O.K. I seemed to have developed a clicking noise on my drivetrain which seems to start when i push down, in particually on my left leg. Its not my seatpost or saddle as its just the same or worse out of the saddle. All the spokes are fine in the rear wheel and the cassette is tight on the rear hub. Changed the chain and checked all the chainring bolts. Pedals have been swapped over with my mountain bike..........But still clicks and cracks.

My question being are the Shimano Octalink BB known for this and what do i do to resolve it? Do i remove crank arms and add grease? Do i remove crank arms and wipe off grease? Or do i buy another bike because i am seriously comming to the end of my patience.

Please, someone out there, surely, can help.

I feel for 'ya.... I just finally solved a equally irritating click by swapping out my pedals. The weird part is that now that the pedals are on another bike, they don't click anymore. Anyway, have you also checked your cleats? I went nuts a couple years back with another click & it took me forever to figure out it was something with the cleats. Popped new ones on & it was gone.

Once you've eliminated the easy-to-do things (as you have) then the BB/frame interface is the next likely culprit. Remove the BB, clean all surfaces (including the threads), grease everything well, and torque to spec. This will eliminate BB noises in most cases. The noise comes from the thread/frame interface getting dirty or drying out.

Check your crank arm(s). Sounds like they may be loose.

Once you've eliminated the easy-to-do things (as you have) then the BB/frame interface is the next likely culprit. Remove the BB, clean all surfaces (including the threads), grease everything well, and torque to spec. This will eliminate BB noises in most cases. The noise comes from the thread/frame interface getting dirty or drying out.

telfon tape around the BB threads also can help.

[QUOTE=Flyingsquid]I feel for 'ya.... I just finally solved a equally irritating click by swapping out my pedals. The weird part is that now that the pedals are on another bike, they don't click anymore.


Pedalling force is not smoothly applied to the pedal over the pedalling circle, i.e. force will be greater at certain point of the downward stroke where the bearing will wear out more. That is the reason why you have that clicking always happen at certain point of the pedalling rotation. Now you have swapped to another bike, i.e. another crank, the point of your downward stroke on the pedal have changed.

Now, back to the original question. Assume it is the BB problem, you may check whether the BB is a DA bb. DA bb is adjustable, tighten if it is loose. If you don't want to get a new BB, dismantle the BB, clean thoroughly and regrease may do the trick.

Check the crankarm bolts first. If they are tight, the most likely fix is what Kerry said - remove the crankarms and BB, clean everything up real well and reinstall making sure you use grease or anti-seize compound (some use teflon tape) on the threads on the BB and the BB shell. The critical thing is to get the BB properly torqued - otherwise it will loosen up within a few rides. If this sounds complicated, probably better to bring it to a local shop - probably would cost about $30, the tools to do the job yourself can be had for less than $20.

I once had an aluminum bike that no matter what had a noisy BB - finally solved it by using blue loctite on the threads.