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I bought my bike just 2 weeks ago and I always hear a creaking noise coming from the bottom bracket area. I can hear it only when I press hard on the right pedal on the downstroke. It sounds like a repeated metallic click, if that does make any sense. I brought it back to the shop and they tightened the crank axle, switched pedals and shortened the chain but the noise is still present. Do you have any idea? Today I have tried other new bike of the same model and they don't make this noise.

EDIT: I am not a technician myself and I don't really know how to fix this issue but I really appreciate your answer. I bought my bike at a Decathlon store a few weeks ago and this week I went there 4 times and talked to 4 different technicians and none of them could even hear any noise. They already "fixed" the front derailleur more than once (Only limiter screw) and it is working perfectly, so I think that's not the issue. Another one suggested that the chainring bolts could be loose, but on my bike there is none (The ring on the Rockrider ST 520 are attached differently)

The noise I am hearing is present only when I push the right pedal, so there is nothing when I don't pedal or when I use the left one. What I hear is a fast repeated metallic click and I have no idea where it is coming from.

SuperMarcomen
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It could be a couple different things but new bike and metallic click plus only happening pushing hard on the right crank points to a very high likelihood of the chain rubbing against the front derailleur cage. This could be caused by either or a combination of:

  • The front derailleur cable has lost a little tension, which is common as bikes break in. Solve by tightening the barrel adjuster, which is easy to search for here.
  • The front shifter has trim stops you're not using properly. Again there are many questions about this here. This is more consistent with a shop getting it back and spending some time on it and the noise still persisting. Shop people will use the trim stops without thinking when they test ride a bike. Making sure trim usage is gone over with each customer is something that can fall between the cranks in sales and service interactions, and complicating matters is that some customers vibe like they don't want or need to be taken to school.
  • The front derailleur high limit screw might be too far in, although depending on the bike/crank/chainline/chainrings it could be how it is for a reason.
Nathan Knutson
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Do as above suggests with the deurailer cable tension /limit screws , but if that doesnt solve your problem (park tools on youtube has a great guide). See below:

Could be the bottom bracket in which case tighten the bottom bracket retaining screw or inspect the bottom bracket bearings.Note that also in some expensive bikes the bottom bracket hole is not concentric (cannondale and others are notorious for such design) causing a high stress fit in some areas and low stress in others for the bearings , it only takes for the high stress area to wear and it will be forever sloppy unless you make a high tolerance non concentric carrier(see hambini on youtube).

Conversely if its a cheap bike , it could be where the chainrings interface to your crankset arms (they press are pressed into the crankset on cheap bikes, because steel and aluminium construction is used and cannot be welded together).When it wears the press fit becomes worns and starts clicking.

binaryOps20
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Try standing and pedalling hard. İf creaks gone, then it's the seatpost. Clean seattube and seatpost, grease and put it back.

Check if creaking occurs in one specific chainring. İf that's so, it may be the chainring bolt.

Square taper bottom bracket creaks are super rare. İt can be the spindle to crank interface.

Does your bike have a rack?

Barış Atasoy
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