Tink, tink, tink while pedaling

[NHAero]

I've made some changes to my Anderson and along came a new noise. It's periodic with pedaling, seems to be when the right foot is entering it's downward push. It occurs with both chainrings.

What I've changed recently:
- new stem
- new BB (threaded Shimano UN55, but the sound didn't show up right away)
- new chainrings

The sound is similar to what you hear if the front derailleur cage is getting slightly hit by the right hand crank while getting shifting to the large ring sorted.

What I've done for diagnostics, with no success:
- tightened chainring bolts
- swapped pedals
- slipped a bit of plastic between the crank arm and the bit on the large ring that is intended to keep the chain from dropping between the two rings - it just about touches the crank arm and I thought maybe there was intermittent contact as the crank flexes.

Ideas?
Thanks!

[El Chaba]

One thing to rule out....is the cable end from the front derailleur touching the crankarm?

[oldpotatoe]

I've made some changes to my Anderson and along came a new noise. It's periodic with pedaling, seems to be when the right foot is entering it's downward push. It occurs with both chainrings.

What I've changed recently:
- new stem
- new BB (threaded Shimano UN55, but the sound didn't show up right away)
- new chainrings

The sound is similar to what you hear if the front derailleur cage is getting slightly hit by the right hand crank while getting shifting to the large ring sorted.

What I've done for diagnostics, with no success:
- tightened chainring bolts
- swapped pedals
- slipped a bit of plastic between the crank arm and the bit on the large ring that is intended to keep the chain from dropping between the two rings - it just about touches the crank arm and I thought maybe there was intermittent contact as the crank flexes.

Ideas?
Thanks!

Ride without cycling shoes. If still there-
Swap pedals. If still there, swap rear wheel.

[bigbill]

Clean up your seatpost and reinstall.

[Mark McM]

Ride without cycling shoes. If still there-
Swap pedals. If still there, swap rear wheel.

I've got a pair of cycling shoes that make a similar sound when I pedal. The shoes have both 3 bolt (Look) and 2 bolt (SPD) interfaces, and my cleats use the 3 bolt interface. The (unused) 2 bolt interface features an internal plate, and this plate has the ability to slide forward and back in slots in the outsole. Sometimes the plates move when I pedal, causing a ticking sound.

[Mark McM]

Clean up your seatpost and reinstall.

... but first try riding (using the same pedaling motion) both in and out of the saddle. If rising out of the saddle quiets the noise, then the saddle and/or seatpost are likely suspects.

[jbreebs]

I'd try swapping pedals if you can, and see if the noise disappears - I had this happen last week. Turns out that it was the pedals that were squeaking. I ended up putting a few drops of lube on the cleat retention springs, and that solved my problem.

[pgrizzwald]

Release and retighten both quick release skewers. Really clamp them down. See if that makes it go away. That was my tink tink tink problem once. I was worried it was my bottom bracket...turns out it was my front skewer.

[colker]

Mine was a steel clip perforating the tire today. Good thing is noise only lasted for a minute.

[shoota]

Release and retighten both quick release skewers. Really clamp them down. See if that makes it go away. That was my tink tink tink problem once. I was worried it was my bottom bracket...turns out it was my front skewer.

This has been the source of the last two noises I've solved.

[NHAero]

Helpful, thanks!
I can hear it out of the saddle, so not the saddle/seatpost, and I'm riding platform pedals, of which I tried two pair, so it's not cleats or the pedals. I'll look carefully at the FD cable end and definitely at the skewers - that is a new one to me!

[galgal]

Release and retighten both quick release skewers. Really clamp them down. See if that makes it go away. That was my tink tink tink problem once. I was worried it was my bottom bracket...turns out it was my front skewer.

^ This. Happened to me too. In my case, it was the rear skewer. No recurrence since.

[Ozz]

One thing to rule out....is the cable end from the front derailleur touching the crankarm?

+1

personal experience.....:cool:

[HTupolev]

As people have said, definitely check your FD cable and hub QR skewers.

Could also be at the bottom bracket area... either BB bearings, or cranks being insecurely attached.

I can hear it out of the saddle, so not the saddle/seatpost
It could be, if the seatpost is ticking the seattube walls from frame flex. I've seen this happen before with a long seatpost that was inserted deep into a frame, solution was to cut the seatpost to a reasonable length.
Simple diagnosis is to ride the bike with the seatpost removed.

[pgrizzwald]

Helpful, thanks!
I can hear it out of the saddle, so not the saddle/seatpost, and I'm riding platform pedals, of which I tried two pair, so it's not cleats or the pedals. I'll look carefully at the FD cable end and definitely at the skewers - that is a new one to me!

My "tink" only occurred when I was out of the saddle. Never when I was seated.

[steelbikerider]

My tink, tink was the metal aglet on my shoelace hitting the crankarm.

Another time was a cracked bottom bearing race in a headset that was not correctly installed.

the possibilities are endless. :eek:

[NHAero]

- FD cable end - no
- Skewers were tight, but tightened a bit more - no
- tightened crank bolts on square taper cranks - no

It's faint, it's there when out of the saddle, it's not on every revolution but seems to be in the same location of the revolution.

Could be the BB, though I haven't had tink from BBs before, usually more of a creak!

[ChristianWong]

I'm in the exact same boat here, although I have admittedly done very little to try and remedy the situation. The only thing I've tried is tightening the rear skewer.

I suspect it's either my bottom bracket (5 years old and been through a lot) or my left pedal which seems to have a loose retention clip (Time ATAC). This weekend the bike will be torn down for packing so I'll give it a thorough inspection.

[classtimesailer]

Tighten the stem and handlebars.
Grease the pedal threads. My last think/click was the right pedal and I thought for sure the source was elsewhere because when I switched to a different pedal, the noise remained. After rebuilding most of the bike step by step with test rides in between, I greased the pedal threads and poof. At least, my bike won't need any maintenance for some time.

[Nooch]

two thoughts that have been issues for me in the past...

one, saddle coming into contact with the saddle rails (my selle italia flites have a tendency of flexing on my downstroke so i have to keep a little oil/lube on the rails, though this is more of a squeaking) or two, are you certain that no part of *you* is coming into contact with the bike? I have large quads -- I was driving myself crazy with a noise one day when I realized it was literally my bib-covered quad rubbing the top tube...

[hokoman]

I don't know if you figured it out yet.. but I would check your chaining bolts after changing the rings.

[mingc]

I know you mentioned it only tinks when you're out of the saddle, but I'd try greasing the seat post and saddle rails just for ****s and giggles. Also check for loose spokes.

[NHAero]

Chainring bolt tightening was first round, and it tinks both on the saddle and out of the saddle. I tightened crank bolts, seatpost bolts, seat post binder bolt, stem bolts, disc brake adapter and caliper bolts....
I'll pull the pedals and grease them...

[bobdenver1961]

Make sure that the crank arm is not hitting the kickstand. :banana:

[coelacant]

Have you tried lubing the skewer cam head before tightening, at both ends?

[weiwentg]

Your post makes it sound like you were convinced that the sound came from the BB area. But it sounds like you've ruled out most of the likely culprits already.

It's worth asking, is it possible the sound is originating from elsewhere? Tried changing the rear wheel, like oldpotato asked? Or even the front? (Last year, I had a tinking sound from somewhere, and it turned out to be my front Pacenti SL23 v1 rim's joint rattling slightly. I lubed it and it's gone away.) Sounds from the bike can be hard to localize exactly.

[eddief]

works on all my tinks.

[charliedid]

Make sure that the crank arm is not hitting the kickstand. :banana:

tee hee

[xlbs]

Since the sound is coincidental with pedalling out of the saddle is it possible that you are rocking against the bar and stem and that something is loose there? One bolt? Or, even the headset? Brifter?

I once had a customer who had a loose stem bolt which we tightened. I told him that it was a loose nut on the end of the handlebar. He didn't get the joke, but all of my staff did. The snickers from the shop were audible...