# Clicking sound from pedal on downstroke. Please help!



## pawz68 (Jun 4, 2013)

Total new guy to biking. Ok, I'm getting a clicking noise from my right pedal area during downstroke. This only happens when working uphills or working the pedals hard. Nothing on the flats or downhills. I'm going to attach a short video where you can clearly hear the clicking noise. Thank you very much! Also....just had it in for a tuneup and crank inspection.

https://vimeo.com/67688369


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

It could be anything. I get a click too and it took me weeks to figure it out - it's my ID stuff around my neck. Be creative in your search. Start with the easy stuff. If you think it's a pedal - swap it for one that doesn't click. You get the idea.


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## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

Check out this page:

Technical FAQ with Lennard Zinn: Bike creaking solutions

The greasing the cassette hub where the sprockets sit trick fixed my last creak.


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## gabkr (Mar 30, 2012)

what kind shoes? ...Sidi(Ergo) has a small allignment screw under the cleat,that can click if loose......one of my riding partners had this problem.


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## .je (Aug 25, 2012)

Mine came back from the LBS (45km away!) like that. All I wanted them to do was oil the chain and tighten the cables (1 year free maintenance), but they showered me with attention: maybe the tech was a new kid who wanted to impress the boss, tightening the headset, brakes, seatpost, QR skewers, BB (i think), bla bla.... and it came back with the rear brake dragging on the wheel (barrel all the way down, so I can't bring it down a couple of threads), the front close to dragging too... and a click a little like yours... 

...I adjusted the FD limit stops out a bit, and adjusted the FD cable tension, and it didn't click any more.


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## pawz68 (Jun 4, 2013)

gabkr said:


> what kind shoes? ...Sidi(Ergo) has a small allignment screw under the cleat,that can click if loose......one of my riding partners had this problem.



Just took it for a spin with my sneakers on and I'm still getting the same clicking noise. Ugggg.


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## Sully00 (Dec 29, 2012)

Not to high jack but it sounds familiar...here's mine...


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## pawz68 (Jun 4, 2013)

Sully00 said:


> Not to high jack but it sounds familiar...here's mine...



Sounds identical, including location of sound in pedal stroke. What did you find out?


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## Sully00 (Dec 29, 2012)

pawz68 said:


> Sounds identical, including location of sound in pedal stroke. What did you find out?


Nothing yet...I sent the link to my LBS dude. I tried to explain the creak to him the other day and he checked it for the correct torque and sent me home. The weird thing is the other day it was happening more on my left down stroke with an occasional right side creak. Happens when climbing or pushing out of the saddle. It's a BB30...I did a search and there seems to be a number of threads about this cropping up.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

pawz68 said:


> Total new guy to biking. Ok, I'm getting a clicking noise from my right pedal area during downstroke. This only happens when working uphills or working the pedals hard. Nothing on the flats or downhills. I'm going to attach a short video where you can clearly hear the clicking noise. Thank you very much! Also....just had it in for a tuneup and crank inspection.
> 
> https://vimeo.com/67688369


It is fairly common to have clicking noises, but ticks and clicks are very hard to eliminate sometimes. What seems like it is tied to the pedals may be coming from the seat post, etc. Sometimes things like temperature and humidity can affect noises as well. Also, things like the front derailleur cage just hitting the crank, loose bottle cage bolts, or the front derailleur cable sticking out and hitting your shoe can seem like they are clicks but really aren't. Another thing to consider is that the frame and components are flexing from pedaling forces, and so you can get a click or creak sound where you think it couldn’t be – for example the seat post & clamp can make noise even when you are standing and pedaling due the frame flexing. Here’s a link if you don’t like reading the rest of this post: Bicycle Touring Tips, Lessons Learned, and Tricks of the Trade

Clicks tied to your pedaling can come from
- BB (grease all threads in contact with the frame and BB, all metal to metal contact surfaces, and torque to the recommended settings, which can be quite high), the faces of tapered BB axles if they have a little corrosion
- bolt holding the BB cable guide onto the frame (grease threads and make sure the bolt is not touching the BB shell inside the frame)
- crank bolts (grease threads and washers)
- chain ring bolts (take them all out and grease the threads, the faces where they contact the CRs, and the CRs where they contact the crank spider arms)
- a dirty chain, inadequately lubed chain, stiff link in a chain or a burr on one of the "break off" special links used to assemble the chain
- front derailleur clamp (clean and put a light film of grease on the inside of the clamp where it touches the seat tube)
- the pedals (grease the threads and the shoulders of the axle where it butts against the crank arm, get some wax, silicone etc. on the cleats, check for play in the bearings, squirt some lube into the guts of the pedal machinery if possible)
- shoes/cleats - loose cleat nut rattling around in the shoe sole, shoe/cleat interface, cleat bolts, cleats touching pedals (wax lube, silicone, or furniture polish)
- seat post and saddle (grease the post, seat post bolts, saddle rails, and add some oil to where the rails go into the saddle body)
- bars and stem (grease the stem where it clamps to steerer or goes into the steerer if quill type, top cap, stem bolts at both ends, h'bar bolt if quill stem, and h'bar where it goes through the stem)
- grease/tighten QRs and where the hub axle contacts the frame
- tighten cassette lock ring, grease cassette hub body and cassette spacers
- grease steerer tube spacers (if threadless)
- replaceable derailleur hangers (remove, clean, grease all parts and threads, reassemble)
- any other bolt (bottle cages, derailleur clamps, derailleur bolts, shift cable casing stops, etc.)
- cables hitting the frame (cable donuts), or shifting in their end ferrules (lube contact points). 

Wheels can make noises when pedaling or coasting (check for spoke tension, particularly on the rear non drive side, put a drop of lube where each pair of spokes cross and where each spoke enters the rim and the hub flange, check for loose metal bits or spoke nipples in the body of the rim and cracks in the rim at spoke holes.).


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

As Kerry and others have said, it can be really hard to tell where noises are coming from. Heres' my recent story. A few days ago I put a new chain on the fixed-gear bike that I often commute on, which is a converted road bike and has 3/32 chainring and cog. I used a SRAM PC-1 chain, which is 1/8. I expected it to sound a little different, and it did on the first ride on yesterday morning's commute. But not too weird. I was also listening for anything odd because the chainring has a lot of miles on it, and I thought it might not play well with the new chain. The bottom bracket is very used, as well.

On the way home, there was a definite change in sound, almost a rattle at times, most noticeable on rough stretches of pavement. I stopped several time to bounce the bike, spin the cranks (I couldn't isolate it from pedaling while riding, of course). The sound definitely seemed to originate from the crank/bb area. I checked chainring bolts, looked at the chain tension. Could not find the source, but was convinced it was down there somewhere.

After I got home, I continued to investigate, bouncing, listening, grabbing and poking things. And discovered that the nut and bolt holding my rear rack to the brake bridge was loose. Nowhere near the bottom bracket or crank. A dab of blue Loctite and a little muscle on the wrench and all quiet on the western front.

Bikes are very funny that way. The sheer length of Kerry's trouble-shooting checklist is revealing.


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## pawz68 (Jun 4, 2013)

*Update!*



pawz68 said:


> Total new guy to biking. Ok, I'm getting a clicking noise from my right pedal area during downstroke. This only happens when working uphills or working the pedals hard. Nothing on the flats or downhills. I'm going to attach a short video where you can clearly hear the clicking noise. Thank you very much! Also....just had it in for a tuneup and crank inspection.
> 
> https://vimeo.com/67688369



Two loose chain ring bolts. Problem solved. Thanks for all of the input.


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## pawz68 (Jun 4, 2013)

Sully00 said:


> Nothing yet...I sent the link to my LBS dude. I tried to explain the creak to him the other day and he checked it for the correct torque and sent me home. The weird thing is the other day it was happening more on my left down stroke with an occasional right side creak. Happens when climbing or pushing out of the saddle. It's a BB30...I did a search and there seems to be a number of threads about this cropping up.


Hello, my bike shop found two loose chain ring bolts. They've been tightened and the clicking sound has vanished. Hope this helps.


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## Sully00 (Dec 29, 2012)

...and I actually had a lot of road grime in the BB and the shell of the frame from a recent rainy day ride. Cleaned out and she's nice a quiet now


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## bikes4fun (Mar 2, 2010)

I had a tick - tick - tick that correlated to my right leg downstroke too. Drove me nuts. I took the crank off, greased/tightened the BB, reassembled. Same tick. Much later I figured out it was a cable lock that I had coiled around the seatpost. The back of my right thigh was tapping it against the seat stay. Bad thing was that I almost never carry the lock, and had forgotten about it.


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## Bail_Monkey (May 19, 2008)

I had a creak when torquing on the bike uphill just after 2k miles on a recent build. I thought it was coming from the cranks, but it is hard to detect when your riding. Took apart the crankset and greased. Then re-greased the pedals, then the chain ring. Eliminated the shoes. Finally the cassette which I'm pretty sure was the culprit after a short test ride.


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## pamt (Sep 8, 2011)

BB30's are notorious for this and may never be completely eliminated in addition to all the other good suggestions. Not sure if pedals were mentioned but a few years back I had a set of Times that clicked continuously under load no matter what I did to them


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