DArthurBrown

I've got one devil of a click.

It is timed with each pedal stroke, and after disassembling the crank and BB (Tiagra 4500), the click will redevelop after about 10 miles of riding.

I have:

- Greased all chainring bolts.
- Greased all seals, threads, and interfaces on the pedals, crank, and crank fixing bolts/pinch bolts.
- Swapped pedals.

Nothing helps.

The click first appears when the right arm is under maximum load, or at the 4 o'clock position. After a few steady climbs and maybe 20 miles, the click develops into several clicks, most of which happen as the left arm goes over the top, but others while the left arm is under load.

The chain is a new 9 speed ultegra chain. The crank and bottom bracket are also new.

I have not had the BB shell faced. Measuring with digital calipers, the maximum variance in the shell width is 0.25 mm.

RickB.

seatpost/saddle clamp, stem faceplate bolts....

DArthurBrown

Nope. Click is present, and more noticeable when standing on pedals. The handlebars are silent. It's definitely timed with the pedal stroke.

Shimagnolo

The strangest click I ever had, (timed with the pedals), turned out to be the saddle-bag rocking and tapping one of its buckles against a saddle rail.

DArthurBrown

No saddle back either. I've basically taken everything non-essential off the bike and still get the click.

Sixty Fiver

How many miles are on the bike ?

Thinking that if everything else has been checked that your bottom bracket might be on it's way out.

Swap that and see what happens... worst case scenario is that you still have the click and a spare bb.

DArthurBrown

The bottom bracket is nearly brand new. It has 700 miles on it now, but has clicked since I installed it brand new.

DannoXYZ 

Assuming that your measurement techniques and instruments are correct, that's a MAJOR problem. Should be 0.10mm or less.

BB-spindle greased or dry?
How hard or easy was it to push the spindle through the BB?

Check this out: Bottom bracket clicking - options?

Cachequatch

tighten up those chainring bolts

DArthurBrown

I'm measuring chords across the bottom bracket shell (to keep the calipers perpendicular) at 90 degree intervals around the shell.

My measurements should be accurate to within 0.02 mm.

Front of shell: 68.09 mm
Back of shell: 67.84
Top of shell: 67.83
Bottom of shell: 68.08

(I just re-measured to make sure.)

I'll also look into the teflon tape idea you posted in the other thread. The OP's description in that thread sounds extremely similar to my issue.

DArthurBrown

The spindle went in easily, but not too easily, just as it should. I was able to press it in place by hand with little effort. The spindle is greased.

JohnDThompson 

Have you tried a different set of pedals to further isolate where the noise is coming from?

DArthurBrown

Yep. It's not the pedals.

ClarkinHawaii

I haven't read this through completely so don't know if it applies, but my annoying click with Hollowtech II external bearings was caused by the bearing adjustment being too loose. It's supposed to be finger tight plus a bit but not too much, etc. I just had it a tad too loose.

DannoXYZ 

That really is a concern. You may end up with a twist in the spindle and unevenly loaded bearings. I would have the BB-shell faced to get the surfaces as parallel as possible. Is there paint on the outside surface of the BB-shell?

DArthurBrown

The bike went to the shop this morning to get faced--hopefully will have it tonight to try the teflon tape and get it sorted out. There is paint on the outside surface of the shell. The bike is a 2008 steel frame that originally came with a square taper cartridge bottom bracket.

I gave the shop those numbers and they recommended facing it down to 67.75 mm, as that should still be wide enough to avoid using a 1 mm shim.

dstrong 

So Danno....should this be a concern?

I fixed a click recently by re-tightening the left side crank on my external BB. It was clicking under load and driving my crazy. There was about 1/8 inch play and once I snugged it up, everything got quiet again. Sounds like you've already done the BB thing so not sure what else.

Springgrove

Check for cracks in the rear rim near the drive-side nipples. Had a problem like this and finally noticed nipple starting to pull through.

DArthurBrown

Yeah, I've tried various bearing tensions with the adjusting/fixing bolt (the plastic cap) before tightening the pinch bolts to spec. That may affect how fast the click progresses, but it still develops in the same way. I am using a triple, which introduces that stupid spacer on the left side, but I don't think that is an issue.

z90

I had a similar issue with my old Hard Rock. I could not figure it out, checked the pedals, bottom bracket, chain. I finally decided to take it to the shop, and was cleaning around the rear derailleur before taking it in when I discovered the break between the chainstay and the rear drop out
RIP faithful Hard Rock. I hope that's not what's going on with yours.

DArthurBrown

I don't think it's a frame or static part issue, because after fussing with the crank/BB for a bit, it'll get better for about 10 miles before it starts clicking again.

I got the bike back from the shop after getting it faced. The BB cups definitely felt more properly seated when I installed them. I also used the teflon tape idea Danno mentioned in a previous thread. We'll see if any of it helps.

furballi

Problem should go away if the BB are fully seated and torqued. Your clue is the noise after the 10 miles ride after installing the BB.

jputnam

Things that have made that sort of clicking in my experience:

BB shell brazing going bad around the downtube
BB cup fretting against the shell because the threads weren't perfectly square with the shell face
Small fatigue crack spreading through saddle clamp, flexed with every pedal stroke
Shoelace aglet tapping against the crank arm on every revolution
Fatigue crack spreading in the cleat mounting plate of my shoe

Shimagnolo

I've experienced that as well.
Also once had a tapping that turned out to be the zipper pull on my jersey tapping the zipper.

DArthurBrown

Guh. I had that one as well. I've also had a chirp that occurred only while taking one particular corner at high speed. The chirping was timed with the pedal stroke. It had me in knots trying to figure it out. It turned out to be a bird in a tree by that corner.