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BB "clink"

microcord

Maximum Pace
Aug 28, 2012
1,650
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A couple of months back I started to notice clinking sounds from, I thought, below me. They were mild. They'd come for a few turns of the cranks, and then disappear. They seemed to be in time with the cranks, but even this wasn't so clear. They didn't worsen. In some short rides I didn't hear them at all. What they weren't were the creaky noise one gets (I've got) from loose cranks, and the cranks definitely weren't loose.

LBS man confirmed that neither the cranks nor the pedals were loose and said he didn't know what it was. He suggested that I just ignored it, unless/until it got worse.

About 40km from home on Saturday, I noticed that the sound had become more consistent. It only arises when I apply power to the cranks. If I apply lots of power (by my puny standards) it doesn't seem to worsen; indeed it seems to lessen (though this might be an illusion). And it's the right crank rather than the left.

I've never touched the BB on any bike (well, not since my nightmarishly cottered youth). Whenever I try to read about the BB, what I see is all so complex that my head spins. But even if I chicken out and ask a bike shop, I should know more than I do now.

I do vaguely recall that the (mid/late-eighties!) BB was marketed as "sealed". I don't suppose it was the most expensive option, but I wouldn't have bought something that smelled dodgy. (It might have been the "Shimano 105" equivalent in the Suntour range.) Despite its age, it will have had little use (only a couple of thousand kilometres, I'm ashamed to say), all of it placid. It might of course be a lemon, or a dud design, but I haven't read of these.

Is this likely to be a problem of one or both of the retaining whatnots that attach the BB cassette to the frame? Or could it be the cassette itself?
 
It could be any one of a number of things. Intermittent anything is so hard to nail down. Could even be your seat rails or handlebar clamp. But as a first step it wouldn't hurt to pop everything out, clean and re-grease the threads, and tighten it all to the appropriate torque. 20-minute job if you have the tools.
 
Could also be the chain ring bolts. Good luck troubleshooting!;)
 
Yep, I too had the chain ring bolts issue.
Could just need a good clean.
 
It could be any one of a number of things. Intermittent anything is so hard to nail down. Could even be your seat rails or handlebar clamp. But as a first step it wouldn't hurt to pop everything out, clean and re-grease the threads, and tighten it all to the appropriate torque. 20-minute job if you have the tools.

Reseating the BB is the first step although as we all say it could be anything. I have mentioned before when I had this & it turned out to be a broken bottle cage. I also had something similar that turned out to be a broken roller on the chain. Good luck finding it.
 
bottle cages are a common culprit - take them off and wash them.
 
Try this, lean your bike against a guard rail over looking a river and threaten your bike that if it doesn't shut up and be staunch about hauling you up and over where you want to go............
liffey_river_bicycle_4303.jpg

This called HFM maintenance 101.
 
Thank you all for your tips. Yesterday afternoon/evening was busy, and today will be too; but I hope to attend to this tomorrow afternoon.

(Meanwhile, I'm particularly intrigued by the suggestion of FarEast that I should wash the bottle cages before reattaching them. Well, OK, why not? Shall do!)
 
Ok, the reason you should remove and wash them is because a lot of the time your sports drink leaks out, it then creates a gooey stick mess that sticks between the cage and the frame. As you pedal and the frame flexes the sugary bond breaks and sticks creating a clicking sound that is magnified by the acoustics of the frame
 
I also had a similar problem: turned out that my cranks were too <i>tight</i>.
 
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