Alright - took me a while but I figured that one out on my Trek Checkpoint - should be a possible solution for every Trek Bike with an adjustable "Stranglehold" dropout on the rear. So, the bike made some ungodly cracking noises while pedaling and/or breaking which sounded as if the bike would break in half any second. Solution: If the noise occurs when pedaling then turn the adjustmentscrews on both rear ends of the stranglehold a little in and out and put a bit of lube on the parts of the screws which touch the frame. Make sure to put the screws back to the original position. And when it happens while breaking you'll have to loosen the screw inside the rail which is used to adjust the break according to the position of the dropout, clean the rail and the screwholes, lube the screw and put it back in.
Don’t forget to check the seatpost, saddle clamp, and stem bolts. Also, check that the interface between the seatost (seatpin in British English 😉) has the correct lubricant for the materials in question (grease or fiber grip). And check for loose or rubbing spokes. So many BB or drivetrain creaks turn out to be one or a combination of those things and not the bottom bracket or drivetrain at all!
A big cause of rear derailleur noise / indexing problems is a bent/misaligned derailleur hanger. It doesn't take much to knock them out of line. I service and build most of the higher end bikes that come through my local shop and have found that almost all of them need some adjustment. I've have made it a standard check on every service/build I do. Any bike shop that is worth dealing with should have the correct tool to check and adjust the hanger. Totally worth it.
bike shop wanted to replace bottom bracket. said thanks but not today Removed seat post applied lube and have not had that problem since with regular pm
Im gonna have to pull a Si. My top tip is clean your bike i mean every ride maintenance or when life allows. Randomly tighten and check everything and keep a top eye of your components anatomy and average life span of them. DO NOT GET USED TO ANY RACKET only rubber on tarmac. GREAT VIDEO JON!
I had a funny noise from the rear of my bike... It was like a clicking and skiping sound, but also I felt it with every pedal stroke, and onley in 3 bigest sprockets... The thing was that my cassete got a bit lose, but it sounded just like when you put a new chain on an old cassete so it skips from time to time... But it was all the tine in my case. I wish all best to GCN an al the presentors, nice job and keep on going
Hi Jon.. Most annoying click I've had was on my 2015 Cannondale Synapse about a year ago. Checked the simple stuff, like : seatpost, saddle, pedals, headset, but had no joy. Took my bike to the LBS to get the bottom bracket checked out, but still no joy. On a group ride a few weeks later someone suggested it could be rear freehub bearings causing the problem. I was unsure because the wheelset was less than a year old with no more than a couple of thousand miles on it. However when I got home I put the bike in the workstand and removed the rear cassette. I then undid the bolt holding the freehub body carefully removed it, hoping things weren't going to ping in all directions. Luckily all was fine.. Just like the TH-cam video.. Greased the Pawls and the mating surface of freehub and hubshell with the blue stuff the LBS uses and re-assembled.. Hey presto, no more noise !! I reckon it was the interface between the freehub body and the wheel that probably didn't have much lubrication when it was initially built that caused the clicking noise.. Hope this helps someone else whose tried loads of fixes and is still scratching their head.
I had an annoying rattle on my bike. Tried everything to identify where it was coming from (including all of the ones that you mention). Eventually I discovered that it was the isospeed decoupler (Trek Domane) that was rattling. I had no idea that it needed attention/greasing........solved the problem finally.
Luckily, my cycle doesn't make any untoward noises. But it does occasionally hum. I think it's haunted. Jon, is there anything you DON'T know about the care and feeding of bikes? You are amazing.
On a club ride, Saturday after Christmas, Every time I was pedalling hard, I had the most annoying squeak that seemed to be coming from the BB. Got home rather fed up. When I went to work on the bike, being prepare to strip out the BB etc, I noticed that the saddle had moved back slightly... Removed the saddle, cleaned the rails and the clamp. Set up the bike on the smart trainer....no squeak!
With a creak, before you start dismantling the bike check your saddle bolts are sufficiently tight. Could save you a lot of effort chasing a drivetrain creak that doesn't exist (a friend of mine said 🤔).
On my previous bike, a Cannondale CAAD 10, the click at the top of the right pedal struck turned out to be spindle in the Shamino SPD-SL pedal. Regressing them did the trick.
Love this video! I’m so OCD about bike noise that other riders with chain squeaks or grinding drives me nuts. I recently had a creaking noise coming from my bike. I changed the saddle, cleaned and reapplied fiber grip on the seat post but the creak was still there. Turned out to be the rear through axel bolt was a bit loose. This gave me a good excuse to purchase a torque wrench kit so I could be sure not to over tighten the bolt. Peace and quiet again!
Hi Jon. In recently had an absolute nightmare trying to locate a vibration feeling that literally shuddered right through me every time applied the rear brake hard. Went through every rim braking fix several times before months later I realised it was my di2 battery installation. Couldn't believe it 😂
I had a bushing going out in one of the jockey wheels that took me quite some time to find. I think I tightened and greased every bolt on my bike trying to fix that one. It didn’t cross my mind to look at the jockey wheel since it was still spinning fine. It was one of those “might as well check it since I have checked everything else” moments.
Had my "fun time" hunting down my share of squeaks, rubbing and other irritating sounds. 1) Started to hear inconsistent clicking sound - changed the bottom bracket and it didn't help (second hand old bike) . I cycled with that noise over a year, greasing the seat post and pedals and all the nuts and bolts periodically and I was frustrated as the noise would go away and come back no matter what I did. But then I damaged my rear wheel and I had to replace it. The clicking went away instantly with the new wheel. 2) Inconsistent rubbing noise, almost like a brake pad rubbing against the rim but not on every full circle of a spin. I checked the wheels, they were pretty much straight and the sound was heard only if I was riding, not by cranking by hand on a fixing stand. For some reason I started to check the spokes and there was one which was loose. I tighten it a little bit and loosened it's pair and the noise was gone.
I recently had a clicking bottom bracket Or actually, when pedaling it was really loud so it was more of a bang than a click. I removed the chain and spun the crank by pushing with my fingers on the crank arms as opposed to the pedals. The click was still there. I guess this means very certainly that the noise actually came from the bearing itself. I cleaned and re-greased the bearings and the noise went away, but I still wish I understood what makes a bearing sound like that.
Rear derailleur hanger!! This is a real cheeky bastard. For a half of the season I was sure that my frame is broken and that was only loose bolt inside hanger...
I remember when my shifting cable was pushing the braking cable to the side which made my brake close up just a little bit whenever I turned my handlebars to the left, resulting in a screeching noise :D It took me quite a while to figure that one out...
Same case. BMC SLR 3. Fuckin freakin crazy squicking sound. There were moments i wanted to break the bike in pieces and dance over the broken pieces. Then i accidentally put my hand on the DH and it was loose. Cleaned it, greased it, tighten it and the sound was gone. Unfortunately the bolts get loose once every month more or less and i have to repeat the procedure but at least now i know.
Is that what causes a crazy squeaky noise that makes it sound like it is from the chain? The noise I am hearing is like a bird fucking chirping I cant get it to stop I am new to cycling..
Now that I work in a bike shop lose chainring bolts happen way more often than I thought ! And it's pretty common when people try to mix up different brands and cranks without considering the length of the bolts
The worst squeaking sound I had was coming from the seat post. It appeared to be caused by the BB or pedals, but after applying some assembly past to the seat post, the noise was gone. Another squeaking sound was a combination from loose spokes and wrongly lubricated chain. Took me a while to find it out....
I ran my brand new bike through a car wash 10x recently. Whenever I’m riding I’m hearing a repetitive squeak from the front or back wheel, how do you think I should fix it? Disassemble it and grease as much as I can around the wheel bearing ?
One more important check - the SPOKES! I'd been chasing a ticking sound for a while, rewatched the whole series on it on GCN with Si, but couldn't find the problem. I've re-greased and re-done everything up to spec: headset, quick-releases, brakes, stem bolts, chainring bolts, seatpost and saddle, cleats, replaced BB30 bearings, had a shop inspect the BB shell...to no effect. It turned out to be 2 lose spokes on my new Mavic Aksium rear wheel. Probably they haven't been probably done up at the factory, or came lose somehow - that I don't know, but after tightening everything, the tick disappeared! NB Important note here, the wheel wasn't really out of true, so it wasn't the brake rubbing. I reckon the tick was coming from the spoke/nipple interface. Hope this helps!
Had an annoying click whenever I was pedaling with anything from light pressure to hard pressure on the pedals. I felt it through the drivetrain side crank sometimes, and sometimes through the non drive crank. It wasn't always on every stroke, and not always when the pedal was in the same position of rotation. Eventually found that the quick link had worn to the point that you could move it back and to by hand. I suppose that's why it happened in a very random place and time, depending where the link was in the stoke.
Very subtle creaky-crackly noise coming from the spoke nipples. Could not figure it out. LBS could not figure it out. Can’t remember what motivated me to do it, but I sprayed a bit of WD-40 on each nipple and - voila! - no more noise. I think it was the most frustrating noise experience I’ve ever had. But also the most satisfying at the end of the day (er, month)...
I usually wear headphones but i always check when passing people. If they dont notice me until im on there side or past them already i know im golden. 😁
I once used my friend's bike and i noticed some noise while riding on the largest rear sprocket, something like a metal grinding another metal. There is also a clicking noise when i put in a lot of power. I gave it a check, and it turns out that one of the spokes is loose and is hitting the derailleur each revolution.
A common rattle for new cyclists, particularly on cheaper bikes: compromised bearings on cup-and-cone hubs. Get the bike up on something (a stand, ideally) and spin each wheel separately. If you hear the rattle from the middle of a wheel when it's rolling freely, good odds your bearings have been compromised, such as by grease leaking out and/or by water getting in and rusting the bearings. Bad news is that you'll need to disassemble them, clean them out, re-grease them, and replace the bearings, good news is that this really is something you can do by yourself and there's videos online.
I often pick up my bike 6 to 8 inches and drop it. That checks for rattles and lets you find loose screws such as bottle cages early. Also with my dI2 I have had problems with the bottom junction box rattling in the frame. Velcro works good there.
Don't know about my quill stem (not tackled in the video), it's loosed but as you said is it advisable to change my bearings even though I just changed them 3 months ago. I'm just a casual 2x a week rider.
Sometimes it is the saddle or seatpost connection. It is the easiest to find simply by riding out of the saddle and see if the noise disappears. Check the easy stuff first.
My (new) chain is very noisy when it engages the big chainring on the front (50T). It's only when using the biggest 3 sprockets on the 11-32 cassette. It's definitely the chain/big chainring that's noisy. The chain is well clear of the front derailleur. The indexing is spot on and gear change up and down the cassette is smooth and quick. The rear derailleur (ultegra 6800) has a long cage which should cope with 11-32 cassette. Could it be the front chain ring being worn out?
Had a clicking noise on my bike. Regreased and tightend the pedals. Indexed the front and rear derailurs. Replaced the bb. Finally realised it was the back wheel. Checked all spokes, disassembledit and rebuilt it. That didn't solve it either. At the end I got rid of the noise after I disassembled, cleaned and assembled the freehub. Yey!
I had a clicking sound and checked everything you have mentioned, turned out the noise was coming from a couple of spokes on the front wheel. Dropped a single drop of chain lube on a few nipples at a time and solved the issue.
Ticking as you pedal? Look at the cable end for the front derailleur. They have a habit of getting bent and either tick against the rear wheel or the crank arm.
Dear John, in the past I’ve swapped a Shimano threaded bb in place of an FSA and kept the same 24mm spindle. No problem. I later did this with pressfit and apparently 24mm is not the same between Shimano and FSA pressfit bb’s. I ended up lightly malleting the FSA crank into a Shimano Pressfit which creaked like crazy, later a bike mechanic told me these are not compatible. How is 24mm not compatible?
My quite new bike with shimano 12speed, makes a noise, ONLY on one of the sprockets ... chain is fine as on the rest it doesn't make any sounds.... now.... ONE of the tooths is giving the trouble. The chain in the very last moment, when it catches that very tooth, it kinda clicks IN, on it. I have noticed the sprocket tooth is like too wide? I would have to use sandpaper or something? I am not sure... my local bike shop said they can't do anything about the clicking sound. I need help because it's driving me crazy.
91/5000 i realy like this channel and show buit I would have liked to hear all the sounds so that maybe my click can also get out of my bike thank you for the great content!
I have a sound that only happens after I drive for couple of Kilometers… It’s sounds links a rusty noise from the front derailleur, my bike is new BMC Slr03 and that is my second or third exercise on it
I observe not really a sound/noise but a vibration while pedaling. My dealer and workshop was not able to fix it and it drives me crazy as it’s an expensive bike with Campa SR. I suspect the BB386 bottom bracket and/or the bearings in there to be the root cause but I don’t know how to start with root cause finding. Any suggestions?
I've had a noisy front end for a few months. A truly annoying variation from a slight rattle to a really loud creak. I've eliminated the headset, the front wheel quick releases, the stem bolts, even the front wheel spokes, as the source. The only thing I can now think of is the bolt holding the brake caliper. This is a nearly 20-year old Trek aluminium frame, and the creak happens only under compression. If I lean heavily on the front end when the bike is stationary, the creak will happen. But when I'm riding it sometimes disappears altogether, while other times its like a banshee - to my ears anyway. It seems to be worse in dry weather, but not always; it's also been loud in the wet, but less often than in the dry. I tried lubricating it a few weeks ago which seemed to solve it -- but then it came back and reapplying lube seems to be more miss than hit now. I even put the bike through a winter overhaul in my local bike shop, but a few days later the creak was back with a vengeance. Any ideas?
I recently had the chain clicking with the cassette. first, I thought it was a bent cassette tooth, but after a long day investigating the issue, I found one of the BEARING BALLS in the back wheel was OUT OF PLACE which caused the cassette to have a SLIGHT MISALIGNMENT hens the clicking noise.
I bought a set of Prime wheels in May of last year and put a good few hundred miles on them. a few days before a big charity ride i went out for a bit of a shake down ride to make sure that everything on the bike was working as it should. Every time I put a little bit of power down I heard a creaking type noise from the back. After getting off the bike and checking it over several times, taking the rear wheel off, putting it back on and checking brake drag ect. I gave up and assumed it was the BB (Pushfit style) I threw it at my LBS with the hope of getting it fixed and it turned out to be the driveside spokes on the rear wheel had been tensioned so much that when I was pedalling, the spokes where rubbing on each other creating the creaking noise.. Irritating as hell!
Well, my problem is at the connection point of the steering wheel and the body but my basic bike's issue it the front brakes' terrible sound, scaring pedestrians and cars driving along my path .. Let alone the fact that, my bike is rusty but I don't expect a TH-cam video to solve all that.. TY for your advice
Click: check the end of the front derailleur cable, I've seen them clip on the crankarm and frustrate people no end, because it often only happens in the little ring 😂
The only noise my bike or trike make is from the mudguards. But that's on rough roads which are most of the roads around where I live. They get eerily quiet on smooth roads.
Hi Jon, I've recently serviced my mountain bike, changed the pedals, new tyres, new brake pads etc. Realigned the brakes but still when I put weight and try to ride my bike i get this rubbing sound of it like metal to metal rubbing together. I have tried to spin the wheels with out putting weight on my bike and the sound is never to be heard off. Can you tell me what to do? Thank you @GCN Tech
I have a similar problem when I am on second smallest cog on the rear and center chain ring on front .Feels like some something is rubbing and you feel it on the pedal
I had a chainring 'nut' with a hairline crack, almost invisible.....made a racket....thought it was bottom bracket, cranks, pedals, cleats....finally found it after some time, almost by accident...
Weird question....i have a brand new bike, ive ridden it twice now and never heard a noise but i went to take it out today and hear a clicking noise, not only when peddling but when i walk along with it. My partner says its normal but i swear i didnt hear it before. Is it normal or something i should get checked?
I have a clicking noise when I pedal accelerating, but not when pedaling slow, so basically it doesn't click unless I apply more force on the pedal, makes me not pedal hard, sucks, and the bike is quite new too
The loudest sound I hear on my bike is uphill.. made by the rider panting and whining .. I lubed the chain, tightened the bolts, aligned the derailleur but still haven't been able to fix it :'(
Had this terrible ticking noise whilst riding, turned out to be sand that got on the seatpost and in the seat tube. A scrub with a toothbrush and some new grease did the trick.
I get noise from the rear wheel when it spins. The noise is like a beating sound. It’s frequency is random. The noise is generated while the wheel is freely spinning, ie even when I am not pedaling.Please help to understand and eliminate this issue. Cycle is 2021 bergamot revox 2, L9 with 29t wheels, Shimano tourney derailleur and tektro disc brakes.
Here's one for Ask GCNTech: My front disc brake sometimes judders when I apply it, to the extent that the bike becomes almost uncontrollable. It seems to occur in the cold and damp (I live in Scotland, so that obviously is a rare occasion), especially if I've not used the brakes for a decent amount of time. If the brakes are warm the problem seems to go away. I tried changing the pads which sorted the problem out temporarily but it has since recurred. I've not noticed many leaks from the hydraulics, so I don't think the pads/disc are contaminated. And I think I needed the brakes in properly before I started. I've never had this problem with my hardtail MTB - is it just something that happens with a steel frame/fork?
@Calum Spencer, have you checked the torque on the centre lock where your rotor bolts to the hub of your wheel, needs to be about 40nm, or if you have a 6bolt to hold your rotor in place try checking each of those bolts has the correct torque on them?
@@kiowa21 I gave the centrelock a tighten tonight. Unfortunately I left my torque wrench behind when I was visiting my mum at Christmas, so I don't know if it was up to the correct torque but it's definitely tight now.
@@peterderuiter2937 good call - the rotor says resin only but I'd used metal pads. Annoyingly, I'd replaced like for like so the bike was obviously had incorrect pads when it was new.
I get a creaking noise which sounds like its from the bottom bracket area but I've so far changed the bottom bracket, the Chainset and the pedals but the noise continues. It happens when I'm pedalling stood up or sat down, but only under load, so if I try it when its on the stand there's no noise. Whats strange is that it only happens on the smallest 5 rings on the rear cassette (Shimano 10 speed cassette), the cassette looks in great condition and the bike is only 6 months old. The noise is driving me crazy anybody have any ideas?? :-(
Douglas Stone I am having a click of my own that is annoying me to death. It is only when seated - if I stand and go hard or normal pace in any gear it’s gone. I put some carbon gripper on my seat post and it seemed to go away but was back in no time. Going to try using the gripper on the saddle rails, etc. Glad you fixed yours!
My bike has this squeaky sound in the rear wheel whenever I ride it. If I just spin the wheel on the stand the sound will be gone. But if I ride the bike its so noisy. Sounds like rubber rubbing each other. tried almost everything please help me
So my LBL replaced all of my drive train, bottom bracket, chain, chainset, cassette, bearings in hubs, swapped my pedals and replaced my rear lever. And my bike is still constantly creaking on every pedal rotation. Any ideas?
you'll be on the small one anyway, here's why: to change from the small to the big chainring the leaver movement tensions the cable, moves the cage. when changing from the big to the small ring, the leaver drops the tension essentially back to zero, the cage springs back by itself. when you undo the clamp, tension will be at zero. so, if you undo the clamp with the dereilluer in the big ring position, it should drop to the small one by itself.
For novices, I had to take my rear wheel off to realise it was a loose bearing nut easy fix. It did create noise everywhere Sounding like a cracked frame.
Hi, my chain making creaking/ticking noise when on 7th sprocket, i adjusted derailleurs perfectly fine there is no rubbing, guide pulleys are also aligned on the center of the chain, even i took my bike two different bike 's official service shop, replaced the ball bearings inside the hub and re greased, they've said everything looks perfectly fine, but the noise still there drives me crazy...This noise started after i cleaned my chain and the sprockets with diesel fuel, dipped them in diesel for 1 hour then washed with dish-soap and water then waited 1 day to dry off then lubricated with shimano's chain lube, and the noise started. Please help me address this issue where this noise generated from.
This is my first road th-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA and I have taken it out a handful of times and so far it is exceeding all of my expectations. I didn’t want to break the bank on a first bike and the herd is a great option for getting a fast bike with reliable components. I plan on riding this bike for many years to come. Thank you Sava!
I have a rattling in my top tube I have open bearings in my head tube I think it may have somehow got into the tube because there’s a vent what should I do
I have a strange issue with my road bike that is very new (less than 50km rode so far) less than 3months old. Any one have this issue before that when on steep descends, while letting the road bike coast at estimate 35km/hr, I’m not able to pedal to go faster. In fact, it’s as if the gear is at the lightest gear, changing to harder gears doesn’t solve it. I did not go through any potholes, did not change gears and did not brake. However, after the bike is cruising slower on a flat surface after the descend, I’m able to pedal slowly back to normal again. Anyone with similar experience can advise?
My bike is vibrating. Any idea what could cause this? it seems to happen when I’m moving at higher speeds and stops happening when peddling. Any help would be great.
GCN Tech cheers GCN I got it sorted for free by lbs just a front derailleur adjustment when in big chain ring the chain was rubbing. Glad it's fixed was highly irritating and psyched about being able to ride in big boy ring without grinding noise.
What's your top tip for fixing a noisy bike? Let us know in the comments. 👇
Alright - took me a while but I figured that one out on my Trek Checkpoint - should be a possible solution for every Trek Bike with an adjustable "Stranglehold" dropout on the rear. So, the bike made some ungodly cracking noises while pedaling and/or breaking which sounded as if the bike would break in half any second. Solution: If the noise occurs when pedaling then turn the adjustmentscrews on both rear ends of the stranglehold a little in and out and put a bit of lube on the parts of the screws which touch the frame. Make sure to put the screws back to the original position. And when it happens while breaking you'll have to loosen the screw inside the rail which is used to adjust the break according to the position of the dropout, clean the rail and the screwholes, lube the screw and put it back in.
WD40 bathing :-p I regularly dis- and reassemble my bike und regrease/reoil everything. Also checking bolt torque is a usefull idea.
Greasing my seat post!
Put on ear plugs or leave the bike hanging at home? Or maybe get another bike? Just joking!
Don’t forget to check the seatpost, saddle clamp, and stem bolts. Also, check that the interface between the seatost (seatpin in British English 😉) has the correct lubricant for the materials in question (grease or fiber grip). And check for loose or rubbing spokes. So many BB or drivetrain creaks turn out to be one or a combination of those things and not the bottom bracket or drivetrain at all!
A big cause of rear derailleur noise / indexing problems is a bent/misaligned derailleur hanger. It doesn't take much to knock them out of line. I service and build most of the higher end bikes that come through my local shop and have found that almost all of them need some adjustment. I've have made it a standard check on every service/build I do.
Any bike shop that is worth dealing with should have the correct tool to check and adjust the hanger. Totally worth it.
Well, after replace a set of pedals, a BB and a new chain, i find out that the noise was from the seat post
How could it work?
bike shop wanted to replace bottom bracket. said thanks but not today Removed seat post applied lube and have not had that problem since with regular pm
Ricardo Oliveira R.I.P
Bro I just found it was my seat post too 😫😂
@@emmettdaley8806 lol my cutie
Im gonna have to pull a Si. My top tip is clean your bike i mean every ride maintenance or when life allows. Randomly tighten and check everything and keep a top eye of your components anatomy and average life span of them. DO NOT GET USED TO ANY RACKET only rubber on tarmac. GREAT VIDEO JON!
There's a lot of useful information here, packed in very concisely. I wish all TH-cam videos were like this. (And no music!) Thank you!
I had a funny noise from the rear of my bike... It was like a clicking and skiping sound, but also I felt it with every pedal stroke, and onley in 3 bigest sprockets... The thing was that my cassete got a bit lose, but it sounded just like when you put a new chain on an old cassete so it skips from time to time... But it was all the tine in my case. I wish all best to GCN an al the presentors, nice job and keep on going
Noisy bike? Dunk the entire bike in a vat of oil. That'll shut it up. LOL
Will it work on you too?
I go for ear plugs. lol
Hi Jon.. Most annoying click I've had was on my 2015 Cannondale Synapse about a year ago. Checked the simple stuff, like : seatpost, saddle, pedals, headset, but had no joy. Took my bike to the LBS to get the bottom bracket checked out, but still no joy. On a group ride a few weeks later someone suggested it could be rear freehub bearings causing the problem. I was unsure because the wheelset was less than a year old with no more than a couple of thousand miles on it. However when I got home I put the bike in the workstand and removed the rear cassette. I then undid the bolt holding the freehub body carefully removed it, hoping things weren't going to ping in all directions. Luckily all was fine.. Just like the TH-cam video.. Greased the Pawls and the mating surface of freehub and hubshell with the blue stuff the LBS uses and re-assembled.. Hey presto, no more noise !! I reckon it was the interface between the freehub body and the wheel that probably didn't have much lubrication when it was initially built that caused the clicking noise.. Hope this helps someone else whose tried loads of fixes and is still scratching their head.
I had an annoying rattle on my bike. Tried everything to identify where it was coming from (including all of the ones that you mention). Eventually I discovered that it was the isospeed decoupler (Trek Domane) that was rattling. I had no idea that it needed attention/greasing........solved the problem finally.
Luckily, my cycle doesn't make any untoward noises. But it does occasionally hum. I think it's haunted. Jon, is there anything you DON'T know about the care and feeding of bikes? You are amazing.
Grady Zyner call 0666-777 bike exorcism
@@frecklelizzy Thanks for the tip. I'll make the call as soon as my bike gives me my phone back.
You deserve a consumer award for this one Jon. If not for this I would immediately rush out and buy a new bike. Every time.
On a club ride, Saturday after Christmas, Every time I was pedalling hard, I had the most annoying squeak that seemed to be coming from the BB. Got home rather fed up.
When I went to work on the bike, being prepare to strip out the BB etc, I noticed that the saddle had moved back slightly...
Removed the saddle, cleaned the rails and the clamp. Set up the bike on the smart trainer....no squeak!
With a creak, before you start dismantling the bike check your saddle bolts are sufficiently tight. Could save you a lot of effort chasing a drivetrain creak that doesn't exist (a friend of mine said 🤔).
I didn't think any of those suggestions would be the remedy for my noisy bike!
Ya its actually the chain rubbing against the bottom bracket. Have to adjust cogset or jus ride in a lower gear. Peace😅
On my previous bike, a Cannondale CAAD 10, the click at the top of the right pedal struck turned out to be spindle in the Shamino SPD-SL pedal. Regressing them did the trick.
Such practical lessons. This is just what I needed. Many thanks Jon & GCN!
Cheers David!
Check your mudguards are secure and straight.
This is the greatest bike diagnostic video i have ever seen
Listen to music while riding
bottle cage bolts can loosen and the creak/click is similar to a lot of the other creaks/clicks.
Love this video! I’m so OCD about bike noise that other riders with chain squeaks or grinding drives me nuts. I recently had a creaking noise coming from my bike. I changed the saddle, cleaned and reapplied fiber grip on the seat post but the creak was still there. Turned out to be the rear through axel bolt was a bit loose. This gave me a good excuse to purchase a torque wrench kit so I could be sure not to over tighten the bolt. Peace and quiet again!
Hi Jon. In recently had an absolute nightmare trying to locate a vibration feeling that literally shuddered right through me every time applied the rear brake hard. Went through every rim braking fix several times before months later I realised it was my di2 battery installation. Couldn't believe it 😂
I had a bushing going out in one of the jockey wheels that took me quite some time to find. I think I tightened and greased every bolt on my bike trying to fix that one. It didn’t cross my mind to look at the jockey wheel since it was still spinning fine. It was one of those “might as well check it since I have checked everything else” moments.
Had my "fun time" hunting down my share of squeaks, rubbing and other irritating sounds.
1) Started to hear inconsistent clicking sound - changed the bottom bracket and it didn't help (second hand old bike) . I cycled with that noise over a year, greasing the seat post and pedals and all the nuts and bolts periodically and I was frustrated as the noise would go away and come back no matter what I did. But then I damaged my rear wheel and I had to replace it. The clicking went away instantly with the new wheel.
2) Inconsistent rubbing noise, almost like a brake pad rubbing against the rim but not on every full circle of a spin. I checked the wheels, they were pretty much straight and the sound was heard only if I was riding, not by cranking by hand on a fixing stand. For some reason I started to check the spokes and there was one which was loose. I tighten it a little bit and loosened it's pair and the noise was gone.
I recently had a clicking bottom bracket Or actually, when pedaling it was really loud so it was more of a bang than a click. I removed the chain and spun the crank by pushing with my fingers on the crank arms as opposed to the pedals. The click was still there. I guess this means very certainly that the noise actually came from the bearing itself. I cleaned and re-greased the bearings and the noise went away, but I still wish I understood what makes a bearing sound like that.
Rear derailleur hanger!! This is a real cheeky bastard. For a half of the season I was sure that my frame is broken and that was only loose bolt inside hanger...
I remember when my shifting cable was pushing the braking cable to the side which made my brake close up just a little bit whenever I turned my handlebars to the left, resulting in a screeching noise :D It took me quite a while to figure that one out...
The Derailleur Hanger screw was loose and drove me nut. Took me two years to find that problem.
Same case. BMC SLR 3. Fuckin freakin crazy squicking sound. There were moments i wanted to break the bike in pieces and dance over the broken pieces. Then i accidentally put my hand on the DH and it was loose. Cleaned it, greased it, tighten it and the sound was gone. Unfortunately the bolts get loose once every month more or less and i have to repeat the procedure but at least now i know.
I used a little bit locktid! Then the bolts do not get loose that easy.
Is that what causes a crazy squeaky noise that makes it sound like it is from the chain? The noise I am hearing is like a bird fucking chirping I cant get it to stop I am new to cycling..
@@clancyo8978 Best way to find out is....to check your Derailleur Hanger screw! Just do it!
Now that I work in a bike shop lose chainring bolts happen way more often than I thought ! And it's pretty common when people try to mix up different brands and cranks without considering the length of the bolts
The worst squeaking sound I had was coming from the seat post. It appeared to be caused by the BB or pedals, but after applying some assembly past to the seat post, the noise was gone.
Another squeaking sound was a combination from loose spokes and wrongly lubricated chain. Took me a while to find it out....
I ran my brand new bike through a car wash 10x recently. Whenever I’m riding I’m hearing a repetitive squeak from the front or back wheel, how do you think I should fix it? Disassemble it and grease as much as I can around the wheel bearing ?
One more important check - the SPOKES!
I'd been chasing a ticking sound for a while, rewatched the whole series on it on GCN with Si, but couldn't find the problem.
I've re-greased and re-done everything up to spec: headset, quick-releases, brakes, stem bolts, chainring bolts, seatpost and saddle, cleats, replaced BB30 bearings, had a shop inspect the BB shell...to no effect.
It turned out to be 2 lose spokes on my new Mavic Aksium rear wheel. Probably they haven't been probably done up at the factory, or came lose somehow - that I don't know, but after tightening everything, the tick disappeared!
NB Important note here, the wheel wasn't really out of true, so it wasn't the brake rubbing. I reckon the tick was coming from the spoke/nipple interface. Hope this helps!
Had an annoying click whenever I was pedaling with anything from light pressure to hard pressure on the pedals. I felt it through the drivetrain side crank sometimes, and sometimes through the non drive crank. It wasn't always on every stroke, and not always when the pedal was in the same position of rotation. Eventually found that the quick link had worn to the point that you could move it back and to by hand. I suppose that's why it happened in a very random place and time, depending where the link was in the stoke.
Very subtle creaky-crackly noise coming from the spoke nipples. Could not figure it out. LBS could not figure it out. Can’t remember what motivated me to do it, but I sprayed a bit of WD-40 on each nipple and - voila! - no more noise. I think it was the most frustrating noise experience I’ve ever had. But also the most satisfying at the end of the day (er, month)...
I usually wear headphones but i always check when passing people. If they dont notice me until im on there side or past them already i know im golden. 😁
I once used my friend's bike and i noticed some noise while riding on the largest rear sprocket, something like a metal grinding another metal. There is also a clicking noise when i put in a lot of power.
I gave it a check, and it turns out that one of the spokes is loose and is hitting the derailleur each revolution.
A common rattle for new cyclists, particularly on cheaper bikes: compromised bearings on cup-and-cone hubs. Get the bike up on something (a stand, ideally) and spin each wheel separately. If you hear the rattle from the middle of a wheel when it's rolling freely, good odds your bearings have been compromised, such as by grease leaking out and/or by water getting in and rusting the bearings. Bad news is that you'll need to disassemble them, clean them out, re-grease them, and replace the bearings, good news is that this really is something you can do by yourself and there's videos online.
I often pick up my bike 6 to 8 inches and drop it. That checks for rattles and lets you find loose screws such as bottle cages early. Also with my dI2 I have had problems with the bottom junction box rattling in the frame. Velcro works good there.
Don't know about my quill stem (not tackled in the video), it's loosed but as you said is it advisable to change my bearings even though I just changed them 3 months ago. I'm just a casual 2x a week rider.
Sometimes it is the saddle or seatpost connection. It is the easiest to find simply by riding out of the saddle and see if the noise disappears. Check the easy stuff first.
My (new) chain is very noisy when it engages the big chainring on the front (50T). It's only when using the biggest 3 sprockets on the 11-32 cassette. It's definitely the chain/big chainring that's noisy. The chain is well clear of the front derailleur. The indexing is spot on and gear change up and down the cassette is smooth and quick. The rear derailleur (ultegra 6800) has a long cage which should cope with 11-32 cassette. Could it be the front chain ring being worn out?
You didn't mention the saddle. I cleared a creaking noise by dismantling the saddle clamp, greasing up and replacing. Worked perfectly.
Had a clicking noise on my bike.
Regreased and tightend the pedals.
Indexed the front and rear derailurs.
Replaced the bb.
Finally realised it was the back wheel. Checked all spokes, disassembledit and rebuilt it.
That didn't solve it either.
At the end I got rid of the noise after I disassembled, cleaned and assembled the freehub. Yey!
Grease the seat rails where they go into the seatpost. And as for the quick release comment, this is doubly important on throughaxles.
If all else fails apply sawdust to noisy bearings 😉 Excellent video Jon with loads of handy tips and tricks, keep up the great work!
Sawdust?
I had a clicking sound and checked everything you have mentioned, turned out the noise was coming from a couple of spokes on the front wheel.
Dropped a single drop of chain lube on a few nipples at a time and solved the issue.
Ticking as you pedal? Look at the cable end for the front derailleur. They have a habit of getting bent and either tick against the rear wheel or the crank arm.
Dear John, in the past I’ve swapped a Shimano threaded bb in place of an FSA and kept the same 24mm spindle. No problem. I later did this with pressfit and apparently 24mm is not the same between Shimano and FSA pressfit bb’s. I ended up lightly malleting the FSA crank into a Shimano Pressfit which creaked like crazy, later a bike mechanic told me these are not compatible. How is 24mm not compatible?
😎Thank you. I fixed my bike 🌟
My quite new bike with shimano 12speed, makes a noise, ONLY on one of the sprockets ... chain is fine as on the rest it doesn't make any sounds.... now....
ONE of the tooths is giving the trouble.
The chain in the very last moment, when it catches that very tooth, it kinda clicks IN, on it.
I have noticed the sprocket tooth is like too wide?
I would have to use sandpaper or something? I am not sure... my local bike shop said they can't do anything about the clicking sound.
I need help because it's driving me crazy.
Nice video Jon! Great advice as usual
91/5000
i realy like this channel and show buit I would have liked to hear all the sounds so that maybe my click can also get out of my bike
thank you for the great content!
So mine challenge is a "knock" felt through pedal one per revolution ? Shifts perfectly. Any advice ?
I have a sound that only happens after I drive for couple of Kilometers… It’s sounds links a rusty noise from the front derailleur, my bike is new BMC Slr03 and that is my second or third exercise on it
I observe not really a sound/noise but a vibration while pedaling.
My dealer and workshop was not able to fix it and it drives me crazy as it’s an expensive bike with Campa SR.
I suspect the BB386 bottom bracket and/or the bearings in there to be the root cause but I don’t know how to start with root cause finding.
Any suggestions?
Nice product.
I've had a noisy front end for a few months. A truly annoying variation from a slight rattle to a really loud creak. I've eliminated the headset, the front wheel quick releases, the stem bolts, even the front wheel spokes, as the source. The only thing I can now think of is the bolt holding the brake caliper. This is a nearly 20-year old Trek aluminium frame, and the creak happens only under compression. If I lean heavily on the front end when the bike is stationary, the creak will happen. But when I'm riding it sometimes disappears altogether, while other times its like a banshee - to my ears anyway. It seems to be worse in dry weather, but not always; it's also been loud in the wet, but less often than in the dry. I tried lubricating it a few weeks ago which seemed to solve it -- but then it came back and reapplying lube seems to be more miss than hit now. I even put the bike through a winter overhaul in my local bike shop, but a few days later the creak was back with a vengeance.
Any ideas?
I recently had the chain clicking with the cassette. first, I thought it was a bent cassette tooth, but after a long day investigating the issue, I found one of the BEARING BALLS in the back wheel was OUT OF PLACE which caused the cassette to have a SLIGHT MISALIGNMENT hens the clicking noise.
With my last mystery creak it turned out a weld on an alloy bottle cage had cracked and I hadn't noticed. Fixed that, creak gone.
I bought a set of Prime wheels in May of last year and put a good few hundred miles on them. a few days before a big charity ride i went out for a bit of a shake down ride to make sure that everything on the bike was working as it should. Every time I put a little bit of power down I heard a creaking type noise from the back. After getting off the bike and checking it over several times, taking the rear wheel off, putting it back on and checking brake drag ect. I gave up and assumed it was the BB (Pushfit style) I threw it at my LBS with the hope of getting it fixed and it turned out to be the driveside spokes on the rear wheel had been tensioned so much that when I was pedalling, the spokes where rubbing on each other creating the creaking noise.. Irritating as hell!
What is the watch you're always wearing? I absolutely like it
Well, my problem is at the connection point of the steering wheel and the body but my basic bike's issue it the front brakes' terrible sound, scaring pedestrians and cars driving along my path .. Let alone the fact that, my bike is rusty but I don't expect a TH-cam video to solve all that.. TY for your advice
I loved you in The Office, Toby
Click: check the end of the front derailleur cable, I've seen them clip on the crankarm and frustrate people no end, because it often only happens in the little ring 😂
The only noise my bike or trike make is from the mudguards. But that's on rough roads which are most of the roads around where I live. They get eerily quiet on smooth roads.
Hi Jon, I've recently serviced my mountain bike, changed the pedals, new tyres, new brake pads etc. Realigned the brakes but still when I put weight and try to ride my bike i get this rubbing sound of it like metal to metal rubbing together. I have tried to spin the wheels with out putting weight on my bike and the sound is never to be heard off. Can you tell me what to do? Thank you @GCN Tech
I have a similar problem when I am on second smallest cog on the rear and center chain ring on front .Feels like some something is rubbing and you feel it on the pedal
Thanks mate.. That bubble rap is all i need! Hehe.
I had a chainring 'nut' with a hairline crack, almost invisible.....made a racket....thought it was bottom bracket, cranks, pedals, cleats....finally found it after some time, almost by accident...
Weird question....i have a brand new bike, ive ridden it twice now and never heard a noise but i went to take it out today and hear a clicking noise, not only when peddling but when i walk along with it. My partner says its normal but i swear i didnt hear it before. Is it normal or something i should get checked?
I have a clicking noise when I pedal accelerating, but not when pedaling slow, so basically it doesn't click unless I apply more force on the pedal, makes me not pedal hard, sucks, and the bike is quite new too
That wall of tools is making me drool uncontrollably
Fitted Sram axs 12speed getting a clackin when rideing the big chainring only any suggestions
The loudest sound I hear on my bike is uphill.. made by the rider panting and whining .. I lubed the chain, tightened the bolts, aligned the derailleur but still haven't been able to fix it :'(
Thanks Jon.🚴🏽♂️🚴🏽♂️
Had this terrible ticking noise whilst riding, turned out to be sand that got on the seatpost and in the seat tube. A scrub with a toothbrush and some new grease did the trick.
I get noise from the rear wheel when it spins. The noise is like a beating sound. It’s frequency is random. The noise is generated while the wheel is freely spinning, ie even when I am not pedaling.Please help to understand and eliminate this issue. Cycle is 2021 bergamot revox 2, L9 with 29t wheels, Shimano tourney derailleur and tektro disc brakes.
Here's one for Ask GCNTech:
My front disc brake sometimes judders when I apply it, to the extent that the bike becomes almost uncontrollable. It seems to occur in the cold and damp (I live in Scotland, so that obviously is a rare occasion), especially if I've not used the brakes for a decent amount of time. If the brakes are warm the problem seems to go away. I tried changing the pads which sorted the problem out temporarily but it has since recurred. I've not noticed many leaks from the hydraulics, so I don't think the pads/disc are contaminated. And I think I needed the brakes in properly before I started. I've never had this problem with my hardtail MTB - is it just something that happens with a steel frame/fork?
Calum Spencer whad the same problem. Turned out i used wrong kind of brakepads. Some discs only seem to work properly with resinpads
@Calum Spencer, have you checked the torque on the centre lock where your rotor bolts to the hub of your wheel, needs to be about 40nm, or if you have a 6bolt to hold your rotor in place try checking each of those bolts has the correct torque on them?
rotor bolts/center lock loose, quick release/thru-axle loose, or headset loose. really can't think of anything else.
@@kiowa21 I gave the centrelock a tighten tonight. Unfortunately I left my torque wrench behind when I was visiting my mum at Christmas, so I don't know if it was up to the correct torque but it's definitely tight now.
@@peterderuiter2937 good call - the rotor says resin only but I'd used metal pads. Annoyingly, I'd replaced like for like so the bike was obviously had incorrect pads when it was new.
I get a creaking noise which sounds like its from the bottom bracket area but I've so far changed the bottom bracket, the Chainset and the pedals but the noise continues.
It happens when I'm pedalling stood up or sat down, but only under load, so if I try it when its on the stand there's no noise.
Whats strange is that it only happens on the smallest 5 rings on the rear cassette (Shimano 10 speed cassette), the cassette looks in great condition and the bike is only 6 months old. The noise is driving me crazy anybody have any ideas?? :-(
When I pedal uphill my bike makes this gentle sobbing noise and I see smoke coming off my thighs. More grease?
I get a click every pedal rotation if I am seated
If I stand a pedal it disappears
Any thoughts to this occurrence
Thanks
Doug
Douglas Stone saddle post, saddle clamp or the clamp around the seat tube. Grease all and torque to spec.
I greased the bearings on the pedal crank on both sides
And bang the noise was gone
Douglas Stone I am having a click of my own that is annoying me to death. It is only when seated - if I stand and go hard or normal pace in any gear it’s gone. I put some carbon gripper on my seat post and it seemed to go away but was back in no time. Going to try using the gripper on the saddle rails, etc. Glad you fixed yours!
My bike has this squeaky sound in the rear wheel whenever I ride it. If I just spin the wheel on the stand the sound will be gone. But if I ride the bike its so noisy. Sounds like rubber rubbing each other. tried almost everything please help me
I use llittle soft plastic like tube
Cut in small pads against two meeting points of metal
Like fenders...
So my LBL replaced all of my drive train, bottom bracket, chain, chainset, cassette, bearings in hubs, swapped my pedals and replaced my rear lever. And my bike is still constantly creaking on every pedal rotation. Any ideas?
Any luck with what it was?
David Hill yeah.. but I don’t remember now.
Hi Jon, if I want to reclamp the cable of my front derailer, should the derailer be on the small chainring or the big one?
you'll be on the small one anyway, here's why:
to change from the small to the big chainring the leaver movement tensions the cable, moves the cage. when changing from the big to the small ring, the leaver drops the tension essentially back to zero, the cage springs back by itself.
when you undo the clamp, tension will be at zero.
so, if you undo the clamp with the dereilluer in the big ring position, it should drop to the small one by itself.
For novices, I had to take my rear wheel off to realise it was a loose bearing nut easy fix. It did create noise everywhere Sounding like a cracked frame.
Hi, my chain making creaking/ticking noise when on 7th sprocket, i adjusted derailleurs perfectly fine there is no rubbing, guide pulleys are also aligned on the center of the chain, even i took my bike two different bike 's official service shop, replaced the ball bearings inside the hub and re greased, they've said everything looks perfectly fine, but the noise still there drives me crazy...This noise started after i cleaned my chain and the sprockets with diesel fuel, dipped them in diesel for 1 hour then washed with dish-soap and water then waited 1 day to dry off then lubricated with shimano's chain lube, and the noise started. Please help me address this issue where this noise generated from.
This is my first road th-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA and I have taken it out a handful of times and so far it is exceeding all of my expectations. I didn’t want to break the bank on a first bike and the herd is a great option for getting a fast bike with reliable components. I plan on riding this bike for many years to come. Thank you Sava!
I have a rattling in my top tube I have open bearings in my head tube I think it may have somehow got into the tube because there’s a vent what should I do
I have a strange issue with my road bike that is very new (less than 50km rode so far) less than 3months old.
Any one have this issue before that when on steep descends, while letting the road bike coast at estimate 35km/hr, I’m not able to pedal to go faster. In fact, it’s as if the gear is at the lightest gear, changing to harder gears doesn’t solve it.
I did not go through any potholes, did not change gears and did not brake. However, after the bike is cruising slower on a flat surface after the descend, I’m able to pedal slowly back to normal again.
Anyone with similar experience can advise?
A clicking noise I once had turned out to be the clamping bolt on the seat post to saddle connection was just a tad bit loose
Pro tips: Check your knees
Lol
My bike is vibrating. Any idea what could cause this? it seems to happen when I’m moving at higher speeds and stops happening when peddling. Any help would be great.
I’ve just bought the bike and the gears and while im moving it makes irritating noises
Look Keo cleats can make a terrible squeaky noise when clipped in!
my chain is in 7de gear to bent on the front sprocket can i adjust this ? i only have 1 front sprocket and 7 rear
Clicking sound when pedalling hard. Any suggestions...
Please help
New Bottom Bracket
New hubs
New groupset
New pedal
You forgot rattling valves. Tighten the nut and if threadless, use some tape.
Mine isn't making a grinding, clicking, or rattling sound! Mine is making a repetitive "tssh, tssh, tssh" sound
Same
Mine is making a hammering sound. What could be the problem?
I chased around a creaking noise for a few rides and finally determined it was a cracked handlebar. Just something else to look for.
Just got my bike back from a service and it sounds worse than it did before it went in. Gonna have to try this myself.
Dang it! Let us know if you find out where it's coming from!
GCN Tech cheers GCN I got it sorted for free by lbs just a front derailleur adjustment when in big chain ring the chain was rubbing. Glad it's fixed was highly irritating and psyched about being able to ride in big boy ring without grinding noise.