Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
Noises, like ticking coming from somewhere on the bike can ruin even the nicest ride. First it’s annoying, then you wonder if it’s going to cause a bigger problem or worse, something’s going to break.
So, I fully understood when my friend told me to take his bike and not to give it back until I fixed its “tick, tick, tick.” I asked him to describe it and he told me he thought it was coming from the bottom bracket. He said it happened whether or not he was pedaling. And he said it didn’t start until he hit about 20mph.
The Process
In hindsight, I can say now that all the clues were there to solve the mystery straight away. But, I didn’t connect the dots at first and told him to leave the bike so I could try to find it through the process of elimination.
I’m going to explain what I did to find the noise and to silence it because you can use the same approach to find most annoying bicycle noises whether they’re ticks, clicks, creaks, squeaks or clunks.
Test Ride
First, I rode the bike to see if I could hear the ticking noise. If you can’t hear it, it’s much harder to find it. But, just like he said, it started at about 20mph and once ticking it kept ticking whether I pedaled or not.
Since he said he thought it was coming from the bottom bracket, I decided to test that theory even though I would expect a BB tick to do it at all speeds and only under pedaling pressure.
Following Clues and Checking Likely Suspects
A good test for ticks or clicks or clunks coming from the bottom bracket is, while standing next to a bike holding it by the saddle and bars, to put one pedal at 6 o’clock and then push down and sideways on it towards the bike with one foot. This loads that part of the bike like a pedal stroke does and if the noise is coming from the bottom bracket or crank area, it should make the bike tick. No dice, though. His bike was noiseless.
Next, because ticks and clicks can travel and sound like they’re coming from somewhere they’re not, I tried tugging on the seat and handlebars in both directions and put a little pressure on the brake levers (not enough to move them out of position). It’s pretty common for seatpost bolts and the seat clamping parts to make ticking or clicking noises. The same goes for handlebars and stems and brake levers where they’re touching the bars. But again, crickets.
Reevaluating and the Old Switcheroo
Going back to the drawing board and focusing on the need for the bike to be at speed for it to start ticking, I inspected the wheels. They’re the things that spin up to speed after all.
There’s a lot to bicycle wheels and it can be time-consuming to check every possible noisemaker, from every spoke and nipple, to the rims (they can crack at the nipple holes), to the hub components.
So, instead of checking all that, I switched out one wheel at a time for another (luckily I had a set of disc wheels that fit his bike). Since the ticking sounded like it was coming from the bottom bracket area I tried a different rear first. On the test ride the tick, tick, tick was still there. But, when I switched out the front wheel and hit 20mph, bingo, the sweet sound of silence!
Getting Closer
Now that I knew the front wheel was the culprit, I went to work to find the ticker. Spokes often move as they pass under your body weight with each wheel revolution. This can produce a tick or click noise, which comes from where the spokes touch each other at the cross. Squeezing pairs of crossed spokes on his front wheel definitely produced ticking-type noises.
Confident I had found the issue, working slowly and carefully so as not to get any on his disc rotor, I applied a couple drops of lube to each cross all around both sides of the wheel. Then I squeezed the spoke pairs again to get the lube to spread and coat between the spokes.
While doing this, the spokes felt a bit loose to me. Loose spokes can also cause noises. So, I went around the wheel one more time, turning each spoke nipple a full turn.
Foiled Again!
Certain I had fixed the ticking, I took off down my driveway to hit 20mph ASAP and was disgusted after all that fussing with the spokes to still hear “tick, tick, tick.” I was so frustrated in fact, that I called my friend up and told him he needed to find a better mechanic.
But, he’d have none of it. He asked what I hadn’t checked yet. I thought about it and realized I hadn’t looked at the tires that closely. He runs sew-up tires that are glued on the rims, which usually stick fast and don’t move around or make noises. So I had assumed they were not the problem.
Finally!
But talking about tires reminded me of one possible noisemaker I had neglected to check, the valve. With my friend still on the phone, I went back into the shop and tapped on the front valve with my finger to try to move it. When I did this, it was so loose in the rim’s valve hole that it moved sideways far enough to hit the edge of the rim and make the exact “tick” that had been driving us crazy. Over the phone, I heard “That’s it!”
And it made complete sense. When the bike traveled slowly, the wheels weren’t spinning fast enough to move the valve. But, at 20mph the rotational force built up enough to swing the valve making it hit the hard edge of the carbon rim and the ticking noise
Easy Fix
The fix took about 30 seconds. I just cut a little X in a piece of electrical tape so that the valve would make its own hole and be held tightly in place when I pulled the tape over it and stuck it to the rim. You can see this in the photo. It was just for the test ride to make 100% sure it would once and for all shut up the ticking, which it did.
After that I made a prettier version carefully cutting the tape so as to be less conspicuous. I made one for the rear valve, too, just in case.
Since that day I finally figured out how to fix that ticking noise, I have done a little searching and discovered that the innovative Italian company Effetto Mariposa, actually makes the “Shelter Wheel Kit – 35 Pre-Cut valve silencing / wheel balancing discs.” Here’s a link to it on Cantitoe Road.
Other Valve Issues
If you have valves that are threaded to take valve nuts, these valves and nuts can make noise if they’re loose. Usually it’s a rattle noise rather than a tick or click. The fix is as easy as snugging up the nuts so nothing can loosen and rattle. Only tighten them by hand. If you use a wrench you might not be able to get the tube out to fix a flat on the road.
The bike I was working on had glued on tires. Most bicycles have relatively easily removed tires. On these you can fix ticking valve issues by removing the tire and tube and putting something around the valve so that it fits tightly in the valve hole and can’t move and make noise.
One wrap of electrical or plumber’s tape will do the trick. I’ve also heard of people using silicone caulk, but you only need a small amount. Again, you don’t need to do these hacks if your valves can be tightened in place with valve nuts.
If you’re trying to shut up a noisy bike, I wrote a massive article on finding and fixing all types of bicycle noises on my personal bike website.
Ride total: 9,604
Jim Langley is RBR’s Technical Editor. He has been a pro mechanic and cycling writer for more than 40 years. He’s the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop in the RBR eBookstore. Check out his “cycling aficionado” website at http://www.jimlangley.net, his Q&A blog and updates at Twitter. Jim’s cycling streak ended in February 2022 with a total of 10,269 consecutive daily rides (28 years, 1 month and 11 days of never missing a ride). Click to read Jim’s full bio.
One of the hardest to find noise for me was a loose water bottle cage!
It only made noise when I peddled and when I put it on a bike stand it didn’t happen! The stand held the frame firm, so the water bottle cage didn’t rock side to side.
I had a ticking sound that was very annoying. The ticking sound presented itself while going into a turn. The only way I discovered what was making the ticking was when a spoke failed on the front wheel. I bought a replacement spoke and installed it and case solved.
Early generation Mavic Open Pro wheels were built with the seam pinned. Sometimes that pin would loosen leaving a ticking noise that would get faster as one rode faster. The solution recommended was to take a metal punch and hammer in the dimples on either side of the seam to try to tighten up the pin. Since using a hammer on a bike is to me a last resort, I was reluctant. Nevertheless, I did it, and it worked – – for a while, but then returned. It was a front wheel that I semi-retired but still use only on my trainer bike that sits permanently in my basement. The front wheel never turns, and the ticking sound is gone.
Excellent.
Impressive ride total!
How do you do it?
One of the weirdest ones fpr me was the aglet on one of my shoelaces was hitting the crank on every pedal stroke.
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)
– BB cable guide (grease threads and tighten)
– 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)
– front derailleur cage hitting crank arm
– 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 clamp, 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.).
Clicks that happen when you coast can come from:
– computer wheel magnet hitting the pickup (computer pickup reed switch noise cannot be fixed)
– nuts on threaded Presta valve stems (throw the nut away)
– valve stems hitting/moving against the rim
– wheel reflectors wobbling.
Great troubleshooting list, thanks!
Yeah no kidding that’s a hell of a good list !
One more to add to the list is the jockey wheels. I once had a noise that was very annoying. Whenever I’d pedal I’d hear that annoying sound and finally narrowed it down to the jockey wheel. Water and road grime inside the jockey causing the ceramic bushing to be tight. Jockey wheel was worn so I just replaced it and no more noise.
Had a ticking sound when pedaling seated, standing up it disappeared, thought it might be the saddle, replaced the saddle it was good for two days then it reappeared , took it to a bike shop, they said it was bottom bracket, I told them I didn’t think it was bottom bracket cause it only happened when I was seated. Took the bike home removed the seat post and applied grease to the post, magic and luck, the tick disappeared, and never returned.
Once I noticed the click I heard once every pedal revolution over multiple rides but could not replicate in the stand was my knee! What a relief the bike didn’t need maintenance.
Jack
I know that clicking problem it disappears after 600 mg of ibuprofene.
Brand new Marin bike made clicking sound coming from somewhere around the front wheel. On the stand it was perfectly quiet. Bike shop adjusted everything but nothing fixed it. Finally narrowed it down to the tire valve stem area and could duplicate the click by rocking it back and forth about an inch. Common problem but was it the valve stem, rim, wheel or tube causing the problem? Turns out none of the above.. I found a 6 inch by 1/4 inch film protecting the logo on the bike tire. One edge was caught between the tire and rim. Peeled it off and problem solved. Probably will never happen again in the next million new bikes sold but, just in case it does, here’s the fix.
Two memories:
Firstly, about fifty years ago, I get a clicking noise from my bike. I’m overhauling pedal bearings, swapping components, it’s driving me crazy.
After weeks of this, I realise that the warm quilted jacket that I’m wearing for my winter commute has a drawstring round the waist, and that drawstring has a plastic toggle on each end. And those toggles are hitting the top-tube. Face-palm moment!
Toggles tied up, problem ignored.
The following winter, I get a clicking again. I solved this last year – what on earth was it? When eventually I remember what the cause was, it’s out with the scissors and snip those damn toggles off.
And secondly, a few years ago, I had a click that I could both hear and feel. Once per pedal revolution, and I could feel it via the left foot.
Only happened when standing on the pedals and working hard. Therefore it wasn’t saddle-to-seat-pin bolt nor seat-pin-frame bolt.
Right crank is integral with bottom-bracket spindle, left crank attaches via an Octalink-type spline. Remove left crank, grease, refit, torque – that will certainly cure it. It doesn’t.
Grease hub quick-release, do them up very firmly. Still clicking.
Torque the stem-to-handlebar bolts and the stem-to-steering-column bolts. Still clicking.
Swap pedals. Still clicking.
Swap shoes … problem solved.
Cleats with three-point fixing. Front bolt on left cleat was slightly loose.
Thanks a lot for sharing these, Dave. It’s a great reminder that annoying noises when cycling aren’t always coming from the bike. Don’t forget to check the other possibilities, too, which are almost always much easier to fix.
Jim
Great job, Jim, at least he got his front wheel tensioned intrude buy a pro.
Ha, ha, good point 😉 Thanks, Miles!
Jim
I fixed a clicking valve stem by pushing a toothpick into the space between the stem and the hole and snapping the toothpick off at the wheel surface.
Another instance of clicking I found on a cheap tubular tire with a large lump at the valve stem. Even after trimming the lump down a bit, the glue let go at that spot with every revolution producing the clicks.
I had a seatpost click similar to Rollingwheels’…it only clicked when seated. Of course I didn’t know it was the seatpost when it started, but soon figured it out. I had replaced a worn out seatpost clamp with a very nice Salsa “Liplock” clamp which has a small inside rim so the clamp doesn’t slide down the seat tube. The tubing on my bike was a very thin, high strength niobium steel. The thickness of the lip was more than the tube thickness so when it was tightened, it “strangled” the seatpost as well as compressing the seat tube. BUT, the seatpost was able to rock side to side ever so slightly in the seat tube making the ticking sound. Dremel tool to the rescue…I ground the lip just enough so that it was less than the tube wall thickness. Problem solved!