cannot for the life of me source a clicking noise im getting

so far ive tried :

new rear mech
new bb bearings
new frame bearings
new chain
new cassette
new chain ring
checked mech hanger
checked rear qr (greased maxle)
checked stiff links (and well lubed)
pedals are only 5 weeks old
wheels are only 4 weeks old
seatpost cleaned/grease
seatclamp greased

when the chain was new it was cut to the same size as previous (no noise), and ive put on a new thick/thin raceface chainring (im wondering if the thickness of the alternating chainring teeth is catching and clicking on the chain entering the chain???

all bolts torqued and greased, its only clicking on steeper climbs, on the flat its silent, and descents its silent, but stick it on a steep peak district road climb and its there contantly (seated or stood), then as soon as i go off road on steep climbs its even worse, it seems to click a little bit more (whether the suspension is compressing moreso or chain stretching moreso?) it only tends to do it in 1st and 2nd gear, if i really put the power down in 4th gear climbing it tends to disappear seated or standing, so it seems to me the problem/click is in the 1st and 2nd gear

the only 2 things ive slightly overlooked

chainring bolts are a bit of a issue – when i came to put the single ring chain ring bolts on the new raceface narrow/wide tehy would not tighten up, they would get so far in and then spin the backing, and although they defo tightened to some extent they werent locked tight (i think 1 has tightened up fully and the remaining 3 seem to just spin although they appear semi tight)

and secondly my headset bearings – although only 6 months old my top bearing in my hope headset is pretty rough, its not smooth as in new (which for a 6 months old hope headeset is shite, my last one lasted near on 4 years and still fine!), there is a bit of movement in the actual metal inner section of the bearing cover (the inside bit you would spin with your finger), it seems to move up and down?? so im guessing they are a bit buggered too! but everything is greased and ive regreased it fitting it all back together, it still runs pretty smooth id say

so there we go! i only had the frame 6 months ago from new and its been absolutly silent for 6 months so, until this, so its something obvious somewhere!

if you bothered to read it thanks, and any thoughts appreciated!

really am pee’d off with it now, and the last 4 rides ive been pratting about trying to source it missing out enjoying it in this lovely weather 🙁

I think you’ve mentioned the issue. Chainring bolts? Should be tight or they will make a noise.

but the thing with the chain ring bolts is they are tight, not superrrrrrrrrr tight, but tight all the same?

or is it because the back bit is spinning its not tightening up enough? would this suggest that its not as tight as it should be if the back part of the bolts is spinning?

i will get some new chainring bolts, but these are already single ring specific as is the chain ring, so im not sure why they wont fit properly anyways

put the old chainring on a see if it goes quiet?

Grease in headset cups? Not in the bearings themselves, I mean.
Grease on bar/stem clamp bolts?
Pedal threads?
Stiff chain link?

Sounds like the joint sleeve in one of your wheels is loose. It is a block of aluminium that is used in the assembly of the wheel, and has to be left in as there is no way to get it out. They can become loose and will click when the wheel is slowly rotating. To silence them, you need to drip some kind of glue into the inside of the rim through the spoke access holes on either side of the rim join.

Copper slip on cleaned threads.
Worked for my BB.

yep greased headset – greased bar/stem and bolts

pedal threads – greased

hmmm nikk – not sure what you mean tbh they are mavic crossmax st’s and pretty much new, and it was doing it with hope wheelset before so cant really see it being that

Have you greased – the end of your tether?? 😉

Clicking noise – at the end of my tether!!!!!

When I had a similar thing I systematically went round every bolt, starting at the back. Found a slightly loose chainring bolt, bit of grease now sorted. I found a small pair of circlip pliers helped to tighten them up as the ‘nose pins’ would fit into the slots on the chainring bolts

Got to be chainring bolts, take them off and file some off the inner bit, will allow them to tighten up then, there is a lot of torque being put through this interface, so anything loose will produce some kind of noise