Ok, I've been biking to work twice weekly since July, and while I love it, there is one thing that is recently becoming such an annoyance that I am actually considering stopping, at least until I can fix it. My ninja google skills are somewhat lacking in identifying the source of this sound/click, so I'm asking you all for help or ideas. Also, my only bike maintenace experience is what few things I've fiddled with on this bike over the last few weeks, so I am definitely a newbie. Finally, I have neglected my bike, and freely admit that I have not done a good job of getting it cleaned. I am awaiting delivery of products/brushes from Amazon, and hope to knock this out this weekend. On to the problem.
Not too long after getting my bike, and riding around, I noticed once while having to stand and pedal hard, I felt a slight shift, and then heard/felt a click that appears to come from the front chainring/derailleur area. Now maybe it was coincidence, but that's when I remember first noticing it. The click was very light, barely felt it through the pedal. In the last few months, it has gotten worse (at times), i.e. louder, with a palpable feel, and more often. The odd thing about it which has me confused about the source is that while the click is rhythmic, it is neither constant nor the same each time.
To explain it in my head (and this is going to be pretty abstract, sorry), imagine a clock. If both hands are pointed at 12, no sounds or clicks. If one is pointed to 12 and the other to 6, constant clicks of similar size. If one is pointed to 12 and the other at 3 or 9, the clicks fade in and then out over time, softer to louder to softer to absent, repeat. Early on, it was like the clock hands had to be almost completely opposite to get the clicks, but now it's like the only time I don't get clicks is when everything is aligned perfectly.
Additional info about the clicks: Only happens when I pedal. Happens mostly in the higher rear gears, but as part of the worsening over time, it has crept from gear 5 all the way down into 3 and even at 2 sometimes. I get rid of the click by stopping any pedaling for a split second, and then re-engage. This will change the rhythm of the clicks, and may take several tries before everything seems to "align perfectly" and I continue on without clicks (and dread having to stop pedaling and restart this farce). I have following online instructions for adjusting the back and front derailleurs, with no real change. I couldn't replicate the clicks with the bike suspended, but I was more focused on derailleur adjustments, and didn't really try to hard, but I would say at this point it seems that the clicks are only with load, I am getting a better holder to test this out more thoroughly.
More google reading suggests that maybe it's a chain problem (but would that be constantly rhythmic everytime the bad link goes on or off the chainring), maybe a loose bottom brackets, maybe something to do with the front derailleur clamp. So I've got several things to consider and test this weekend, but I just can't find anywhere on the bike maintenance forums where someone described this unique type of sound/click, so I'm hoping that one of you will immediately recognize from my elaborate description and pinpoint exactly what I need to change/fix/replace.