Ticking sound coming from bottom bracket

[JMerring]

on my last few rides i've been supremely annoyed by a ticking sound that appears to be coming from the bottom bracket area. it only happens under load and is pretty much in tune with each revolution of my crank, seemingly occuring just as my right foot approaches/goes past the 12 o'clock position. does anyone have advice/guidance/input before i seek professional assistance? fwiw, it's a 2006 campy chorus bottom bracket mated with a 2006 campy chorus 52/39 crank.

thanks for your help.

[biker72]

Take the bike to your LBS. Those guys are wizards at finding noises.
My last bottom bracket ticking sound turned out to be a loose saddle clamp. Like 1/8 turn loose.

I would have bet money it was the bottom bracket.

[godfrey1112000]

Saddle or pedals, especially the Shimano pedals with the plastic plate, see other post on this issue

noises from the BB are usually not a good sign, like a squirrel on the road meeting a set of DT Swiss wheels at about 30mph

last week, the water cages came loose and were also making a racket, once in a while and an allen wrench can make a worlds of difference all over the bike

[the ill postino]

A few culprits I've seen for things that seemed like bottom bracket noise:

-is your front derailleur in the outer position grazing the crank arm?
- is the length of derailleur cable coming from the front deraileur hitting the crank arm?
- do you have a cycle computer that has a cadence sensor on the chainstay that's bumping anything?
- kickstand interference? (hey, some people use and love them!)
- anything on your shoe/pedal/toe strap grazing the arm on each rotation?

Good luck!

[HJR]

Had the same sort of experience a while ago on Campy Chorus and it turned out the BB cups had backed out a bit. Just go around once and tighten everything on the bike, and give it a ride. If it persists then bike shop is the next place I'd go. Good Luck.

[firerescuefin]

If you have a torque wrench, check the torque for the crank bolt.

[avalonracing]

I saw a Campy BB where the little dust gasket had one part sticking out a bit and each time it passed by that stupid Campy cotter spring pin the gasket went outboard and made a clicking noise.

[ultraman6970]

Avalon are u talking about UT or squared tapper?

[Ken C]

I was sure I had a click comming from my BB, because it started shortly after I had new outboard cups installed. On a whim I pulled my pedals off, cleaned and re-greased the threads. This solved the click.

[spamjoshua]

If "under load" with your drive side / "right" crank arm at its highest "12 o'clock" position, it sure sounds like the front derailleur is a likely candidate for contact.

[John M]

Dont rule out the front QR skewer. I know that the sound may seem like it is coming from the BB, but consider lubing the QR.

[ultraman6970]

I got that one with the front quick release. But lucks like the OP is talking about a click/tic not a creak sound that is characteristic from a bad QR hehe

[Ken Robb]

I had a click that was caused by the cable to the front derailer getting bent out far enough to get "ticked" as I pedaled.

[eddief]

on front wheel got knocked to close to sensor. if not, it is still one good way to know wheels really do flex under load.

[avalonracing]

Avalon are u talking about UT or squared tapper?

It was the UT crank and bb on my friend's bike.

[Matthew]

Check both skewers. My concours did the same thing and I found it to be the rear skewer needed tightening. Also check the front derailleur clamp to see that it is snug and also the seatpost clamp. Clicking sounds can come from strange places and almost all sound like they are coming from the bottom bracket. Good luck. Matthew.

[srice]

I have seen this issue on the same vintage cranks and BB a couple of times. Both times, I solved it by pulling the left (non-driveside) crank and tightening up the BB on that side. Quick and easy to try.

[SteveV0983]

I'm having a similar problem now and I can duplicate it by removing my chain, getting on the bike between a doorway or on a trainer, and then putting my left crank forward and pushing down - click - then rotating my right crank forward and pushing down - click. If you do this while standing, you rule out seat, seat post, QR skewers, chain, derailleurs, etc and isolate it to the crank or BB. With me, if I loosen my left crank arm (Ultegra 6600), I can hear the click while loosening the bolt. Then if I just re-tighten it, it goes away for a couple of rides. Then it comes back. I called Shimano and they recommended taking off the crank arm and making sure that the arm to spindle is well greased and that the pinch bolts are well greased. I've only done one ride since doing that and the noise is gone, but I don't know if it is because of the grease of just because I loosened and re-tightened it. I'll see after a few more rides.
But the method that I mentioned above can at least help you to isolate it.

[woolly]

My guess - chainring bolt.

[tlittlefield]

I agree with the front QR...

I had a clicking sound just a week ago when standing. Took off the front wheel put a small amount of grease in the dropouts, put the wheel back on, cleaned up the excess grease and noise was gone.

[Straz]

I second the "chainring bolt" as the culprit.

[JMerring]

Chainring bolt was the winner. Hard to believe that a single ever so slightly less than fully tight bolt could be such a nuisance, but it was. Thanks again to all for the feedback.