noisy bike

General Help
1

i recently bought a fixie, which rides really nice, but its noisy.

the first thing i did was check the BB and tighten up a lot of loose screws and bolts…but upon riding it again, the noise became louder. Its a constant noise that follows my pedal rhythm.

What things should i look at adjusting/changing to isolate where the noise might be coming from?

BTW…the bike is second hand, with SRAM omnium cranks and some kind of NJS chain…i’ve also been told that the rear chain ring (17t) is punched not machined, but I’m not really sure what that would mean in relation to this problem though.

2

^ Sounds like your chain and sprocket aren’t meshing beautifully. Can happen putting a new chain on an old sprocket or vice versa. Solution: new chain or new sprocket or both.

Also: check the chainline.

3

Tell us more about the noise - creak, click, squeak etc

Tightening up screws is good, but threads should be greased. If you’re tightening a screw that’s dry as, it’s gonna creak more.

Could be BB, but also pedals, cleats, even seatpost or seat according to what you’re saying. Try pedal out of the saddle to isolate seat and seatpost.

4

Get a new bike

5

Seb, i would describe it as a creaking sound, with quick soft clicks, which is why im thinking something to do with the chain.

pedaling out of the saddle didn’t change anything. I do have new pedals for it, didn’t think that would cause a noise, but i guess i will find out when i change those out.

As for the sprocket/chain is it just a case of changing the sprocket like for like, or would I have to look at a different size sprocket? like a 16 or 18?

6

as pinzo says, check chain tension, maybe too tight and your binding.

if its a creak it could also come from the seat post/saddle, or come from front skewer if your running a QR and not track nuts.

7

From my memory of sw8 fixxie timez, some chains were definitely louder than others. I recall some of the super crazy strong NJS chains as being particularly bad, but that memory could be faulty. As noted, could also have to do with chain/cog being unequally worn and not meshing properly.

Might be worth picking up a new chain and a decent cog, would be a fairly cheap solution.

And yeah, grease every nut and bolt on the bike. I’ve had clicky/creaky pedals before too.

In short, it’ll be a process of elimination.

8

Can you identify whether it’s coming from beneath or behind you? I’d also be checking out the chainline.

9

definitely coming from underneath

10

^ Sounds like you have a concealed motor. Don’t worry, they’re all the rage.

11

Pinzo delivers

12

Try alternate one-legged drills - noise only from left or right?
Also out of saddle v in saddle

Once you eliminate everything else it must be a toucan.

13

Have you tried oil on the chain?

14

Pfft. Then how will you know if your Deliveroo is approaching?

15

i did this to my singlespeed on the weekend, had a creak & clicks - now runs silent:

  1. remove, grease, then retighten chainring bolts.
  2. remove cranks, regrease interface, replace. (mine externall BB - if loose ball, might want to remove cups & repack, or replace with sealed)
  3. remove pedals, regrease threads, replace.
  4. remove seatpost, regrease, replace.
  5. remove seatvolts, regrease (or grease in my case), replace.
16

I had a thought the other night that if i ever need to ride while incredibly inebriated I should wear a foodora/delivroo jersey to go incognito.

OT: This could be lots of things and as rcoh suggested, theres a lot of trial and error. I have stripped/replaced/greased a billion things on my road bike only to find a loose spoke was making a click.

Also note, that some chain/sprocket interfaces are a bit louder, flammablethinkers’ PlanetX made a pretty decent grinding noise during normal use.

17

Have you checked your chain ring bolts?

Otherwise, pull the whole thing down and start again. It’s a track bike, they only take 20 minutes to build.

18

is it not just that your chain is tight, cos sweet fixie?
tight chains make noise, loose chains are silent but have a nasty habit of killing you if riding on the street.

19

Come onnnnnnn, just roll the dice.

20

This. Grease your pedal threads… has shut up my bike more than once hey