I have a new Steamroller SS for commuting and love it, but there's a clicking that has been driving me crazy and looking for some forum wisdom.

Some background, bought the bike complete from a local shop and received great service. I've had them look at it once and they said everything looks fine and on a quick test ride didn't hear it. So part of what I'm looking for is advice on how far to press them and if this is something I can fix myself or maybe just have to live with.

The noise occurs in the rear hub as far as I can tell, under power. Pretty sure rear hub and not BB because of the frequency of the noise is more than the pedaling cadence. After having them look at it I decided to just ride it on my daily commute for a couple weeks and listen carefully. Turns out it doesn't always make the noise and when it does I can freewheel for a bit to make it go away.

I am new to road bikes, having ridden MTB for years. One of the reasons I have a SS is the quiet so this is like nails on a chalkboard for me.

When I talked to the LBS my main concern was to find out if there was a defective part while the bike was new. They say it's good, but the noise is still there. I don't want to be a pain in the ass about a trivial issue, but I also don't want to ignore a potential serious problem. I can probably learn to ignore it if it truly is benign and I'm mechanically inclined enough to troubleshoot more seriously but yet another reason for SS was to minimize maintenance and I am not eager to dig into this.

What should I do, ignore, bug LBS again, or investigate myself? Any advice or insight is appreciated.

It is unlikely that anything is broken or defective (but possible.)
What is more likely is that some bearing is slightly out of adjustment and moving under load. These are a PITA to track down. Often it is best to just re-adjust everything in the drive chain and see if the problem goes away. Also tighten chain ring and crank arm bolts and (yes) seat and seat post bolts. All of these can make noises while pedaling.

Oh, could also be a tight link on the chain.

You are not a pain in the ass, you are a paying customer. Have the shop make it good.

You may be both a pain in the ass and a paying customer, but the paying part is what counts.

Possibly the seatpost creaking

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take it in soon and have them look it over again. I guess I wanted assurance that this isn't "normal" and worth chasing.

I would just ignore it. I know how cllcks can be annoying but I'm a clydesdale so I get all sorts of clicks and creaks.

Cheap freewheels are often a common source of undesirable clicks and other noises while pedaling.

Is the surly hub considered cheap? I figured it wasn't bottom of the barrel but I did know it's not nearly as nice as the hubs on my mountain bikes.

Freewheel, not hub.

Thank you for the correction. Searching 'noisy freewheel' on here brought up lots and lots of posts.

On another note, I bought my bike around the corner from you. Kind of wish I had gone into your shop. If you're this helpful on the internet you must be an angel in person.

If it works fine it's more than likely not defective, some stuff just makes noise especially if it's cheaper drive train parts. If I can find the stock freewheel that came with my steamroller I might test it out. I always find any noise my bike makes I just get used to it as long as the rides fine and it's nothing extreme.