Click Clack Click Clack

[ponchopirate]

I know my chain is in need of a replacement soon, but when I put my bike up on the center stand and spin the rear wheel by hand I can hear an audible "click, clack, click, clack" noise from the front sprocket.  Is this normal or am I getting closer to God by riding with my chain/sprocket in this condition?  Should I stop riding until I replace my chain and sprockets?

[Anonymous]

Chains make noise.  How loud is it?  To test for a worn chain:

Grab the chain at the center of the back sprocket and pull it out as far as you can.  Does it pull out more than half way up the tooth?

Do you have something stuck by your front sprocket?  Take off the cover and look.  You'll probably want to clean it out a bit once the cover is off.  How does the sprocket look?

[Richard UK]

Also look at the chain along its longest length when straight i.e. the bottom run between the sprockets.  Does it form a nice even slight gentle curve or are any of the links sitting up at odd angles?  If they do, then the O-rings have failed and the chain links are 'galling' or 'binding'.  This happens when the links curve around the sprockets and then fail to move back in line again when they come off due to lack of lubrication between the pins and rollers of the chain.  It's the O-rings that seal the grease in here.  These dry links will make more of a racket than a good chain as they move.  Time for a new chain.

[ponchopirate]

Thanks for the info.  I definitely have some links that are hanging up.  Guess I won't be riding until I get a new chain.  

[sprint_9]

Join the club, Im not going to ride anymore this year either, cold weather and my chain have put an end to this season.  My chain had been making noise for a couple of months now but recently it has started to clak very loud, so instead of ripping my bike apart from a broken chain I have called it quits for the year.  Better to be safe then sorry.

[luksi]

I had a funny front sprocket noise due to a chain that was too tight.  Also, if I turned the rear wheel backward while on the centerstand, it sometimes would drag on the casing just below the front sprocket (lower chain on lower casing)...you can see it if you look close...it didn't make the noise off the centersstand, when chain properly(?) adjusted,  and with me sitting on it pushing the whole bike backward.