Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!

I know that I have a little clicky noise coming from the biggest two cogs my cassette...no biggie. I have an XT sitting in a drawer waiting to put on; but since I pulled my rear shock off and put it back on a couple times trying to get Fox to send me the right spring...there's this

CRRRREEAAAK

noise every once-in-a-while coming from my shock-mount area. I've pulled off every bolt and greased them in my entire suspension linkage. I've pulled off my crankset, BB, wheels, headset, bars, stem, post, saddle...trying to hunt this dadgum noise down. I even pressed out/greased/pressed in my main pivot bearings. I'm beginning to think it's my actual coil spring where the last turn meets the coils at the end.

I'm darn near to the point to order a Surly Instigator and be done with it.


Ideas? (other than ride with phones on)

the last time i had a clicking noise on my bike coming from my rear shock, it was actually a bad headset. i got a new one and its fine no more clicks and creaks and didn't have to replace anything on my shock

New shock?






But seriously, I have no idea.

He just said he checked his headset, but anyway...

Is there ANY instance where it makes this sound every time? If it's random, then it's a real toss up as to what it could be. Are your wheels laced tight enough? Is your hub going bad? It looks like you've covered almost everything it could be... Some more info on when the sound actually occurs will help, I think.

I know you guys will probably laugh at me but...

Check your saddle again.

Yep. Check it.

I heard all kinds of crazy noises coming from my headset and then my rear shock area. After going nuts trying to duplicate the sound with a witness (am I going crazy??) I found out it that the saddle needed to be tightened more in the clamp. Every time I pushed or pulled on the bars, it creaked and clicked. So happened to be while I was also on and off the saddle in conjunction with me moving around during the rides. The sound was traveling through the tubes of the frame.

*shrug*

Check your pedals if you ride clipless. Also, check your crank, un-thread your bb and put plumbing tape on the threads and put it back in.

Thx guys...

Yeah, I duplicated the sound with me off the bike. I stepped on the crank and held the bike back...the noise came from the shock area. I took everything else apart. Weird.

I'm sure you did, but just to make sure: check for cracks... I know, what a horrible thing to say but stuff happens. A crack can make some nice little noises. I'm not exactly sure how it's set up, but with the pivot point, did you grease EVERYTHING? It only takes one dry surface contacting incorrectly to make a sound.

My point was that you THINK you pulled every bolt and greased them... You obviously have missed something. It might be something ridiculously simple, that you would never think of. I've had screaching sounds coming from my bb area that turned out to be my bottle-cage being broke and then rubbing against itself. I've had clicking coming from the bb that was a loose screw holding the cage onto a pair of platform pedals. I've had squeaking coming from my seat not being tightened enough to the seatpost. All I'm saying is that it's hard as hell to find answers on the internet about something that almost requires hands-on trouble-shooting. I'm just shooting in the dark, really.

On another note, why type of rear shock, on what bike, do you have?

I have the same thing with my Fox Van R. I have definitely isolated it to the shock itself. I sent it back to Fox and they rebuilt the thing, but its still there. I think it is something with the spring mount, but it is not the end of the world for me, because it doesnt affect performance. A little clickity click doesnt even enter my mind on the trails.

You said it might be where the spring sits. Take some fabric or cardboard, anything to buffer the two metals and slip it between the spring and where you think the noise is coming from. If it stops, that was it! Of course it will probably wear through your buffer fairly quickly, but at least you'll know where the sound was coming from.

edit: I have no idea how your shock is set up, so this idea may not even be applicable.