Loud tick sound when pedaling, difficult to find source

Lately I have quite annoying loud tick sound coming from somewhere in the transmission system.
Characteristics:
-Does not happen all the time.
-If it is happening and you stop pedaling for half a second and then continue it is most of the time gone.
-I can actually feel the ticking on the pedals.
-Happens ± for every 180 degrees of turning of the pedaling wheel.

First I thought it was the freewheel then I thought it where the pedals (original ones), now I don´t know anymore.

I recommend to read this post:

Strida 5.0 “clicking” noise

A test might be very simple, just change the direction of the cup spring (part nr. 363,[367]), but for short test rides only!!!

Please let us know what you find out.

I have read the whole thread , but I fail to see how it would produce my problem, certainly the click I can feel strongly through my feet on the pedals.
Could it be the internals of the freewheel?

I meant that the point in time when the noise is produced might depend on the pedals position.
(The moment when the most high force is produced at every 180 degree of the beltwheel.)

Would it be the freewheel, then the sound could not happen each time at the same position of the pedals, logically.
By each turn of the (front) beltwheel the freewheel has to make 3,3 turns.

Sorry for my bad English, do you understand?

I think that the click, pdroduced by the 373 bolt, can be felt on the pedals.
Did you check the central crank bolts?

The only thing around the bottom bracket which could be damaged, are for my opinion the bearings, but then should the clicking happen all the time, not temporarily.

Well it [size=150]could[/size] actually come from the freewheel.
I also experience sometimes a loud tick sound that I know comes from my “badly sealed” freewheel especially after having ridden my Strida in the rain. I will not claim it appears every 180° of crank revolution but it only appears when I apply force on the pedals (well yes, obviously every 180 ° :laughing: ).
The sound comes from the ratchet mechanism that engages in the freewheel with some delay. When I stop pedalling and then pedal again then the sound would eventually disappear because the ratchet engages on a different place.

The solution that works for me is to put some fine oil between the fixed and the rotating part of the freewheel. The better solution is to replace the freewheel, but considering the ratio price/shipment cost, I delay my purchase untill I need something else from Vanmoof.

That’s really weird :open_mouth:

It’s never too late to learn something new, thank you Bietrume.
I’ve been indeed curious if you would have an idea for stridasxfolder’s problem!

Maybe Strida’s just don’t like Belgian weather :wink:

The 180 degrees was just to put a number on it, I will check if it really is only when I put downward force on one of the pedals.

Yeah I think bikes in general don’t like the weather and the roads I’m taking.

Is it possible that the internals of freewheel is ‘half’ broken?
That could explain why it stops happening when I stop pedaling for a while (different offset in freewheel).

Edit: reacted too fast, from reading your report Bietrume, I think we have the same problem.

What sort of oil do you use and how much?

Seems that it is necessary to remove the freewheel for oiling.

@Bietrume: Please, is that correct?

A few minutes ago I’ve unmounted the outer ring by removing the six small Phillips bolts, but the ratchet mechanism can’t be seen (like at the second of Amuro’s pics of this post: Very satisfied with alloy freewheel page 2)

With good working seals on the freewheel you would not be able to lubricate it without taking it apart. But … as my freewheel swallows water and dirt :imp: , there is no reason why it wouldn’t swallow fine oil either :smiling_imp:

So I have used WD40 and the noise was gone for some weeks but WD40 is not a real lubricant, so I now use fine oil (the one your mother would use for her sewing machine :wink: ): I put 10…20 drops of oil between the fixed and the moving part of the freewheel:

I also tried motorbike chain lubricant, which is liquid when sprayed but gets sticky when the solvent has evaporated. It did not work as well as the fine oil, probably because the chain lubricant was still too viscous to penetrate the freewheel properly.

Even if freewheel and the inner ring (also held in place by six phillips bolts) is removed the pawls are still not reachable - only bearing balls could be seen:

I guess a pin wrench is required for further disassembly.

You will be right.
Interesting that half of the teeth tips are gone :open_mouth:
How much kms (approximately) was this wheel in use?

~4000 km.

Here is a better photo:

New freewheel for comparison:

I also wanted to lubricate it (my strida looks like fixed gear bicycle when I walk it =)). I’ll post images of disassembled freewheel when I find a correct wrench.

Thank you, one_half_3544, the pics are really good, the difference between the worn out freewheel and the new one is clearly visible!

Hello one_half_3544

I guess it’s time for you to replace the freewheel because the belt might start popping up as seen in this post: [url]Photos of Stridas in Hong Kong]

In what kind of road conditions have you been riding your Strida to get so much wear: dust, salt, rain, mud? Or was the belt tension maybe too high?

An update, I tried to use some fine oil to get rid of the noise but it didn’t help.
I also started to notice a rythmical ticking, much faster than one freewheel turn.
I really think something is broken inside the freewheel.
I now also start to notice that when I set off the freewheel skips multiple times. I think the teeth inside the freewheel are worn out or even broken, so under high force it needs to ‘find’ the still good teeth (that can handle the force) to get going.

My explanation is maybe not clear, maybe somebody that understands it and has the proper technical terms can translate it.

I’m using my Strida SX now for 11 months (so still in warranty). Isn’t that a bit quick to wear out a freewheel?

My freewheel also looks like this, but I am quite certain the problem of the ticking and skipping is inside the freewheel, anyways it clearly needs replacing.

Supposedly there is no Strida shop near you where the freewheel could be changed (by way of trial, to have clarity)?

May I ask for how many kms your freewheel was used?

No no shop near. I have done approx 3000km.