"Clicking" chain

[chingylee]

I have had my Raleigh AIRlite U6 Comp for about 2 weeks. During my downstroke where pressure is applied to the pedal and crank the chain makes a click or crunch sound. I have checked the chain for wear, chainset and cassette teeth and rear and front derailieur. I have found no problem with any of them as the teeth are not bend or damaged and the rear derailleur is moving the chain from sprocket to sprocket with ease. I may have overlooked something or missed it completely.
I am new to the cycling world and want to get deeply involved with maintaining my own pride and joy.
Please help as this problem is really annoying!!!!!
Thanks

[Alex Ramon]

One thing to try: <a href="http://bikeride.com/replace-pedals/">remove your pedals</a> and grease the threads. This is often the cause of a lot of phantom noises. Let me know if that helps...

[srglassw]

This probably isn't what is causing your noise but...<br />
When I first started riding again I was getting a clicking noise (but no crunch) on the down pedal. Turned out to be the plastic tip on my shoelace hitting the chainring as my right foot passed around each stroke.

[chingylee]

In regards to srglassw, there was an additional clicking which was coming from the zip at the bottom of my trousers hitting off the crankarm. I was hoping that was the issue, so I fastened the velcro strap over the zip to conceal it but the clicking still occured (Grrrr).
Mr Ramon, firstly thanks very much for the advice, I removed the pedals, cleaned and applied LifeLine Anti Seize Grease to the threads, it did not help. I did follow the excellent videos on this site for checking stiff chain links and derailleur servicing etc. After adjusting the rear derailleur it improved shifting (which I already thoguth was ok) and has dampened the clicking sound from the chain (totally eliminated the "crunch" and slipping.) Now the clicking appears in its dampened state equally across the left and right pedal downstrokes now.
I did notice the article about WD40's damaging effects, I have already sprayed this everywhere which has remained on my bike for 3 days, after reading the article I scrubbed the bike to get rid of the residue, dried and applied Fenwicks Wet Conditions Lube to the chain. Could the WD40 already have caused damage inducing this clicking???
So I am stuck now after doing the above, messing around with the 3 adjustment screws on the rear derailleur, checking wheel alignment, checking for stiff links and cleaning and lubricating everything!
I have found myself just giving my bike the thousand yard stare and near enough pleading and grovelling asking god why me!? Very confusing

[Alex Ramon]

Yes, it sounds very frustrating. I wouldn't worry too much about having used WD-40, just make sure you lubricate those components from now on. Let me know if you having any luck with the clicking noise, it sounds like you have done everything you can to diagnose it. Maybe give it a break and come back to it and try again later (sometimes works for me)

[artcat2]

I had that same problem and it turned out to be my chain riding up on my outer chain ring. I replaced my outer chain ring and bought a narrower chain and that solved it.
When I had asked the bike mechanic would a narrower chain be better he said all chains were the same length. After that he decided to get his calipers and measure them and found out all chains are not the same width. The SRAM chain .....a previous bike shop put on was scraping my front derailleur so the mechanic measured that chain compared to a shimano chain he had and found that the shimano chain was narrower. I dug a little deeper and found that the HG-93 chain is narrower than the one of have on now.
Different components combined do make a difference.

[DaveM]

You should check to make sure that the bolts that hold your crank arms on are tight enough. A loose crank arm can also cause a crackling or creaking sound and riding these loose can permanently damage them. Also check the chainring bolts holding the rings to the crankarms. Less likely, but possible source of noise.

[chingylee]

Firstly thanks to all for the suggestions.
The clicking has returned though!!! It returned on the right hand side of the chainset/BB area. This is after disassembling, cleaning, drying, greasing and reassembling. I got caught in a downpour thus causing the bike and every to be covered in dirt, I decided to disassemble, clean, dry, regrease and reassemble. Now the clicking has returned. I checked to ensure the crank arms rotate freely and there is no 'give' in the area.
The chainset I have on the Raleigh AIRlite u6 comp is the Shimano Tiagra 4550, please can someone help me to solve this issue, I am afraid I am doing permanent damage.

[artcat2]

"When I had asked the bike mechanic would a narrower chain be better he said all chains were the same length."
I meant the same width not the same length.
Anyway get someone to ride beside you or behind you. It does help in finding problems. I rode behind a friend of mine this year and we found his problem by doing so. He couldn't find it but by me riding behind him I could see what was going on.