Winter Weather Riding Blues -

[Old Proflexer]

I've been trying to get out a little more but with all the rain in Southern California -
(yeah, I know, don't you guy's just have earthquakes, riots, fires and Hollywood awards shows?) it's been a little tough.   

So, I opted to track down this recurring clicking sound somewhere in my drive train / bottom bracket area.   
I've stripped this particular 4500 a couple of times down to the nubbies and reassembled only to have it come
back and drive me well - - - - to the point of frustration - i was going to find this little puppy 'cause the only
thing left would be aging body parts making the sounds and that was not an acceptable explanation. 
Every turn of the crank "click" "click" - didn't matter what gear it was, pressure on my shoes,
in and out pressure on the pedals, bottom bracket, pivot, shift and brake guides - tried 'em all and examined all carbon for cracks etc..

I did notice that when I went thru a stream that the noise would go away but return when dry - thought maybe the
bottom bracket shell and carbon?  Long story somewhat short - my XT crankset was making the noise, couldn't feel it but
turned out to be the culprit.     Right at the crankarm where the chain rings attach.
Also noticed that my chain has stretched well beyond it's functional life and explained
my occasional ghost shifting as I was only hooking up on 5-6 teeth on the big chain ring and any type of stomping on
the pedals caused an unpleasant disengagement of the chain.

So, had a little time and cleaned up the beast, put on some new pads front and rear, gave the rear tire a trip to the garbage
can and reinvested in something with traction. Most of my stuff is fireroads and single track, having big knobs on mid section of tires just seems
like a bit of a waste to me but I find them quite helpful on the sides when leaning into a turn at speed. 
Partial to a pretty much worn out Velociraptor rear and something near bald in the front - seems to me to be the best of all worlds for general xc.
Some of the gang I usually ride with will make fun of my balding rear tires at times, but I figure if all they can only see is my rear tire,
that's a good thing.

Any whooo - Should be all ready for the next break in the weather and hopefully I'll be able to ride it hard enough to break something (on the bike).

Hope all you guys are doing well and can spend more time riding than talking and typing about it.

OP

[shovelon]

Looks like nice weather this weekend though.

I had an annoying clicking on my Oz, that came and went. Only did it on pedal strokes.

A few months back when pulling the drive side crank of to take photos of the BB shell for a member here, I found that the bonded threaded ring was slightly loose. I worked it out, cleaned and JB welded it back, and no more clicking since.