Partner is having some clicking from her drivetrain. So far we’ve ruled out the pedals. Bike is a 2024 Liv Langma advanced 2, mechanical 105 12s, only about 1500km on it.
Bike shop recently serviced the drivetrain, cassette & chain was recently swapped and cleaned/greased. Bike shifts perfectly fine otherwise.
Seems to be happening at the same spot during a pedal stroke. Noise happens under moderate/heavy load.
Any thoughts on where to start?
Thank you!
Clicking from drivetrain, any thoughts?
byu/knifeaidan inbikewrench
by knifeaidan
14 Comments
Chain might be on wrong. Check jockey wheels and make sure chain is sitting behind metal part on hanger
Seems counterintuitive but might be the saddle, often the source of maddening sounds when pedalling. Check the bolts securing the saddle and seatpost are properly torqued. Sometimes a drop of oil where the saddle rails meet the saddle body can help.
Could it be her shoe cleats? The noise happens every time her right foot reaches the bottom of the pedal stroke.
If you can’t find anything external, it could be the bottom bracket. I had a similar sound on my bike that happened standing or sitting once every pedal revolution only under moderate to high load. It was recommended to replace my BB but cleaning and regreasing did the trick for me.
Similar thing on my 105 last year and it was the BB, it’d done 10,000km though so surprising if it needs replacing after 1500km unless it was all done under water!
Dealing with same problem now also right pedal stroke. Already checked saddle, regreased pedals, greased and checked thru axles. Mine started
on a new bike after ca. 500 km, 2 rides after cleaning so probably some water got somewhere. Waiting for bottom bracket wrench to arrive. I hope it’s only annoying and not damaging anything although it’s wort sorting out.
You might have a loose spoke
Is the front derailleur cage bent? Could be impact from the crankset and the cage
Check:
– seat post
– saddle clamp
– pedals
– BB
When does it appear? Will it come back if you are off seated?
The chain might be scraping-you can hear the longer scrape at the 11th second. Check it yourself-turn the bike over, use a flashlight and watch the chain closely. I had this recently and the chain was ever so slightly touching the front derailleur, couldn’t tell until I put on my reading glasses.
Happened to me. I put the crank through the bb incorrectly. It wasn’t straight and caused this noise when pedalling. easy fix. Took out the crank made sure it was in properly and spinning free.
Just curious, she’s in the lowest gearing in the video how is it in a different gear?
It’s the bottom bracket. I just experienced literally the exact same thing.
A lot of Covid era bikes got lesser quality BB’s.
We can probably debunk a lot of the other suggestions here. It’s the bottom bracket. 95% confidence. I’ve had this exact noise and also had issues with all the other suggestions being brought up here and don’t think it’s those.
If your drivetrain was recently serviced and the chain is indexed correctly, it’s probably not that. Also doesn’t sound quite like that.
Sometimes if the seat clamp is gripping improperly or the seat post isn’t properly secured with the right torque and with some friction material, you can get creaking and weird clicking… but it also wouldn’t sound quite as consistent as this noise. You can easily debunk this one by riding out of the saddle.
So what’s the left? Well, these press-fit BBs are known for exactly this problem after a certain number of miles. A BB making a noise on a pedal stroke with load would not be caught in the shop. The noise is also super consistent with every downward stroke on the right side. It’s also coincidentally the same noise that my bike developed just before I sold it. It’s the BB. You can either try relubricating it or simply replacing it with a high quality BB- they’re relatively inexpensive!
Side note: Your GF’s saddle height looks slightly too high.