I’m relatively new to biking and I was trying to look around if something like this is anything to be concerned about and I didn’t find a good answer. The only consensus that I found is to not pedal backwards and don’t pedal backwards to diagnose issues. Both make sense, however it’s something new that wasn’t there before.
This is a relatively new bike (600 miles) and I noticed this knocking sound after I cleaned and lubed the drivetrain most recently.
It doesn’t cause any issues while pedaling and only happens when pedaling backwards.
Is this anything to be concerned about or is this common? Appreciate all the answers and opinions!
Pulley makes knocking sound and visibly twitches when pedaling backwards
byu/grumpiest_toad inbikewrench
by grumpiest_toad
5 Comments
This is normal
So don’t pedal backwards.
Don’t pedal backwards 🙂 it’s only an issue if it does this in the other direction.
It seems you could increase the b-tension, or maybe the hanger is slightly askew. Is this the first time it’s happened, or just the first you noticed?
This isn’t quite the pedaling backwards and the chain moves because it’s a wide range cassette, etc. Put the bike in a stand where you can pedal it forward by hand. Does it still happen?
To elaborate on what others have already said (“Don’t pedal backward”), drivetrains are designed specifically to be pedaled forwards and their behavior when pedaling backward is not a major consideration if at all during their design. To the drivetrain makers, as long as nothing *catastrophic* happens when pedaling backwards (such as the chain jamming the derailleur and breaking the cage or something), they’d much rather focus all of their engineering effort on making it work as best as it can forward and forget about what it does backward.
Many bikes, even when perfectly tuned, do something at least a little funky when pedaling backward. As long as there are no problems forward, you’re fine.