Pedalling under power, there's a clicking noise on each down stroke of each crank arm. It doesn't happen under soft pedalling and I can't seem to pinpoint where the noise is coming from!
The bike is a 2018 NS Snabb 150. With cranks level I can jump up and down on the bike as hard as I want compressing the forks and shock with no noise. In trying to correct the noise so far i've:
Had the cranks off and BB out, all seems fine, re-greased and put back together.
I've had the headset out, bearings are a touch rough but not too bad yet (no significant play in the bearings), all greased and put back together.
Stem has been changed since, so not bar/stem contact.
I've had the shock off and all the frame bearings seem good with no play.
Checked the frame for cracks and can't see anything - also i'd likely be dead by now if it was cracked as it's mainly a bike park / DH bike.
Any ideas?
Mech hanger drop out worth a spot of grease.
Raceface Cinch chainring? Remove, clean, regrease and do back up really tight.
Seatpost looks like a possibility. Have a look at my post on this thread:
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/help-me-track-down-an-annoying-click/
Pedal bolts, saddle rails and seatpost would be my first places to look, if it's not a BB bearing.
It's standing as well as sitting so not the post/seat.
It is indeed a race face chainring - will check that tonight along with mech hanger and pedal/crank interface (though installed and greased fairly recently)
Rear wheel, check and clean where it touches the frame at the hub. Same for the front hub and the fork.
Pedals, If flat, is there any play? Are the bearings good? is the thread greased? If SPD's, same plus is the mechanism clean and in good condition?
Still check the seat post and saddle clamp, it's easy to check.
Mech hanger
After months of trying to find similar on a old bike of mine it turned out to be this. Removed the hanger, cleaned, greased & refitted & no more clicky nonsense.
it's your knees, have you had your cod liver oil Granddad?
No no, it's too much rock'n'roll = tinnitis. Everything clicks and clanks....
Had the same thing on my road bike and couldn't locate it so turned the bike upside down and gave the rear mech (it's the only one I got) and chain a thorough spring clean and it went away....
I still haven't sorted mine out although it's not the seatpost (although I've had this previously). If I stand by the side of the bike with the brakes applied and power down onto the crank arm, I can generate my click (I guess it's in the drivetrain somewhere); annoying isn't it?
I have essentially the same on a 2017 Snabb plus 1.
Built it up from new last year and as soon as I get going with a bit of power through the cranks it creaks on the down push through the pedals.
Does it whether seating or standing and only whilst pedalling.
Bit of a nuisance as I want to sell the frame soon and don't feel happy doing so whilst it is potentially creaky !
Other options, cracked frame? Stiff link in the chain? Lose jockey wheel?
Useful 🙂 Currently chasing down a similar intermittent click. Some ideas above I haven't looked at yet. My next thing to check is the front hub as mine seems to be from that area, although difficult to know for sure.
It is indeed a race face chainring
Well worth checking then. back on laptop now so a longer response. Had this issue while back, replaced BB, pedal bushings (DMR Vaults) and stripped and greased all usual suspects without luck. Did a bit of searching round t'interweb and found some threads on the Cinch chainsets which pointed to similar issues clicky - mine are Aeffect and not Turbines as listed in the thread here. Removed the cranks and chainring and gave the interfaces a really good clean and then rebuilt. Was good for a few rides and then started again. Repeated, but really tightened up the retaining nut (uses an old style shimano BB tool), been fine since.
Hope this sorts it as is a relatively easy fix.
For me the clicking was in the cassette, initially tightening did not help and thought it was coming from the freehub but taking cassette off, cleaning, a drop of chain oil between rings and hub and back to correct torque and the clicking has gone.
it’s your knees, have you had your cod liver oil Granddad?
Only 29, but my knees do probably have at least double that on the clock...
Had half an hour last night at it and it's not the cinch chain ring or pedals. Mech hanger and seat/post/clamp investigations tonight...
further:
i realised i could replicate the noise last night with the bike upside down, holding the tyre so the wheel couldn't turn (really hard) and pushing on the cranks.
Once the click has happened by pushing one crank arm down, freewheeling the cranks back a quarter turn and trying again doesn't click. I have to go to the other crank arm and repeat for it to click (i.e. it happens on both sides, but has to be one then the other). This makes me believe it's some sort of side-to-side or torsional effect and my suspicions are the frame pivots. Annoyingly I can't tell where the sound is coming from, perhaps I need someone else to get there ears next to the bike while i push hard on the cranks.
I'm in the middle of doing the same (chasing down a click) on my Whyte. Got the torque specs from Whyte for all the pivots and mounts, popped each one apart, checked and back together. Doesn't take long and takes them out of the equation (unless you have a bushing/bearing issue).
Saw the bit about the chainring above, so just taken mine to pieces, cleaned out all the crud and back on the bike. Will see...
Jamze,
I had weird squeak/creak this morning which was caused by my rear cabling on the rear end swingarm rubbing. Moved it and adjusted the cable ties and all was good.
For information, i also swapped out some of the axle end frame bearings which didn't seem to be an issue, but when i removed, they were both quite tired and notchy. As well as lots of grime between the spacers/bearings/frame etc.
Thanks weeksy. Could be cable creak, another thing to look at. Are Whyte's fairly quiet with their internal cable routing? If not, not much you can do I guess.
generally yes. What you can do is to flip upside down and then pull both ends by the rubber grommets. That will tighten it all inside, the grommets are good at keeping the tension. But generally they're decent for lack of rattle.
The noise is coming from the frame. Here is a video making it happen by twisting the frame (I'm putting in more force than it looks)
Worryingly, if i get my ear to the frame it's loudest towards the front I.e. not the pivots. I can still make the noise if I raise the bars off the floor and rest the top tube on my knee in an attempt to eliminate the headset.
I've searched high and low for a crack in the frame but can't see any.
It's been happening for weeks or months and it's been used for some hard DH while the noise has been occurring. This weekend gone I landed completely flat off the biggest jump on the 50to01 line at revs, so probably more than 20 foot high to flat. If it's been cracked all this time I'm surprised it's not snapped
That sounds like a click of something moving rather than a creak.
With the riding you do I’d be wanting to find it. Can you take the forks and front wheel off completely, then take the headset out totally?
If it still clicks, spend a day ripping it right down and build it back up, checking for clicks after every component is added as you do in the video.
The sound will echo through the frame so don't beleive where you think it's coming from.
My bike had a definite creak, which was the rocker bearings getting a little rough - a full strip and regrease and it's nice and quiet again. Yours sounds like more like a creak but might be worth checking pivots more. When you pedal the suspension probably bobs ever so slightly, softer pedalling stops this bob. And harder compression gets it past the 'sticky' point. Mine had exactly these symptoms, and I could also make it creak by flexing the frame slightly as you're doing.
Been removing things one by one - headset is the culprit!
Can't see why though it seems spot on. Ordering a new one anyway
Nice one 🙂
Good news 🙂 So the bearings, or were the cups moving in the frame?
Bad news, it wasn't the headset. I'm pretty convinced my headtube is cracked.
There's a perfect line around the inside of the headtube that goes about 3/4 away round the tube at top tube height (just below the opening for the toptube). The line is very smooth and doesn't look like a crack but I think that must be it. I'm gutted! Had the bike only about a month!
