I'm riding a Surly LHT for about 10 years now. Recently I hear a clicking sound coming from the tube that connects the left and right pedals. I am guessing there are ball bearings in there, but I would appreciate any advice on this. Is it common? Do bike shops charge a fortune to fix it? Is it something more serious than I imagine?

Cheers.

By the way, our latest northern Japan tour is now on YT for those interested. Channel name is waddo.

No, bike shops don't charge a fortune. But it could be a variety of things making the noise. Take it into a shop since it doesn't sound like you are familiar with this type of maintenance.

If the bottom bracket...it's inside the 'center tube'...hasn't been serviced in the ten years you mention then it's likely it needs servicing and possibly replacing. It's not terribly expensive but considering you've used it for ten years with no servicing you have gotten you're money's worth and the cost of the service is minimal when it's spread over a ten year span.

What do they do exactly? Is I ball bearing replacement. And is this clicking sound common?

I live in Japan and they charge a fortune.

This could be a difficult noise to diagnose. Unfortunately, many noise sources "telegraph" their way into that area, which is called the bottom bracket. It could even be a loose or dirty saddle clamp, for instance. The other day I got fooled by a crack in a frame near the rear wheel. Hopefully you'll find someone with enough experience to find it quickly.

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately our great bike shop closed down a few years ago. Now we have to go to a chain that specialises in mamachari, which means bikes for mums with kids on the back and even babies on the front! and they weigh 50kg! If it is something tricky to diagnose I am f$cked.

https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/...ation-threaded

That video was very interesting and I now feel even the "mum's" bike shop can handle the job. It also seemed relatively quick so maybe the cost will be manageable.

Experienced something similar this summer. Faint click at nearly every crank revolution. Turned out to be a loose crank arm. I had replaced a chain ring and was probably not careful enough when putting everything back into place.

Then get a book about bicycle maintenance and start learning how to diagnose and fix your bike. Or make a friend that knows things. Any cycling clubs near you? Want ads?

could be many potential causes.........

wiggle the crankarms, they may need to be tightened, or bottom bracket may be expired.
wiggle the pedals, could be those bearings need repacking or replacing.
twist the handlebars and check for any slippage.

very common though, is the seatpost. that carries your weight and gets force applied on each pedal revolution.
also gets sweat dripping down the post that corrodes the contact surface inside the seat tube. put a ziptie at the base of the seatpost where it contacts the seattube to ensure you return it to the correct height afterwards. remove the seatpost,
clean it thoroughly, clean the inside of the seat tube, then apply a thin layer of bearing grease to both surfaces. reinstall.

It is common to think that some noise is from the pedals or bottom bracket area that are unrelated, a seatpost can cause that.

I had a clicking that I was sure was bottom bracket, it was actually a rack bolt (rear) that was not tight enough. Each time I pedaled, it flexed the frame enough that the rack would shift slightly on that bolt and click as the rack would contact the other side of the bolt. I finally diagnosed this by standing on the ground on the drive side of the bike. Held the saddle and rear brake lever with my hands, with my left foot on the ground, put my right foot on the pedal and pressed down and released the pressure. That was enough to flex the frame and then I could hear the clicking was near the rear hub, not near the bottom bracket. Finally found it was that rack bolt that was tight but not tight enough.

I had a pedal that needed more grease in the bearings, but it sounded like bottom bracket. Figured that out by changing pedals. When it happened again, then I had two pairs of pedals that needed more grease, bought the Shimano PD40 tool to work on that.

I had a bottom bracket sleeve on the non-drive side that needed to be tightened to stop clicking. I did not figure it out until I bought a new bottom bracket and when I started to remove the old one, it felt looser than it should have been. So, instead of replacing it, tightened it. Worked great. Now I have a spare on the shelf.

When my crank arm was loose, I got a squeak, not a click, but there are different kinds of crank arm systems.

There are different kinds of bottom brackets, external bearing, internal bearing cartridge bearing, etc. It is hard to diagnose a generic without knowing more.

you don't have to identify yourself as "idiot" as there are any number of people who will do that for you.

by asking the question, you have begun the process of fixing. after 10 years, probably anything you do will improve your bike.

start high or low, but start. all the suggestions which have been made will contribute to your understanding of how the machine works.

focus on one task, own it, and then move on to another. it's a process.

don't be intimidated by someone who poo-poos your naïve question: we all come down the chute with the same knowledge. it's what we pick up along

the way that helps us understand.

the Park Tool has good videos & a website which gives instruction/ information. Home Page | Park Tool

Sheldon Brown same sans videos. Sheldon Brown-Bicycle Technical Information

it's almost difficult to avoid the overload of information and sometimes it's more practical just to ask the specific question.

but don't waste your time calling yourself an idiot. that's a click & squeak only YOU can fix!

Also note that some bottom bracket cups are plastic. They can crack and cause a clicking sound.
As you're in Japanland, you should be able to pick up VP branded bottom brackets that have aluminum cups.
I'm pretty sure those cups also fit shimano BB's, so your bike shop or online seller should have replacement cups.
You'll have to remove the BB to inspect and will need to take measurements if replacing. Plenty of youtube videos explain the process.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/VP-Bot.../dp/B00FOHDKX8
bottom bracket is about 8 bucks japanazon, assuming your 10-yo bike has a square taper.

hi waddo, just to be clear, is this the part of the bike you are referring to?

I gradually acquired bike mechanic experience over a good 35 years, bit by bit, and can attest to what someone else mentioned--that sounds from this area can be a few things, so if you have an interest to investigate, you need to methodically go through the steps to see what part is making the sound.

Bottom line, a bunch of us would be very happy to help you with this, but online typing and not being by your bike makes it pretty darn tricky.
We'd love to identify your sound, but can only do so much.
You don't have the tools to do it on your own, but if you do have an urge to learn some bike mechanic stuff, the Parks Tools video series is a great source of well shot, well lit, well hosted series that can help you get some visual explanations.

Question--do you have any interest in doing this repair yourself? My guess is no, so I suspect getting to a larger urban area with a known bike store will be your best bet for a repair, but still would be good to identify whats making the sound.

are you interested in working with us for that, via a 12 hr time difference?

Wow!
Japanese babies are big!
That's more than my wife!

One clicking every crank turn I had turned out to be the end of a shoelace hitting the crankarm 😆

ha, I think we've all be fooled by that happening at least once!

Yeah, it’s caught me a few times. Even so it takes me a while to remember, while going through all the other mechanical possibilities 😊

all really good points to bring up.
the underlined part happened to me once, a very annoying click per revolution while on a long 80k day, so had to listen to it the whole time.
The square taper bb seemed to spin fine, so I ended up removing the bb and cleaning out all the threads and liberally regreased it all putting it back in, and that cured it. A year later or so when it started making noises again, I just put in a new one as the old one was at least 10 or 15 years old, so had had a good long life.

waddo, if it is your square taper bottom bracket (I think the LHT uses these), you'd need a crank puller tool, a big wrench, and the square taper tool to remove the sleeves,
grease and the replacement square taper sealed bb with the same axle length as the original----or just pay a bike store to do it for a reasonable fee. It will take them 15mins to do but you'd want to make sure they put in a good quality shimano bb, not some cheapo schmeapo © one.

the last time I bought a replacement sq taper bb it was somewhere around $30 cad, mid range shimano I think, un-24? but expect a price of around there for one.
If you end up going to a store and if your bike needs a new bb, you can ask about quality level options they have.

good luck Mr Video feller.

Post some photos of the crank arm and it's connection to the crank axle, so we can see what type you have.

A common type has two smaller "pinch" bolts that tighten the end of the crankarm around the axle. Years ago, I was getting clicking noises: I fixed it by removing the crankarm, wiping the axle splines to clean them, adding a little grease, then reinstalling. That fixed it. See the Park Tool guides for a step-by-step method to remove and install these type of cranks. It has to be done correctly, first by adjusting the bearing preload with the center cap, then tightening the bolts. Easy, once you know how.

I got a creaking noise on my current bike, only under pedal load. I was convinced it was coming from the crank axle bearings. No! it was the rear quick release that creaked with the slight frame flexing. I cleaned the quick release and put a thin film of grease on the cam surface. That worked!

this is what Surly sent me 2 weeks ago: Catalogs | Surly Bikes

go to the year (24-10 = 14)

pick the model you have, all the parts info is there. (page #63 - 65*) *this lists BB

your bottom bracket for a '14 is

Shimano BB-UN55 BB 68 X 118 Square Taper Bottom Bracket

New In Box Shimano BB-UN55 BB 68 X 118 Square Taper Bottom Bracket | eBay

personally, i would rebuild (take apart & grease the bearings) my pedals first. if pedal washers are not there, add a pair

(one on each crank - Amazon.com : VANICE 10 Pcs Pedal Washers, Thickness Stainless Steel Replacement Silver for Moutain Bike Road Bicycle : Sports & Outdoors)

Your QR is not tight enough for this to happen.