I did the usual degrease and lubrication on my mountain bike today but when I tried to ride the bike later on I heard pretty bad crunching sounds.
The sound is definitely coming from somewhere around the drivetrain and becomes more prominent with a more forceful pedal. I can only reproduce the sound when shifting to the middle cog using the front derailleur. The sound is not made on the small cog on the front but is still made slightly on the largest cog using the front derailleur. The sound is worse when shifting to the smaller cogs using the rear derailleur.
The bike is also now struggling to shift to the highest cog using the front derailleur from the middle, it looks like the front derailleur may be misaligned somehow during the process, this was not the case before I cleaned the bike, does this sound like a possibility?
I also opted for a more thorough clean of my drivetrain this time round and removed my entire back wheel, could putting the back wheel on incorrectly have caused this problem? Alternatively, could this also be a sign of chain wear?
I have only clocked around 200km on the bike so far. The bike is a Calibre Two-Two with Shimano derailleurs and gears.
If any additional details or photos are needed, please ask and I will provide them.