Help with clicking noise
 

Today I noticed that when I pedal, my bike (I think somewhere in the crank or drivechain area) makes a clicking noise. The click occurs once per revolution of the pedals, when my right foot is near the bottom of the pedal stroke. I tried lifting up the rear wheel and spinning the pedals by hand to try to locate where the clicking was from, but it did not make the noise then. I think it only clicks when I am putting significant pressure on the pedal, because I also do not hear it when I pedal very lightly. The bike has been ridden only about 200 miles since last time it was lubed/tuned up.

Sorry for the lack of information, but I tried to include everything I could remember that seems relevant. Can anyone point me towards what part of my bike I should be looking at? I would like to take care of this myself if possible.

Thanks in advance!

Before I ventured an opinion, it would sure help to know what kind of a bicycle we are dealing with here ...

Does your bicycle have a chaincase or chainguard attached to the frame? Is there anything sticking out that might contact the crank only when it's slightly flexed?

You may find the following links helpful in tracking it down:

http://sheldonbrown.com/creaks.html

AND

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=123

It's usually just a matter of patiently removing, cleaning,
re-lubing, and re-torquing fasteners until it quiets down.

It's a SS conversion from a panasonic road bike frame. There's no chaincase or chainguard, and I can't think of anything that might contact the crank. The only thing in the area are my feet and maybe my water bottle cage but I'm pretty sure there's a lot of clearance there.

Edit: Thanks neil. I probably should have searched more thoroughly. I'll give those a try when I get home.

Shoelaces.

There was this one case where clothing zipper "handle" was clicking on top tube... sometimes it may be difficult to locate the sound yourself. Have a friend ride next to you, he might be able to tell where in your bike the sound is coming from.

--J

clicking noise when under pressure
 

Remove pedals, clean and apply a light coat of grease to pedal threads, re-install being careful not to over torque....Sounds like it should take care of your problem....

If you stand while pedaling does the noise continue? This type of noise could be coming from the saddle rails.

In my experience, this noise comes from the bottom bracket. Removing the bottom bracket, applying grease to the bottom bracket threads, and then reinstalling the bottom bracket with adequate will correct the issue.

The once-per-crank-revolution click can come from a number of sources, here's the short list

Pedals - eliminate by switching to another known-to-be-quiet pair of pedals.

Pedal/shoe meeting - only with clipless shoes, again try different pedals or shoes, or even plain pedals
and shoes to be sure.

Loose crank/spindle mounting - tighten crank bolt on a hunch, if this is it but it persists, there are fixes, but they're complicated.

Chainring - a bent tooth, or the chain coming past a gate (cut down tooth) often makes a click, if chainline is a bit off, you might only hear it under load. Locate and examine the teeth engaging or disengaging at the time the click occurs. also check your chainline. If possible, slacken chain a bit and observe carefully for a bit of a hop as it spools on or off the ring in the suspect zone. If it is a chain/chainring issue changing your chain lube sometimes helps, otherwise it might be a matter of filing the offending tooth slightly.

Bottom bracket bearings, rare on a new bike and usually noisy regardless of effort, otherwise hard to diagnose.

Bottom bracket cups or lockrings are moving slightly within the BB shell, hard to prove, consider this only after exhausting all other possibilities.

seat, seat rails, seatpost. This is more common than you'd expect and usually found only after folks give up tearing their hair out. If you have another saddle on the same diameter post, switch it, or see if the noise is eliminated when you stand.

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Usually load sensitive noises like yours occur at the peak load times with the pedals between 1 and 4 o'clock, given that your sound is coming later as your foot comes around the bottom, My first guesses would be chainring, cleat/pedal noise, or the saddle which flexes as your hip leans down at the bottom of the stroke.

Do the diagnostic one item at a time, starting from the simplest or most likely first, and saving the tough stuff like the BB for last. All too often folks do lots of work only to find out it was something really simple.

Good luck

Thanks a lot for the ideas. I will report back in a few hours.

I checked for shoes/laces and anything that could be near the cranks/pedals first. I was wearing only shirt/shorts and nothing in my pockets. I am positive that that is not the problem.

The clicking also occurs if I stand while pedaling. I think this rules out saddle/seatpost/rails. Also, it is a singlespeed so it is definitely not an issue with derailleur cables or the like.

I just have plain pedals and gym shoes, so the problem is not related to foot retention. I do not have any other pedals on hand, but I tried holding the crank still and applying as much pressure as I can on the pedals while rotating them and didn't hear anything. I can push harder with my legs than my arms though. I don't really know how else to test this..

I looked at each tooth on my chainring but did not see anything unusual. I'm not 100% sure aobut this though, because I have never done anything with a chainring before.. I will look into the pedals and chainring more once I figure out how. Sorry if my inexperience makes it inconvenient to help!

I think the noise sounds a lot like the clicking of the freewheel. Just a random piece of information if it helps.

my bet is with the pedals to crank interface. do as a previous poster above suggested, remove, clean and refit with some grease. I've had several bikes that have done this usualy because the bike shop didn't lube them.