Clicking noise

[Stevie H]

Trek rail 9 done 300 miles on it most of that on road and I have a constant clicking noise seems to be coming from the front but not quite sure.

it’s a click when the wheels are turning and not pedalling. It clicks when you pedal but doesn’t stop when you stop pedalling.
Sounds like a stone in the tyre which it isn’t.

Any one else had this and any ideas

 

[Third-Reef]

Tighten your spokes and see if it goes away. i had a similar thing on my TREK Fuel 9.7 analog bike.

 

[markloch]

Is it a once-per-revolution click? If you lightly apply front brakes does the sound change at all? (Or, in case it's the rear try the rear brakes too).

 

[RustyIron]

Is it a once-per-revolution click? If you lightly apply front brakes does the sound change at all? (Or, in case it's the rear try the rear brakes too).

This is a good place to start looking.

Arbitrarily tightening your spokes is ill advised.

 

[Paul Mac]

My front wheel click was spoke.
You can tell if its the spoke because it won't click with no weight on it. I.e if you lift the front wheel and spin it stationary

 

[KennyB]

Abitrarily tightening your spokes is ill advised.

What I think is well advised is to have the wheel(s) tensioned and trued. There is an excellent article on all aspects of wheel building, just look for "Sheldon Brown, Wheel building".

 

[running_rabbit]

Hi, I have excactly the same issue…now with three Bontrager Comp LIne 3 rims. According to my LBS it comes from the part where the rim is welded. First time Trek replaced my rim, second time they provided the LBS with some instructions how to fix it (some lube / glue was inserted into the rim)…and now…since three days the replaced rim started to click again. It always clicks on the opposite site of the valve.

I decided now to get new rims…never had any issues before. Ordered a wheelset from Mavic (Crossmax XL Boost)….hoping that those will work.

Happy e-biking!!
Stefan

 

[SquireRides]

Things that have commonly caused me clicks or creaks (filtered to only include those that occur with wheel rotation):

Spokes - Check if any are obviously very lose and nip them up.
Cassette / Freehub - Had various problems where the cassette was lose or seized or on wonky. Try taking the cassette off the freehub, and the freehub off the hub. You may spot a problem when doing so.
Brake pads/spring - Depends on your calipers, but on my SRAM G2 if the spring holding the pads isn't spread a bit more than usual there's not enough tension and the pads are free to move around. This causes random clicks and pings, and if the rotor is slightly off-true you may get rattle once per rotation.

 

[Stevie H]

Thanks guys for all your replies I think as suggested that its the wheel rim/Spokes Ive got it booked into dealer as the bike is only few months old will let you know what they find. I did tension the spokes up to try that but still have the noise.

 

[Paul Mac]

Thanks guys for all your replies I think as suggested that its the wheel rim/Spokes Ive got it booked into dealer as the bike is only few months old will let you know what they find. I did tension the spokes up to try that but still have the noise.

Weirdly, when my wheel was clicking, I let down the tyre popped it off the beads and reseated it and the noise stopped.

 

[RustyIron]

According to my LBS it comes from the part where the rim is welded. First time Trek replaced my rim, second time they provided the LBS with some instructions how to fix it (some lube / glue was inserted into the rim)…and now…since three days the replaced rim started to click again.

I decided now to get new rims…never had any issues before. Ordered a wheelset from Mavic (Crossmax XL Boost)….hoping that those will work.

Hey, Stephan.
What you're describing is a symptom of the way the aluminum rims are constructed. There is a little "puck" that is used to align both ends of the rim before they're welded. The puck isn't welded, and the hope is that it will just stay there for the life of the rim. But sometimes the manufacturer doesn't cross their fingers hard enough, and the puck starts to move around as the wheel rotates, and a clicking sound is the result.

One possible solution is to take a center punch, and make a two divots on either side of the weld, on the inside of the rim. The hope is that the divots will hold the puck in place. Another solution is to drill a hole a little ways back from the weld. Size isn't super critical, as it won't degrade structural integrity. Squirt a little glue in there. Gorilla Glue, which expands as it sets up, is great for this application. Keep the glue away from the spokes and nipples.

 

[running_rabbit]

Hey, Stephan.
What you're describing is a symptom of the way the aluminum rims are constructed. There is a little "puck" that is used to align both ends of the rim before they're welded. The puck isn't welded, and the hope is that it will just stay there for the life of the rim. But sometimes the manufacturer doesn't cross their fingers hard enough, and the puck starts to move around as the wheel rotates, and a clicking sound is the result.

One possible solution is to take a center punch, and make a two divots on either side of the weld, on the inside of the rim. The hope is that the divots will hold the puck in place. Another solution is to drill a hole a little ways back from the weld. Size isn't super critical, as it won't degrade structural integrity. Squirt a little glue in there. Gorilla Glue, which expands as it sets up, is great for this application. Keep the glue away from the spokes and nipples.

Guess that’s what LBS guys did…sounds familiar. Thanks for your explanation!!

 

[Stevie H]

Took the bike back to L Lakes and it was front brake caliper/pads they did try and charge me £50 but took that off when I pointed out it’s only a few months old. Only been out on it once so will see how it goes. I did tighten the spokes and noticed that was the same noise that I was getting when you pressed two spokes together

 

[Zorg]

I have the same issue, it is not the wheels as I replaced them and the clicking continue. It seems to come from the Zeb fork. For example Click noise

 

[Jimmk]

I had this dreaded clicking noise at every rotation of the rear tire but not while on the stand, of course I did everything and nothing got rid of that click. Finally, I bumped the pressure upon my tubeless tires to 35 psi, the click went away. I reduced the air to my riding pressure of 26 rear 22 front and still no click. My guess is that the tires had partially unseated themselves and bumping the pressure reseated same. Well at least I know the cause in my case as this occurred only in the last couple hundred km, the tires have 1000 km on them now. I experienced this same problem last season near the end I did a complete change of brakes (pads and discs), new tires etc And the click was gone at the beginning of this season but returned as mentioned. Very