Creaking in my Front End...

[Merczak73]

Query: does the snapping sound happen when you are trying to engage the freewheel hard? Soft? Reason I ask is this: the freewheel is a Chosen freewheel hub with 150 teeth with which to engage when them force is put on the pedals. Under lighter loads- no issues. Under heavier loads, I find the freewheel can “skip” one of those 150 teeth before engaging. Going up hills is the worst, especially when I do not have a smooth spin. “Crack crack crack” with each pedal stroke, unless I let off on the power, then all is silent. If you know what to look for, you can feel the free hub slip one tooth before it engages. Might this be what y’all are experiencing?

 

[Postapocalypsia]

Have the same thing with my S40. Drives me bonkers for over a year now. Tightened, loosened, adjusted every nut and bolt I can find. Spokes too. Cant seem to get the noisy snapping issue resolved when putting force on the peddles. Mostly because I can't figure out where it is coming from. Somewhere between my knees to the gears. You can hear me coming 20 yards away. I will try the tape layer at the band clamp at the steer tube to see if this resolves the issue.
The bike otherwise is a blast to ride.

Well, there is some consolation in knowing I am not alone with this! I too will try the tape and recheck every nut & bolt, and if I find the magic fix I will post the solution

 

[Postapocalypsia]

Query: does the snapping sound happen when you are trying to engage the freewheel hard? Soft? Reason I ask is this: the freewheel is a Chosen freewheel hub with 150 teeth with which to engage when them force is put on the pedals. Under lighter loads- no issues. Under heavier loads, I find the freewheel can “skip” one of those 150 teeth before engaging. Going up hills is the worst, especially when I do not have a smooth spin. “Crack crack crack” with each pedal stroke, unless I let off on the power, then all is silent. If you know what to look for, you can feel the free hub slip one tooth before it engages. Might this be what y’all are experiencing?

I have tried hard and soft pedalling, sudden and gradual, biasing one side at a time, with and without cleats...while it is more apparent under load it is still inconsistent. Thanks for the tip, I will work on my even cadence as well!

 

[jond]

If you’re going to tape. Pull out regrease the bb same time.

 

[Postapocalypsia]

If you’re going to tape. Pull out regrease the bb same time.

Do you mean the saddle where the pedal assembly sits in the BB?
Anyway, I had success with the tape - in my case plumbers tape. If the front end squeaked today I didn't hear it. Mind you it was pretty windy here today so the sound may have been muffled
Thanks for the advice

 

[bladderhead]

My Silvio clicked once every rotation of the pedals. It used to do this for about a month, then stop for about a month, then start again. My 1950s Claude Butler's left pedal used to come loose. I carried a tool so I could fix it in the street. It used to do it all the time for about a month, then stop, then start again. If you like a bike enough you just live with stuff like this.

 

[David Most]

I was experiencing a similar creak in my (new to me, and quite unused) S30. After playing with metallic parts (e.g., nuts and bolts) and tightening a slightly loose headset, I noticed that I still could generate the sound by moving the handlebar back and forth. I then discovered that the creaking was due to cable housing rubbing a bit on the frame. Removing a zip tie and adjusting the cables a bit eliminated the creak.

 

[DocS]

I experienced the same noise on my Vendetta about a year or so ago... After trying nearly everything, someone suggested checking my pedals.
I removed my pedals and put on some others I had laying around and behold!!! The Click of great annoyance was gone!!!

The Pedal Bearings were pretty bad, so I just swapped out new pedals...

Hope it helps.

Blessings,
DocS (Rudy)