Another Story About An Annoying Noise

Remember the noise issue I had with this bike?

Several weeks ago I had the Salsa Cycles Stormchaser here. You may recall my saga concerning the creaking noise I had which led me on a journey which included taking things apart, greasing things, riding, hearing the creak, taking things apart, greasing things, riding, and on and on. I eventually found out it was the seat tube mounted water bottle cage which rubbed against the seat tube when it flexed. (Read about all that here if you want)

Well, I have another story about chasing noises and it is just about as weird as the Stormchaser story. So, here is the deal. The Twin Six Standard Rando v2 has an unusual eccentric bottom bracket, I'm using a 1X SRAM crankset which had seen some use on another bike, and the chain is a 9 speed chain, not the 11 speed chain the crank was designed for. So, there were a number of things that could be issues with regard to noise. That said, the first ride showed up no noises at all.

And the second and the third..... This didn't crop up until just the other day when I went out for a short ride. I heard a consistent "tink.....tink.....tink....". It was every pedal stroke. It quit when I coasted. So, it was crank set related, right? I tried one-legged pedaling. The sound quit when I one-legged with my left leg. Hmm.... So, I thought about chain ring bolts. That's where I went first.

Well, I did find a couple of loose ones on the test ride, tightened them, and kept going. But no cigar. I still had the "tink....tink....tink....". I figured I'd get around to it in a day or so because my focus had to be on a couple of other things over the weekend. So, I let that go until Tuesday night.

Now I found myself chasing another noise on this single speed.

I put the Gravel Bus in the work stand and grabbed the appropriate wrenches. In the case of this particular crank set the chain ring bolts are the 6mm/5mm interface type. (Why didn't they figure THAT out years ago is another mystery) So I found four of the five bolts were in need of snugging up. Not just a little bit either. Could be it. Maybe.....

I then grabbed an 8mm Allen wrench and checked the crank spindle bolt. Hey! That was loose as well! Not just a little bit either. In fact, I was a bit alarmed at how loose it was. Nothing so loose that it would wiggle, but too loose for my peace of mind. I tightened it and thought, "That's it! I bet that was it right there."

Well, there is a reason I do not gamble.

See that cadence sensor magnet? Well, let me tell ya.....

Of course, I still had the "tink....tink....tink....". So I was on another test ride. Noise is there. Okay..... What could this be? I'm concentrating and thinking so much about it that it is getting distracting. Better watch where I'm going!

I ended up having to put my feet into it on a steep hill. I noted while cranking away that the sound is gone. Hmm..... Comes back when I get back to normal pressure on the pedals. Then I noted another oddity. When my cadence was really high, the noise got quieter, and if I went fast enough, it would disappear. Huh? This was getting really weird! 

On my test loop, I have a spot I always stop at to double check things, if need be. It is at an old softball diamond next to a tennis court area. I finally come by this spot and I decide to just look over the bike. This noise isn't terrible, just super annoying because, well......single speed bikes should be silent. That's my demand, anyway! I didn't know what I was looking for, but I did decide to turn the cranks backward to see if maybe the chain was sticking on a chain ring tooth, or if there was anything I could trace if the sound presented itself off the bike. Fortunately for me, the "tink....tink....tink...." happened with me off the bike too. I started looking and it didn't take long to find the culprit.

A loose cadence magnet was pivoting into the steel chain stay every time it passed on a pedal revolution. 

It all made sense then!

So I pushed the magnet back up the tapered shape of the crank arm and hopped on and rode away. Tink free! WooHooo! Another noise identified and neutralized. And that cadence sensor magnet? Clipped off once I got home. I'm not going to need to know my cadence on this bike, that's for certain!