Might be a pedal.

Standing, sitting, or both?

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

I took care of a 'bottom bracket' click once by removing the pedals to clean and regrease the threads. Funny thing is that the clicking only started after I replaced the bottom bracket so of course I didn't think it was the pedals at first.

As noted, lots of potential causes. As Jim mentioned, the pedal is probably the most common, followed by the BB.

Some quick rule-outs.

-If it only happens out of the saddle or under hard pedaling it may be the QR and the fork (open, tighten and reclamp).

-When you get the noise, try removing one hand from the bars (try both) to see if it's the handlebar/stem.

-Try pedaling with only one leg (soft pedal the other).

-Try another pair of shoes to see if it's the cleat/pedal interface.

-Remove, lube, and reinstall/torque the pedal to rule out the pedal/crank interface.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Sheldon is quite good - https://www.sheldonbrown.com/creaks.html#bottom

I'd emphasise find your most reliable way to reproduce it. Then do easy stuff 1st. Does it happen out of saddle (If no - seat post? saddle?) With almost all your weight off the handle bars? With different shoes or pedals? Assuming you have them or when cycling with running shoes on?

Just because of the way you describe it I'd take off the large chain ring and put it back on clean, re-greased and tightened properly. Then pick your way through Sheldon's list. If you can get someone else to cycle on a turbo you might get a sense of where it is coming from.

I had this recently when breaking out my turbo trainer and older road bike. It turned out to be the pedal bearings that had developed play. I had noticed this click on and off in the past but never been able to track it down. I then swapped in some pedals from another bike, which after 40mins of turbo started clicking and it turned out those bearings had gone too :( Did get to treat myself to some new SPD-SLs though which I now prefer to the previous Look Keos.

One time I had a click/creak between rear wheel spokes rubbing at an intersection. Didn't make the connection until I swapped wheels.

Check your chainring bolts are tight. Whilst in my experience, this would normally be more of a creak sound than a click, I have found chainring bolts that are even just slightly below torque specs often lead to some noise. Although not a bike mechanic by trade, I do a lot of work on the bikes of my clubmates and find a surprisingly large number of bikes with this issue.

However, the recent crank replacement really feels the main clue to me. You could have either over tightened or under tightened, both are very easy to do depending on the crank model.

Then aside from the above, the suggestions from others all definitely plausible. Good luck!

Good advice from others...
I don't have experience with disc wheels, but on normal wheels, I'd remove the quick releases and clean/lube them, then re-install and make sure properly tightened. Also clean around the dropouts in the frame.

You could also swap in a different rear and/or front wheel to rule out anything to do with wheels.

For the bottom bracket, maybe just start by grabbing the end of each crankarm at the same time, and try rocking them back and forth to see if there is any play, which could indicate that the crank needs to be tightened a little more (or on a trek, the BB shell may not be holding the bearings tight.....).

Make sure cleats are clean and tight, and clean the pedal surfaces with a paper towel with some oil on it.

Let us know what it ends up being!

I have this same problem. Noticed it didn't click while standing and pedalling. It's my seat. It's not all the time and not worth getting rid of my broken in, very comfortable saddle. I could probably tighten a few screws and be good to go.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Along the lines of what the others have said, my experience starting with the easy fix first.

- Tighten your cleats.

- Tighten your seat and seat post bolts.

- Tighten your chainring bolts.

- Tighten your pedals (and try wrapping the threads with plumber's tape).

- Swap out your wheels to see if they're the problem.

- Service your bottom bracket.

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

And if these don't resolve the issue, check your headset too ! As of course the bike sees left and right alternating cycles which can get a slightly loose headset or knackered bearing in a headset moving.

I had that on my mtb just the other week.

My road bike was doing this and it was actually the chain. I dropped my chain once with a bad shift *gasp* and it slightly bent one of the links. That caused it to click a little bit at a regular interval when it would go through the rear cogs.

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Team RWB Rochester / Team First Knight

Since it's Shimano, I'd add "remove the left crank lube/grease spline and tightening bolts then reinstall, " before BB service. I had some clickety-clacks coming from there recently. If you stand over the bike with the cranks at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock grab the cranks and pull them both up/push them both down at the same time. Do this while grabbing the pedals and then just on the arms to find out if it's pedal related or crank related.

Thanks with all the advise.

I'll start with removing the pedals and go from there.
Will report back!

Old knees.....I recommend a daily dose of Glucosamine.

Update:

Thanks again for all the advice.
I believe the sound was coming from the left crank arm not being pushed in + tightened enough.

Removed & re-greased the pedals - still clicked.
Tightened all exposed bolts I can find throughout w/torque wrench. (really enjoy the 'click' from the wrench).
Removed & re-greased crank arms. - click is gone but now a subtle 'squeak'. I'll re-grease.
If the curfew is lifted today, I'll take it out for a spin to confirm since the test was done on my indoor trainer.