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I've been posting quite some videos about defects on my bike her recently, so I seem to be a winning streak.

On my last ride, a strange noise started to occur on my bike. Might be that it was announcing itself slightly before (and I thought it is chain rub because the barrel adjuster slipped) but not as present as today. I'm 80 percent sure it comes from around the BB area, for me it sounds more like on the NDS, but I could be wrong. It seems like a clicking noise at a certain position, once per pedal stroke/rotation.

#1 (riding sequence) https://youtube.com/shorts/yfYe-oDMFg0?feature=share

2# (just spinning the crank on the workstand) https://youtube.com/shorts/VPUarJqzB2g?feature=share

It's a Ridley frame, they are using BB386 Evo bottom brackets. I don't know when it has been replaced last time but I had the bike at service during winter and only rode indoors or in good conditions (except one race in the rain). No jet wash and no excessive dirt that could have pressed into the bearing

The noise seems to go away when it put more power on and on out-of-the-saddle efforts (which probably means the same), you should be even able to see that in the riding video, as soon as I pedal a bit harder, it gets a lot better and that's also consistent when I really dig in versus loosely pedaling when coasting.

Not sure how well this can be diagnose via internet, but do you think it is the bottom bracket respectively a bearing? From the characteristic noise, can you tell what is gone, here?

Update

I've mailed this to my dealer as well and he'll take a look, most likely just a bit of grease. He said, it might just be tension due to high temperatures (it was 30°C for the first time, indeed).

Let's see, to back that theory, it might even be gone after the bike sat in the cold basement over night, but it probably needs a fix, anyway.

Update #2

It for sure was a BB issue. First, it went away when I had the bike indoors in the cold basement, so perhaps the sit and fit of the BB cups has slightly changed and everything is good for now.

However, the dealer offered to take out the BB and regrease everything. From what I can tell now, it is gone, no noise whatsoever on a 4 hour ride in relatively warm conditions with all kinds of load.

Let's hope it stays like that, I haven't had any BB issues for the first 4 years with this bike, so maybe it was just a phase...

Thanks, Florian

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    Before replacing/servicing the BB, do you have a set of spare pedals you can try out? Maybe you can borrow them? I recently had a clicking noise as well, the bike shop was 100% certain it was the BB, but after they replaced it (and I paid $$) the clicking was still there. Only then I remembered I had a spare set of pedals. I swapped the pedals and the noise disappeared.
    – Saaru Lindestøkke
    Commented Jun 20, 2023 at 9:44
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    @SaaruLindestøkke Fair call, but I've already seen some diagnostic/maintenance videos where they suggest to spin the crank on the crankarm instead of the pedals to rule that out, that's the case here as well. Also thought of cleats during the ride and tried with only one foot clipped in but that's obviously not the problem as the work stand test shows.
    – DoNuT
    Commented Jun 20, 2023 at 9:49
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    Welcome to the wonderful world of press-fit bottom brackets. The fix: wheelsmfg.com/bottom-brackets/bb386evo.html
    – Andrew Henle
    Commented Jun 20, 2023 at 10:52
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    @AndrewHenle Yeah, I've only heard the best about press-fit, that must be why many new bikes are coming with threaded BBs, now. So, the only way out is to upgrade to a decent BB? I don't know any specs but my mechanic said that mine probably has plastic cups, so swap for one made of aluminum with good bearings and hope for the best?
    – DoNuT
    Commented Jun 20, 2023 at 11:00
  • I noted that the click occurs when the DS crank arm passes the FD. Are you sure that there is enough clearance between the derailleur cage and the crank arm? Sometimes the derailleur can get out of alignment and as the clearances are pretty tight, that can be the end result. That being said, I kinda doubt the cause is the BB bearing, as the noise can be heard without load. And it surely doesn't sound like a bearing in need for some grease.
    – Paweł
    Commented Jun 21, 2023 at 21:32

1 Answer 1

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I can now self-answer this one after I had the bike getting serviced:

The bottom bracket bearings were severly worn and needed replacement. Knowing the history of the bike and some input from another posted question related to it, it is very likely a problem with BB manufacturing tolerances rather than regular wear.

In high temparatures in summer, it was this clicking noise but on most rides in cold conditions, I got a pronounced grinding sound in my lowest gears, definitely nothing in the drivetrain rubbing but probably related to higher torque, power input or angular forces acting on the bearings (I tend to put in more power on climbs as most riders do).

For now I got new bearings because my LBS just replaced them and didn't investigate further but I'll keep track of it, have the bearings checked proactively in spring and look for a shop that can measure and correct tolerance issues on carbon frames.

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