click!

If you look at my post a week or so back I had the same symptoms (Dawes
Galaxy). Eventually by trial and error and replacing all sorts of
things it turned out to be the left hand crank itself, not the pedal,
BB, transmission or anything else. No sign of it being loose but when I
eventually replaced it the noises stopped. I can only guess that it had
become slightly loose and distorted and stll fitted badly even when
tightened again.

cheers

Jacob

tom said:

A couple of weeks back I managed to get the audax-type bike I was looking
for, a used Dawes Audax. Without much maintenance, I took it out on a 50
mile ride into Wales on Saturday, got soaked.

The ride is smooth, and I'm ironing out any of the problems I can. Today I
gave the chain and gears a good clean, and now it rides like a dream.

But after the ride on Saturday, and I don't think it was there before, the
bike has developed a click. I isolated the click to the pedal crank area,
it clicks only when my left foot is at 90 degrees from the top of a pedal
revolution, nearest the front wheel.. so as I am pushing down. It also
only occurs if I am working, if I'm not trying to hard then there is no
click.

There is a similar, but barely audible (I wouldn't have noticed it at all
if I wasn't explicitly trying to hear it) click on the right hand
equivalent.

I referred to my Zinn book, who suggested it could be due to play in the
pedals, and I noticed there was indeed some play in the left pedal (no
play in the pedal crank). So I sourced the tools to tighten the pedal
crank and remove the play. The click is still there. Could it be the
pedals are worn out, or dare I say it - the bottom bracket?

Any other ideas? Now I've made the whole bike so much quieter with a clean
and lubrication, the click is far more pronounced!

Does it go away when honking? if so, remove your saddle, clean and
grease the rails.

Quoted message said:

Does it go away when honking? if so, remove your saddle, clean and grease
the rails.

Unfortunately not, I already saw to the saddle - it had a good creak when
I got the bike!

jacob said:

If you look at my post a week or so back I had the same symptoms (Dawes
Galaxy). Eventually by trial and error and replacing all sorts of things
it turned out to be the left hand crank itself, not the pedal, BB,
transmission or anything else. No sign of it being loose but when I
eventually replaced it the noises stopped. I can only guess that it had
become slightly loose and distorted and stll fitted badly even when
tightened again.

Thanks for the lead Jacob, I'd never have thought of that. I might try
swapping the left crank from my Galaxy with this one and see if it stops
it, then I'd be in the market for a new crank set.

Any more leads appreciated! Tom

jacob said:

If you look at my post a week or so back I had the same symptoms (Dawes
Galaxy). Eventually by trial and error and replacing all sorts of things
it turned out to be the left hand crank itself, not the pedal, BB,
transmission or anything else. No sign of it being loose but when I
eventually replaced it the noises stopped. I can only guess that it had
become slightly loose and distorted and stll fitted badly even when
tightened again.

OK.. so here is a question. Is there somewhere where I can buy just a
left crank to match my other one, or is matching (except for size) not
really an issue? In which case, where should I buy a left crank which
doesn't match?

Tom

Quoted message said:

OK.. so here is a question. Is there somewhere where I can buy just a
left crank to match my other one, or is matching (except for size) not
really an issue? In which case, where should I buy a left crank which
doesn't match?

Couldn't you borrow one to test the noise cause - it might be something
else? Length matters I guess - but then who knows there might be some
hidden benefit from odd lengths. Matching doesn't matter in other
respects ASFAIK - I've now got odd ones and the left one is more inset
than the original - nearer the stay.
Any LBS should have one, if not try Spa Cycles

cheers

Jacob

in message <[email hidden]>, tom

(') said:

I referred to my Zinn book, who suggested it could be due to play in
the pedals, and I noticed there was indeed some play in the left pedal
(no play in the pedal crank). So I sourced the tools to tighten the
pedal crank and remove the play. The click is still there. Could it be
the pedals are worn out, or dare I say it - the bottom bracket?

Most pedals can be stripped and serviced. Usually there is a cap on the
end opposite to the crank, and, after removing this, you can remove a
locknut and the outer cone. Clean everything, replace the balls (which
are cheap) and reassemble, buttering everything liberally with grease.
The pedal is only toast if the cups or cones are pitted, which they
often aren't.

Older bottom brackets can be serviced similarly. In both case there is a
knack in getting the bearing reassembled tight enough but not too tight
- basically tighten it up until you can feel the beginnings of roughness
and then back off just a little.

If your components can't be serviced, good bottom brackets are
surprisingly inexpensive. Good pedals, sadly, aren't.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

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