Mountain Bike Gear Noise

Depending on the style of your bike there will be barrel adjusters located on the shifters cables and or near the rear derailleur.

Mountain bike gear noise. Modern shifters come with the ability to trim the derailleur which means that the shifter has some shifting leeway and can move the cage out slightly to prevent the chain from rubbing. Because the angle of the chain changes as you shift it will rub against the derailleur cage in some gears causing a clicking noise. On geared bikes derailleurs push and pull the chain into gear. Hope that makes sense.

Trim the front derailleur. With each pedal revolution you hear a loud tick. Fix the noise by fine tuning the front derailleur high gear limit screw to limit the derailleur cage so it can t touch the crankarm. Best to shift to your smaller front chainring.

With the small chainring you should be able to use the biggest rear cog down to perhaps the 3rd or 4th smallest rear cog. If you are experiencing noise in the front of the bike as you go over obstacles in the trail or over rough road it could be a sign that you need to either tighten your headset or clean and re grease the bearings that often get contaminated with dirt. First thing s first check to make sure your headset is tight. Most shifters and derailleurs use a cable to adjust the gears.

If you have a kickstand check to make sure that the crankarm isn t striking it on each revolution. If you try to use a bigger cog ie lower or easier gear the chainline is too extreme and you may hear a rubbing noise as a result. A poorly adjusted derailleur is an incredibly common reason for chain clicking and jumping.