of corrosion on a couple of the chainring bolts. It's amazing how just a speck of dirty grease and grime in the wrong place can cause such an annoyance!

At any rate, it's ready to go now...it's a shame to think about selling it.