A Mystery Resolved

Over the past few days the bike has developed an annoying and worrying regular "ticking" sound when I cycle. Annoying as I couldn't for the life of me find the cause, worrying because sounds like that can be the harbinger of something important and expensive breaking, like the bottom bracket or the frame... I checked all I could starting with cables then checking the frame and anything else I could think off. In the end I took it to a bike shop in Vienna. The mechanic had a test ride then took it into the workshop. He emerged 20 minutes later after checking the bottom bracket and greasing various components. Had it gone? A quick test ride showed that alas it hadn't. Then came to the conclusion it was the cheap pedal I'd put on just before setting off... so nothing major after all, just a bloody annoying noise for the next x thousand miles.