I have a new sound echoing around my London Rd commuter, I can only describe it as a cracking or creaking sound when riding (doesn’t make the sound when free wheeling). I can’t replicate it off the bike and it isn’t constant. I have checked the usual sources of noise, chainring bolts, pedals, quick release skewers, cassette, seatpost and all other bolts. I have even changed the SRAM bottom bracket hoping it was that but it’s still there. It seems to be coming from the bb area and I can almost feel a notchiness through the cranks when it occurs. One thing I noticed when changing the bb is that the bb shell has not been faced by Planet X, could this be the issue, it didn’t make the sound from new? I like a nice quiet bike and this is ruining my time on it, any ideas gratefully received!

No help whatsoever but you just reminded me I need to change the BB on my pomp before I ride tomorrow. Thanks

Headset was always the culprit on my alloy tcr .. Yes it always sounds like a bottom bracket creak .. Clean and re grease of cups etc cured it 🙂

Had similar on my L-R and quite a bit of water/muck had got into the bottom bracket threads by leaking down the seat tube (now running a shim).

I’ve also had cracking noises caused by a stem too (now binned). Managed to recreate the sound by pushing down on the bars standing in front of the bike.

If you’ve already changed the bb then your pedal bearings are a likely culprit. Sometimes hard to make them creak when you’re not actually pedalling. Do you have any other pedals that you can try?

Hmm, pedals are barely six months old and haven’t seen much rain yet this year. The headset did come lose a bit ago but I tightened it back down, it’s still tight but I haven’t checked it for this noise. I changed the stem and seatpost when I got it, EA70s. I’ve ruled out the seat as it makes the noise when I’m out of the saddle. Will check the headset again. Is there any benefit in getting the bb shell faced?

How does water cause creaking?

Pedals or qr

Most common cause of creaking for me is BB in it’s threads – remove, clean and regrease. Also had front Q/R.

Process of elimination;

In AND out of saddle?
Pulling on bars AND no-handed?

I’ll step back from the open goal of it being a L-R 😉

It’s more like a loud cracking sound than a creak. Already cleaned and regressed bb threads and qr’s. I’m not convinced it’s the pedals because it’s the revolution of the cranks that’s causing the noise (or seems to be), I’ve tried peddling one footed with each pedal and can still make the sound, so unless both pedals are doing it?

Open goal of it being a L-R? Are they known for such things?

thorpie – Member
Open goal of it being a L-R? Are they known for such things?

They came in for a bit of a drubbing when they were selling off the silver frames at half price because the seat tubes varied in internal diameter from frame to frame, making it quite hard for people to fit seatposts. I haven’t seen anyone posting about issues with the black or zesty lime frames though.

Derailleur hanger?

I had a similar noise in my carbon roadie, but it was more of a dull thud. Turns out the headset was dry, cleaned & greased it and it’s been silent ever since

I’ve had a noise like that a couple of times on my LR, both times it was the saddle/seat post, after tightening the bolts a bit more the noise went away.

My Zesty XL needed a savage amount of torque (snapped the supplied bolt) and removal of a lot of the seatpost grease before it stopped slipping.

No cracking noise though.

The seat post on my Boardman hybrid used to work loose and make a nasty creaking noise – new clamp and bit of grease stopped it.

Just removed the seatpost, cleaned and regreased, see how it goes in the morning. I noticed quite a bit of scoring on what was a new seatpost when I removed it, the frames are not particularly well finished but at nearly a thousand quid cheaper than a like for like replacement for my Croix de Fer it will have to do for now. I think I preferred steel though! I tightened the derailleur hanger yesterday, the bolts weren’t particularly tight. It did seem quieter today although the noise was still there on occasion, will find the cause eventually.