Drivetrain clicking / ticking

[radam]

Bike: Blur TRc
Drivetrain: 1x setup with GXP direct mount ring, XT 11-36 cassette, XT shadow+ rear mech and KMC X10L chain. Cassette and chainring have ~500 miles, chain has ~50.
Shift cable and full-length housing are ~1 month old (when I built up the frame)

For the first two weeks, everything was fine. Now I get a clicking / ticking noise under power, sounds like its coming from the cassette. This happens in most gears. Turning the barrel adjuster on the shifter can mitigate it slightly in some gears, but generally as long as the shifting is adjusted so the bike, you know, shifts properly, I get the noise.

Brought it to the shop to try to get the derailleur hanger checked. My shop sucks so they glanced at it for two seconds and said it didn't look bent. Shop guys also just spun the cranks in the stand for a few revs and concluded that my shift cable routing was the issue and/or that one of the zip ties routing the cable was pinching it. Re-routed cable, eliminated possible pinch point, lubed chain for good measure, double-checked the cable tension... still clicks.

I have a new hanger on order from bc.com (but it's backordered) as I still suspect this is the cause of the trouble. I've had hangers that were almost imperceptibly bent in the past and worst case scenario, I end up with a spare hanger on hand for when I actually do smash one.

One thing I noticed while giving everything a once over was that the rear mech cage has a bit of uneven resistance to going through its motions fore/aft, even with the clutch turned off. With the clutch on, it has a notchier, on-off feeling to it. I don't have another clutch mech lying around so I can't compare against that, but it also doesn't feel quite as smooth as other mechs with the clutch off. I had tried dripping some lube onto the pivots but either it didn't get in there or it didn't really help.

So.. what else am I missing, as far as things to check? I'd love to get this sorted out without replacing the cassette, but I know it's not out of the realm of possibilities that that's the cause. I should add though that's it's clicking even way out at the 11t and 13t, which get used for like one minute per ride usually.

[spudbumkin]

Does your chain have a pin/pins sticking out too far?

[radam]

I'll double check but I don't think so. New chain, only removed a couple links, didn't add any. It would have to be a lot of pins sticking out to be the cause though with the frequency I hear it.. it's not like once or twice everything few crank revolutions, its much more frequent even at low crank revs.

[::: :::]

Service bottom bracket

[XXX-er]

really it could be anything but its very easy to just make sure the wheel is fully seated and the quick release is tight enough, I seen 2 shops miss a half tight QR bug

[Mr. Toad]

How old is the frame? When I've chased down noises and the problem isn't obvious in the first 5 minutes, it always ends up being the frame bearing or the du bushing.

[muted]

New chain, only removed a couple links, didn't add any.

Try removing one section more, I had a very similar problem with a new chain, too that was driving me nuts. I removed some links at first, too.

[muted]

New chain, only removed a couple links, didn't add any.

Try removing one section more, I had a very similar problem with a new chain, too that was driving me nuts. I removed some links at first, too. Only clicked/skipped under power going uphill, so shop rats couldn't figure it out in the parking lot.

[mntlion]

can you put another wheel in and see if you still have the problem? will eliminate issues.

does it happen when pedaling only? when coasting?

does it happen faster at faster speeds?

does it happen in the same place in the pedal stroke each time? or the same place in the wheels rotation each time?

my guess is small bend in hanger, get a DAG2, and see. Also be aware that a new hanger is NOT always straight too.

[El Chupacabra]

really it could be anything but its very easy to just make sure the wheel is fully seated and the quick release is tight enough, I seen 2 shops miss a half tight QR bug

Along these lines, check the derailleur hanger screws and derailleur mount bolt for tightness.

Any chance you're using a wheel that requires a thin spacer behind the cassette, and it's missing? (does the cassette wobble on the freehub body at all?) Also is the cassette lock ring tight?

[jono]

The clicking when it shifts right sounds like what I've seen with a bent hanger. Hard to imagine that you wore out all the cogs at the same time, especially the smallest ones; if anything, a worn chain or even worn chainring+new chain seems more likely than cogs.

[jqualls]

Is the chaining a narrow/wide ring. I had a similar problem with an XX1 ring that became worn. It first started as a clicking noise under heavy load but quickly got worse. I had a spare ring and it resolved the problem. I would also squirt some grease in the grease ports if you haven't done it recently.

[radam]

I went ahead and lubed the friction clutch in the derailleur and that may have helped a bit. The notchiness in the cage movement is gone at least. I checked the bottom bracket and the drive side bearing is on it's way out, so that'll get replaced shortly. The noise is most definitely from the back of the bike though... either the chain/cassette interface or chain jockey/wheel interface. The noise is not present when pedaling easy or coasting.. under hard power only. Ground speed doesn't affect clicking frequency.. it's related to pedaling speed. Happens at multiple points through a full crank revolution. not a n/w ring. I may try taking another link out but I need to double-check that's not going to cause problems when the suspension is at max chain growth. My money is still on the hanger being very slightly tweaked. Hopefully the one I ordered ships soon.

[Meadow Skipper]

Loose crank arms? Just spitballin'.

[detrusor]

My mystery was 2 fold.

1. Clean and lube the dropout dérailleur hanger interface

2. Check that the cassette body is tight to the cassette and clean and lube the interface there as well.

Good luck

[jono]

Only under hard power sounds less likely to be the derailleur. A worn chainring with a newer chain can cause derailleur noise under load, though. If the wear lets the chain climb the chainring teeth slightly, that movement will jerk the lower pulley forward suddenly. Sounds like a misalignment of the derailleur as it's happening.

I've thrown an old chain back on while waiting for a new ring in that case. It solved the noise but obviously it's temporary.

[radam]

old chain had the same issue, fwiw.

[::: :::]

I went ahead and lubed the friction clutch in the derailleur and that may have helped a bit. The notchiness in the cage movement is gone at least. I checked the bottom bracket and the drive side bearing is on it's way out, so that'll get replaced shortly. The noise is most definitely from the back of the bike though... either the chain/cassette interface or chain jockey/wheel interface. The noise is not present when pedaling easy or coasting.. under hard power only. Ground speed doesn't affect clicking frequency.. it's related to pedaling speed. Happens at multiple points through a full crank revolution. not a n/w ring. I may try taking another link out but I need to double-check that's not going to cause problems when the suspension is at max chain growth. My money is still on the hanger being very slightly tweaked. Hopefully the one I ordered ships soon.

still think its your BB

[equilibrium]

I had the same issue with the xt rear. Put chain oil on that bastard and it stopped.

[equilibrium]

Take the chain off and compress the rear. You will hear the clicking.

[joetron]

Re grease your pedal threads. Takes 2min and had has solved many clicks in my experience.

Mentioned already, but x2 for a thin coat of grease under cassette and re-torque cassette lock ring, as well as thin coat of grease between hanger and frame.

[radam]

Re-greasing the pedal threads helped a lot, at least pedaling in the driveway. Hard to really test until grinding it out on the trail. I'm thinking a new bottom bracket will get me 95% of the way to click-free.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys

[jamal]

I had a slight twist in my chain this year, slightly after I installed it, possibly from a drop and getting it caught between the little ring and bb shell. That was making an intermittent click/grind that took me awhile to figure out.

I also managed to bend a rear cog slightly that was causing it to want to catch in the gear below it. Just used a hammer and punch to straighten it out, and took some pliers to the chain. It's been working fine all summer but bext year I will replace the cassette when I do the chain, and possibly the rings.

[stuckathuntermtn]

I get this annoying creaking sometimes.
Do those stupid plastic chainline spacers that Race Face uses creak? It almost sounds like that's what it is.
BB has been replaced with Shimano, pedals are greased. Although, Race Face cranks also have those metal pedal washers.
Anyone have a guess?

[SchralphMacchio]

Last time I had a grinding/clicking derailler noise, took me a while to figure out that after pulling the chain I had inadvertently rerouted it on the wrong side of the tab in the cage! Now I've got two nice grooves in my derailler cage ...

Radar I bet it's your BB bearings, hopefully that fixes it!