Turbo Vado SL 4.0 Tick-Tock Noise

mfd14534

New Member
Region
USA
I have a Turbo Vado SL 4 with about 1700 miles on it. When I pedal between 40 rpm - 50 rpm at a higher power level (like accelerating or climbing) I hear and feel a Tick-Tock noise once per crank revolution. It goes away when I get up to 80 rpm. The noise happens in all gears seated or standing. It also happens with the power on or off, but it seems easier to recreate with the power on. I can't recreate this noise on the work stand.

I've changed the chain and the bike shifts well. I've cleaned and lubed the seat post and rails, jockey wheels and chain ring. The noise seemed to go away for a while when I changed the chain but it came back within 100 miles.

One thing that seems suspicious is that rear derailleur has a fair amount of play and If I wiggle it around it makes a sound similar to what I'm hearing while riding .When I push in the pin that hold the derailleur so the chain is slack, there is about 1/4" of play at the bottom of the jockey wheel cage. The mounting bolt is tight but you can see there is some slop in the mounting mechanism. Is this typical for an NX-11?

Other ideas?
 
Probably a totally useless piece of info but I had a similar problem on my old Specialized Pitch 650B. Took me forever to find it but it turned out to be the pedal bearings.
 
I have a R1U with the same brand motor that started doing that at about 1500 miles. It near drove me to drinking.
It turns out it was the motor cover must move a bit a bit against the mating surface to the motor because it went away when I squirted some WD-40 on the area where the cover meets the motor.
Yes the cover screws were tight.
 
Can be anything. I can still remember squeaking of my Vado SL that was heard from the fork area for months. It was the suspension seat-post :)
 
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