Clicking sound coming from front chainring area? (Bosch/Cube)

[RipGroove]

Video here (bike is in walk mode)

This has been like this since the bike was new (about 65 miles old), I assumed it was just newness bedding around the gears and cables as it feels (while riding) and sounds exactly like a rear derailleur that isn't quite set up perfectly and the chain is just starting to try to shift gears by itself but having just put the bike up in a work stand and putting it in walk mode I can hear that it's actually coming from the front chainring area.

It's happening in all gears and doesn't seem to be directly related to crank arm position so assume it's not the motor, still sounds very chain like but nothing looks out of place or alignment and I can't see the chain skipping or moving where it shouldn't be. At first it seems fairly regular like it clicks once every 400° roughly but after watching for a while it's not that regular, it's been running like that for about 15 mins and now it seems to be clicking once every 720°

Of course I'll need to investigate further probably by dropping the chain off and see what happens then but in the meantime, does this sound familiar to anyone as it might save me some time?

 

[RipGroove]

Interestingly if I put my hand on the underneath of the motor cover I can feel the click inside, so I might have to take the cover off but pretty sure I won't be able to see anything by doing that, so maybe it is something inside the motor after all.

 

[Richywalker64]

I can't play the video as I'm offshore at the moment
I had a clicking noise on my 2022 cube stereo hybrid 160, it took me a little while to figure it was the chain ring rubbing the chain guide
The chain guide had dropped too low and was rubbing the raised section of the chain ring spokes

 

[RipGroove]

I can't play the video as I'm offshore at the moment
I had a clicking noise on my 2022 cube stereo hybrid 160, it took me a little while to figure it was the chain ring rubbing the chain guide
The chain guide had dropped too low and was rubbing the raised section of the chain ring spokes

Good shout, I'll check that shortly.

 

[RipGroove]

Definitely not the gain guide, good idea though, at least it's ruled out.

There's a chance it could just be the freehub type mechanism that's in the motor, not entirely sure what they're calling it but with the bike off if I move the cranks anticlockwise I get the usual and totally normal ratcheting sound like a freewheel/freehub etc and it I move it just enough to get just one click it sounds possibly exactly the same as the sound I've been hearing sporadically.

If it is indeed that then not sure why I've been hearing and feeling it while pedalling as at that point the freewheeling mechanism inside the motor isn't engaged.

Maybe my gears do need a slight adjustment which is what I'm hearing while riding and what I'm hearing with the bike on the stand in wall mode is just the normal ratcheting which is just clicking once every so often as the cranks encounter any slight resistance from something like grease on the bearings or something.

I need to go ride it again to see if the two sounds are indeed different things that just happen to sound the same.

 

[Stihldog]

Slightly different than your experience but my clicking noise started about a month ago. The sound was random, intermittent and evasive. My first thought was; My motor is about to pack-it-in after 4 years.

I continued to ride for a few days but the clicking got progressively worse. I swore it was the motor …until I did a thorough check with the bike on the stand. Chainring, secure. New cranks, secure. Chain wear, acceptable. Motor, working great. Then I looked at the cassette.

Holy crap! How could I keep riding and never notice this sooner. Worn out cogs in random positions on the cassette. I installed a new XT Shimano cassette and went for a test ride. Sound/noise was gone.

The noise could only be heard when I applied sufficient torque to the drivetrain. A worn out cassette or damaged chain or loose chainring etc, or worse …the CX Gen4 Bosch motor. Thank goodness my motor lives for another day.

Ps; check all the motor mounts and brackets also.

 

[Mikerb]

I notice 2 things in the video.
1. Whilst the wheel looks straight the tyre does not
2. The bottom of the chain seems to be vibrating

No idea if either actually is associated with the click but the bottom length of chain vibrating may suggest some chainwheel damage and the fact the tyre appears a little deformed may suggest it is touching somewhere....or if it is indeed a slightly buckled wheel maybe remove the brake pads to eliminate any noise coming from the rotor. You could also check the magnet and speed sensor are not touching.

 

[RiderOnTheStorm]

That's strange! I would first try to eliminate anything external to the motor. If the noise persists, it would then be something internal to the motor.

With walk assist mode on, do you get a clicking sound after removing the chain?

With walk assist off, do you hear clicking when you manually rotate the cranks clockwise at the same speed as walk assist?

Do you hear the clicking noise when manually rotating the cranks slower than in walk assist mode? Faster?

Is anything rubbing against the chainring behind it?

Is everything tightened correctly: pedals, crankarms, chainring lockring (known to become loose on bosch motors), motor bolts?

 

[RipGroove]

Cheers lads, the tyre, rotor, magnet and sensor are all clear and not touching anything. I also noticed the bottom of the chain vibrating and haven't yet figured out why.

I ran out of time yesterday so I'll do a bit more investigating today if I can. Having walk assist on for a prolonged period did cause me some Bosch error grief yesterday though so I have to be careful with it!

 

[wenna]

Cheers lads, the tyre, rotor, magnet and sensor are all clear and not touching anything. I also noticed the bottom of the chain vibrating and haven't yet figured out why.

I ran out of time yesterday so I'll do a bit more investigating today if I can. Having walk assist on for a prolonged period did cause me some Bosch error grief yesterday though so I have to be careful with it!

I think the chain vibrating is just from the chain releasing from the chainring.

The clicking sound could be from the derailleur. If you gently push down on the cage, do you hear the click?

Is the clicking sound produced in all gears?
If you remove the chain, is it clicking when using walk assist?
IF you spin the wheel without a chain, does it click?

 

[RipGroove]

It's definitely coming from the motor/chainring area and not the derailleur. I got side tracked yesterday while investigating because the bike threw up a 'tampered with' error code because it didn't like being in walk mode for prolonged periods so I need to investigate further by taking the chain off etc and eliminating different things.

 

[Mikerb]

The bottom of the chain dancing is caused either by its release from the chainring or...more likely in my opinion.......some resistance from the jockey wheels in the mech. Mmm....is the chain fed correctly through the mech??

 

[SteveTTT]

Check if the castellated nut holding the chainring to the crank has worked loose, allowing the chain to run off-axis. That happened on my Trek Powerfly with Bosch CX.

 

[Boltdude]

I would first eliminate the obvious. Have you put a fresh coating of lube on the chain? Mine makes a very similar sound when new lube is needed.

 

[E-MAD MALC]

Did the issue get sorted
It would be nice to know