What bottom bracket is installed in your frame?

It's hard to tell anything from your description. Is it a ticking that happens with each pedal stroke? Does it happen all the time or just when you stand? It's tempting to think these things are the BB but they can literally come from anywhere on the bike as every pedal stroke you put pressure on most areas of the bike. Usually it's something a bit loose, particularly on a new bike, but could just need a drop of grease or wax somewhere. Places to check: BB (make sure it's lubed and there's no play), pedals (tight, lubed), chainring bolts (tight), front and rear skewers (tight), spokes (no loose spokes), cassette (tight), seatpost (tight, lubed), stem (both ends), headset (lubed, tight), even little things like derailleur hangers can tick if loose, etc etc etc Just go through them one by one, easiest ones first.

Thanks so much for the response. The ticking happens with each pedal stroke, whether seated or standing. The pedals are lubed and tight, I have several different wheel sets, spokes are tight and there is no difference in sound using any of them, skewers are tight, cassettes are tight, I just replaced the stock stem with a 120, headset is tight and lubed, and rear derailleur was just replaced. My seat post is tight, but I will remove and lube it as you suggest. Again, this does not occur when I single leg pedal, as I did that to see if it was being caused by one side or the other. The rear brake cable is tight across the bottom of the bottom bracket and I was thinking that maybe the flex in the frame while pedaling was causing the cable to relax and then contact the frame.

Sometimes its the least obvious thing you could imagine. Several years ago I built up a QR Lucero, and had the same issue. No matter what I re-torqued/greased/replaced, the creak on the left downstroke continued. A friend told me that he once had the same issue, and the problem turned out to be the downtube bottle cage bolts creaking. I greased the cage bolts, and it hasn't creaked since...

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"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"

So many possibilities of where it could be coming from. I had a similar issue in the past and the ticking noise was coming from the pedal and shoe combo... but like you it didn't do it when I single leg pedaled. I guess the angle/force on my single leg pedaling didn't activate the noise. I put on a different set of pedals I had, and used a different pair of shoes and the noise went away. Something to check... Good Luck

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Member of the Litespeed Factory Team
www.litespeed.com

What bottom bracket is installed in your frame?

Shimano Hollowtech BSA threaded

Not sure this is much help...

I have a felt IA 2 and had a similar sound... I swore it was the bottom bracket. Turns out it was the seat I had on there that was creaking and literally echoing down the frame. What I swore was happening with every pedal stroke was just happening with my slight pelvis tilt with each pedal stroke.

Hollowtech or Hollowtech II ?

+1 anecdote with pedals.

The same issue, creaking every revolution coming from BB area. Complained to LBS, they didn’t find anything.

It was left PowerTap P1 pedal and the creaking comes and goes every so often. May be it depends on pedals getting wet.

As others have said, could be 1,000,000+ things and it usually comes from the least expected source.

Easiest thing to do or let the forum know is....
- Clicking or creak?
- is it a rotational sound or kind or random/no pattern - does the clicking occur in a pattern. Ever wheel spin, every chain rotation (would change speeds in different gears), every crank rotation, etc.....


Rotational/patterned noises could be bearings somewhere, bad chain link/master link, bent chain ring tooth....
Randomness sounds could be seat post/clamp, stem loose....

Carbon frames......no matter where the problem is, it ALWAYS sounds like it is coming from the bottom bracket :)

Two easiest things to look at first is remove and clean your seat post & clamp as well as your stem bolts and clamp area.
Good luck!

Do you happen to have a DuraAce9100 cassette installed?

Hollowtech

Ultra CS 6800

The few times I've tracked down a creak I've done it by cycling around a quiet area and varying as much as I can. The same way you did in and out of the saddle. You can try cycling with running shoes, hands off the bars (which is why it's a quiet area), weight as far back/forward as you can. As a quick test you can spray something like GT80 on one area at a time.

Some thoughts here that might give you some things to try.

From my original post: "It is in synch with my pedal strokes and sounds like a ticking clock. If I single leg pedal the noise isn't there, regardless of which leg I use. "

I have removed and cleaned the seat post and will see if that helps when I ride tomorrow

Hollowtech bottom brackets have an Octalink axle in them and Shimano stopped making them quite a long time ago.

Are you sure that you don't have a Hollowtech II bottom bracket?

I copied and pasted directly from the Felt website.

The Felt website is probably wrong.

What model number is your crankset?

Chainring bolts can be a source of ticking with every pedal stroke.

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"They know f_ck-all over at Slowtwitch"
- Lionel Sanders

Check that the right crank isn't hitting the front derailleur cable that was not cut short enough.

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

I have had mystery clicks a few times and thought all of them were coming from the bottom bracket. One ended up being my saddle rails. One was the interface between the stem and handle bars. The last was the dumbest of all, it was the spoke mounted magnet for the bike computer hitting the sensor.

It’s is bottom bracket bearings. It’s always the bb30 bearings on that bike. The bike is fine. Your options are to become zen and learn to live with it, do something drastic like epoxy the bearings in the frame, or get rid of the bike.

It’s a hollow tech 2. Felt ars came with bb30 bearings, adapter cups, and shimano 2 piece cranks.

Dip bike in bath of WD40. Wipe clean.