Thanks everyone. I finally got it. No noise now from the Terracyle
power side idler and everything is good.
I ended up with the following config.
Terracycle powerside idler with "as supplied" optima return idlers.
I'm Not using a low chainline. I'm OK with the chain line it came
with. One exception is the exclusion of the chain tube.
The problem I had was that the Terracycle power idler made noise.
I had spacers on the mounting bolt that didn't allow it to float.
The chain was coming into the idler teeth at an angle.
I took the spacers out. Now the idler can float back and forth and
the noise went away. I'm using the mounting bolt that came from
Terracycle with the idler. I used loctite to keep it from comming
loose.
Greg

--- In BaronOwners@yahoogroups.com, "tennbent" <tennbent@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Greg,
>
> Nice to see a message from you. Mike and I have exchanged a few
> emails back and forth. As you are probably aware, he bought my
Trice
> XXL earlier this year. Anyway, back to the idler question. Since I
> couldn't see what was happening when I was riding, I put the bike
on
> my Sportscrafter Mini Rollers and turned the crank by hand. The
idler
> did not make the noise so I loaded the seat up with some weighted
> bags to simulate my body. It made the cranks harder to turn but the
> noise showed up. It was definitely coming from the power idler. I
> could find no reason why; the idler was spinning freely and was not
> touching the seat or anything else. In an act of desperation, I
> removed the idler and took it apart to see if there was an internal
> problem. I couldn't find anything wrong so I made sure that
> everything was clean, reassembled it and put it back on the bike.
> Whatever I did, it worked. The noise was gone! I have since
> developed a similar but slightly different noise that seems to
happen
> under certain pedalling conditions. My guess is that it is the
lower
> return idler bracket. I have the TerraCycle idler attached to the
> stock idler bracket which is attached to the bike as part of the
seat
> mount. I have found that when I ride, the idler apparently gets
> enough pressure from the chain to pull at the bracket and lightly
> loosen the bolt that attaches it to the bike. The bracket is then
> free to move back and forth in a small arc inside the seat mount.
I
> think that is what is causing this new noise as it only seems to
> happen when I am applying extra (and usually uneven) pressure on
the
> pedals. Most often during sprinting or hill climbing. I have one
leg
> slightly longer than the other, hence the uneven pedalling style at
> certain times. The noise doesn't happen when I'm just cruising
along
> nice and steady. I think I will try putting some blue Loctite on
the
> bolt threads to see if this will hold it tight and, hopefully, stop
> the noise.
>
> Stephen
>