Bike making loud ping/crack noise when under load

[Betsy]

Some musings.. which may or may not be of any help..

A couple of years ago i would have said the bb on my work bike was perfectly smooth.. there was no play/noise. I put my Honjo mudguards on ready for the winter and instantly heard an irregular twanging from the back wheel long/short it wasn't the wheel, it was the bb. The Honjo's bolt into the bridge between the stays behind the bb and they were amplifying an undetectable sound from the bb like a tuning fork, I replaced the bb and it fixed the issue...

More recently i had a consistant ticking/pinging sound from the back wheel (no mudguards this time) on every revolution, it was happening while pedaling and/or freewheeling so it had to be the wheel, i thought it was the hub.. all the spokes seemed tight. I could get the pinging noise to stop by shifting my weight away from the back end (it didn't happen on the stand, only in the saddle) all the spoke nipples are corroded, again long/short i ended up putting a small spot of 3 in 1 on each nipple and the clicking stopped so one of spokes is moving in the rim, i'm just not sure which one...

 

[FluffyChicken]

These things can be anything, from bb/cranks/pedals, chains/jockeys/mech alignment the cassette/cassette, freehubs, seatpost, seat, bars,......
Frame itself. Tabs on the inside in mavic X717rims , nipples..

Slight slipping cracks can be freehub. or cassette/mech/chainset parts or alignment. Something holding it back and making it sticky.
BUT and importantly any of the others...

Get someone to ride near you, head down the side and hear the noise better.
Then get at it learning your bike if the Lbs cannot fix it.

 

[FluffyChicken]

One thing, loosen the quick release/or whatever these modem bikes have to hold a back wheel on. But only slightly, just to reduce ethe force on the hub.
Go for a ride, keep loosening it (until its unridable ;-) and don't go jumping boardwalks and the like... Unless it's into a river (the retro way of jumping)

See if the pressure release help out.

You say new bearings, rear? If so it could be over tight, binding and dragging that freehub..

 

[ishaw]

Strange clicking I had once was extremely hard to find as the frame amplified the sound and made it travel. It turned out to be the steerer tube clicking in a pace fork at the crown.

Not easy to identify that, the lbs I went to used a stethoscope type device to finally pin it down.

 

[amoto65]

Had the same type thing on a Kona a few years ago and it drove me mad, In the end it turned out to be a bearing in one of the pedals that had failed.

 

[Prodigal Son]

Clicking or creaking on a bike will drive me insane. Been there. Solution is tight and replace everything untill it disappears. That´s how it is.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

These things can be anything, from bb/cranks/pedals, chains/jockeys/mech alignment the cassette/cassette, freehubs, seatpost, seat, bars,......
Frame itself. Tabs on the inside in mavic X717rims , nipples..

Slight slipping cracks can be freehub. or cassette/mech/chainset parts or alignment. Something holding it back and making it sticky.
BUT and importantly any of the others...

Get someone to ride near you, head down the side and hear the noise better.
Then get at it learning your bike if the Lbs cannot fix it.

Plus one for getting a ride buddy to listen

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Any advice would be amazing as this is really getting to me.

Mostly (but not always) happens when I’m gunning it down hill or in a steep climb. Either in the higher or lower gears. Seems to be coming from crank area. I lose pedal tension for what feels like a second but gears do not seem to skip (very hard to tell what is happening).
10.0.0.0.1 192.168.1.254
Was annoying not fixed in recent LBS service and runs smooth on a stand. I had worn out the bearing in rear wheel recently so not sure if related.

Trance X 29, 16 months old, 1-2 rides a week.

I'd say take the rear wheel out and try to feel the engagement in every pawl....tedious for sure ...but I bet you'll find one that doesn't feel or sound the same as the rest !

 

[ishaw]

I did have one bike where I simply couldn't figure out what was causing it. Frame was fine, I practically replaces, greased and tightened every moving part over time and could never get it to go away. I'm sure there were a few bits I didn't do, but then I didn't realise that it could literally be anything, rather than the usual suspects.

 

[Skapegoat]

My money is on the freehub.
Take out, remove seal, leave in white spirits overnight, let it dry and regrease/rebuild (I like to use motorcycle chain oil into the hub as its sticky as hell but oily) and then refit Seal and test!

If I'm wrong I'll give myself 10 lashings...