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Before you say it's a cheap bike, what more do you want... I get that! :D But it's brand new, and as you pedal it... no matter the speed, you get a pop sound at a specific point on each rotation...

What could / should I do to help silence this sound and make the ride more enjoyable.

Please advise if you can!

VIDEO UPDATE:
I uploaded this video of the happenings ;)

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Can you tell where the noise is coming from? Do you feel anything in the pedal when it happens? Could be a bad pedal, could be a crank bearing, could be the chain hanging on a chainring tooth. At least you know it's not a loose crank arm since the bike has a 1-piece crank. Grab a crank arm and give it a good shake. You should feel no looseness. If it feels loose the bearings may need adjustment. – Daniel R Hicks May 7 '12 at 15:16
Daniel, thanks for the tip. When I get home today, I'll check it out and see if this one or all of these tips help me out. I don't believe I remember feeling anything, but it's definitely sounding like it's coming from around the crank / chain area. I don't believe it's a pedal issue... – Joshua Rountree May 7 '12 at 19:24
One possibility, for a one-piece crank: The crank turns the chainring (at least on the old one-piece cranks I'm familiar with) primarily via a pin from one crank arm that sticks through a hole in the chainring. If the whole assembly is loose the chainring could be flopping around as it turns, banging against the pin and the crank shaft. – Daniel R Hicks May 7 '12 at 20:11
Added a video of the problem... – Joshua Rountree May 9 '12 at 14:13
Yeah, that's just plain broken. Sounds like a ball has come loose in one of the bearings or some such. Take it back where you got it and demand repair/replacement. – Daniel R Hicks May 9 '12 at 15:11
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1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote accepted

My guess is that the chain is too tight. You say it is only at a specific spot in the rotation which leads me to believe your chainring being slightly off center (I have not found one 100% perfect) is causing the popping.

Flip the bike on it's back and spin the cranks slowly. If it is a freewheel pedal, it backwards since this will not engage the sprocket. If it is a coaster, you will have to pedal it forwards. If you notice the chain get really tight then loose as you do this, adjust your chain. Find the same spot the pedals are at where it gets the tightest and loosen then tighten the rear wheel with the cranks in the same spot so that the tightest it will get is where you just set it.

If the chain tension was not the problem, you might need to check the bearings. Huffys almost never have sealed bearings and they can be over under tightened, either being a problem.

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The chain is definitely really tight...! I'll try that. – Joshua Rountree May 9 '12 at 14:12
Added a video of the problem... – Joshua Rountree May 9 '12 at 14:14
What's best way to adjust the chain... I'm nub at this stuff... It's a coaster brake bike... Just adjust the rear wheel position?? – Joshua Rountree May 9 '12 at 14:17
That was it, I loosened the bolts on the rear wheel and let it have some slack and tightened them back up. Now it's better. Did I make the brakes worse by doing that? Is there a way to adjust them? – Joshua Rountree May 9 '12 at 18:01
@JoshuaRountree: Looks like that bike has coaster brakes. Adjusting the wheel like that shouldn't cause any problems with the brakes. – freiheit May 9 '12 at 18:05
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