My trusty 2004 Trek 5500 was showing some age. Since I love the new Madone, I sold the 5500 in favor of a Madone 5.2 Pro. The new bike is faster, much better acceleration, very comfortable, etc. The one area where it falls short (at least in my view) is that it makes more noise. I’m talking little clicks and clangs while under power – whereas the 5500 was totally silent. All I heard was the sound of tires on pavement.

The new Madone is 100% Ultegra-SL, and was put together and tuned by one of the best in the business. It is almost impossible to tell while pedaling just where these annoying little sounds come from. I expect some is from front derailleur rubbing, but not all.

Could the DA rear derailleur be making unwanted sounds? I know there are some construction differences in the DA and Ultegra.

Would it make any sense AT ALL to switch out the derailleurs to DA? It has become almost compulsive to me that the bike make NO noise.

My trusty 2004 Trek 5500 was showing some age. Since I love the new Madone, I sold the 5500 in favor of a Madone 5.2 Pro. The new bike is faster, much better acceleration, very comfortable, etc. The one area where it falls short (at least in my view) is that it makes more noise. I’m talking little clicks and clangs while under power – whereas the 5500 was totally silent. All I heard was the sound of tires on pavement.

The new Madone is 100% Ultegra-SL, and was put together and tuned by one of the best in the business. It is almost impossible to tell while pedaling just where these annoying little sounds come from. I expect some is from front derailleur rubbing, but not all.

Could the DA rear derailleur be making unwanted sounds? I know there are some construction differences in the DA and Ultegra.

Would it make any sense AT ALL to switch out the derailleurs to DA? It has become almost compulsive to me that the bike make NO noise.

Derailleurs can be a source of noise, but are not the likely candidate for the noise you describe. You need to do some detective work, like finding out whether you get the noise when out of the saddle, what happens when you swap wheels, whether you can make the noise in a work stand or with the bike just sitting on the ground, or even when riding no-handed. All of these help in isolating the noise source.

It is fairly common to have clicking noises, but ticks and clicks are very hard to eliminate sometimes. What seems like it is tied to the pedals may be coming from the seat post, etc. Sometimes things like temperature and humidity can affect noises as well. Also, things like the front derailleur cage just hitting the crank or the front derailleur cable sticking out and hitting your shoe can seem like they are clicks but really aren't.

Clicks tied to your pedaling can come from the BB (grease all threads in contact with the frame and BB, and torque it to the recommended settings, which can be quite high), crank bolts (grease threads and washers), the chain ring bolts (take them all out and grease the threads, the faces where they contact the CRs, and the CRs where they contact the crank spider arms), a stiff link in a chain or a burr on one of the "break off" special links used to assemble the chain, the pedals (grease the threads, get some wax etc. on the cleats, grease the bolts into your shoes, squirt some lube into the guts of the pedal machinery if possible), the chain (clean and lube), shoes/cleats (loose cleat nut rattling around in the shoe sole, shoe/cleat interface), cleat bolts, cleats touching pedals, seat post and saddle (grease the post, seat post bolts, saddle rails, and add some oil to where the rails go into the saddle body), bars and stem (grease the stem, stem bolts at both ends, h'bar bolt if quill stem, and h'bar where it goes through the stem, grease/tighten QRs, tighten cassette lock ring, steerer tube spacers if threadless), replaceable derailleur hangers (remove, clean, grease all parts and threads, reassemble), any other bolt (bottle cages, derailleur clamps, derailleur bolts, shift cable casing stops, etc.).

Clicks that happen when you coast can come from the computer wheel magnet hitting the pickup, the nuts on threaded Presta valve stems (throw the nut away), reed switches in computer pickups, and your wheels (check for spoke tension, particularly on the rear non drive side, put a drop of lube where each pair of spokes cross, check for loose metal bits or spoke nipples in the body of the rim.

Needless to say, you want to try these things in what seems like the most likely place the noise is coming from, but there are plenty of stories about "I was sure the noise was in the handlebars but it went away when I tightened up the spokes in the rear wheel," so keep trying different things until you have success.

My trusty 2004 Trek 5500 was showing some age. Since I love the new Madone, I sold the 5500 in favor of a Madone 5.2 Pro. The new bike is faster, much better acceleration, very comfortable, etc. The one area where it falls short (at least in my view) is that it makes more noise. I’m talking little clicks and clangs while under power – whereas the 5500 was totally silent. All I heard was the sound of tires on pavement.

The new Madone is 100% Ultegra-SL, and was put together and tuned by one of the best in the business. It is almost impossible to tell while pedaling just where these annoying little sounds come from. I expect some is from front derailleur rubbing, but not all.

Could the DA rear derailleur be making unwanted sounds? I know there are some construction differences in the DA and Ultegra.

Would it make any sense AT ALL to switch out the derailleurs to DA? It has become almost compulsive to me that the bike make NO noise.

You paid umpteen dollars for a Madone, and you have a problem with it.

Please tell us why you are considering replacing the derailleurs instead of bringing the bike back to 'one of the best in the business'.

Derailleurs can be a source of noise, but are not the likely candidate for the noise you describe. You need to do some detective work, like finding out whether you get the noise when out of the saddle, what happens when you swap wheels, whether you can make the noise in a work stand or with the bike just sitting on the ground, or even when riding no-handed. All of these help in isolating the noise source.

It is fairly common to have clicking noises, but ticks and clicks are very hard to eliminate sometimes. What seems like it is tied to the pedals may be coming from the seat post, etc. Sometimes things like temperature and humidity can affect noises as well. Also, things like the front derailleur cage just hitting the crank or the front derailleur cable sticking out and hitting your shoe can seem like they are clicks but really aren't.

Clicks tied to your pedaling can come from the BB (grease all threads in contact with the frame and BB, and torque it to the recommended settings, which can be quite high), crank bolts (grease threads and washers), the chain ring bolts (take them all out and grease the threads, the faces where they contact the CRs, and the CRs where they contact the crank spider arms), a stiff link in a chain or a burr on one of the "break off" special links used to assemble the chain, the pedals (grease the threads, get some wax etc. on the cleats, grease the bolts into your shoes, squirt some lube into the guts of the pedal machinery if possible), the chain (clean and lube), shoes/cleats (loose cleat nut rattling around in the shoe sole, shoe/cleat interface), cleat bolts, cleats touching pedals, seat post and saddle (grease the post, seat post bolts, saddle rails, and add some oil to where the rails go into the saddle body), bars and stem (grease the stem, stem bolts at both ends, h'bar bolt if quill stem, and h'bar where it goes through the stem, grease/tighten QRs, tighten cassette lock ring, steerer tube spacers if threadless), replaceable derailleur hangers (remove, clean, grease all parts and threads, reassemble), any other bolt (bottle cages, derailleur clamps, derailleur bolts, shift cable casing stops, etc.).

Clicks that happen when you coast can come from the computer wheel magnet hitting the pickup, the nuts on threaded Presta valve stems (throw the nut away), reed switches in computer pickups, and your wheels (check for spoke tension, particularly on the rear non drive side, put a drop of lube where each pair of spokes cross, check for loose metal bits or spoke nipples in the body of the rim.

Needless to say, you want to try these things in what seems like the most likely place the noise is coming from, but there are plenty of stories about "I was sure the noise was in the handlebars but it went away when I tightened up the spokes in the rear wheel," so keep trying different things until you have success.

Word. This is a textbook -- copy/paste. If you have time to do all this, you'll learn a a lot about your bike and it'll be as good as you can make it. If no time, take it to LBS. Actually, can't say I added any value here. So here's some for those experiencing clicking with deep-rim wheels: check the valve stems' symmetry in the rims' valve holes. If asymmetric the stems could be clicking against the rim. If so, insert electrical tape around the stem.

It could be something as simple as cable stretch if the bike is new. Even if you have ridden it a few times, it could need some simple adjusting. The front der. may not be positioned properly. If your lbs is the best, I'd take it back and let them figure it out.

I have found from experience, that sometimes those wierd little noises and creaks will somehow just go away without doing anything.