Hi all, after some advice! My Intense Carbine has recently developed an annoying creak.

I had the bearings replaced less than a year ago, I’ve replaced the press fit bottom bracket, very changed the star fangle for a Chris king headlock, greased all the bolts on the seat clamp, and seaport, greased the saddle rails, greased all pivot bolts, checked the torque on bolts and noise is still there, driving me nuts

Any assistance gratefully received

Standing up? Sitting down? Pedalling? Not pedalling…

Very good point, is more apparent when putting power down, hence thinking it was bottom bracket or suspension

Pedals? I cured a creak the other day I was *convinced* was coming from the BB by swapping the pedals. Regreased the creaky ones and all quiet.

Cable housing/ferrule creaking in the cable stop?

Knees?

Swap the pedals with some spares if you have them, eliminate or confirm without much work.

If it’s not the pedals then check the mech hanger is tight. Also, how long ago were the bearings done? I never get more than 6 months out of a set..
Other things to check are rear wheel tension, cassette, especially if it’s a Sram xd type, rear mech pivots and chainring bolts.

Cheers all, some good suggestions, i’m pretty sure it isn’t the pedals as ive recently changed from flats to SPDs, though I don’t recall the noise before….will pop them out and grease threads again

Going to try all the other bits too 🙂

Check the cassette is nipped up correctly too. Although, that tends to be more of a rattle than a creak.

will pop them out and grease threads again

Not just the threads… The bearings inside on the axles…

grease up a lil and tighten the wheel axles where they meet the frame and forks

Chainring bolts?

Press fit bottom bracket? If so, there’s the answer. Spawn of Satan design.

But could be tonnes of other things. Shock bushings I often find is one. Whip out, clean up and put back again (don’t grease). If they fall out, replace them.

Seat clamp on one of my bikes I find is another. It’s not the bolts etc on it, it’s just if not done up tight enough there’s a slight creak as the post shifts. Problem is too tight and the Reverb stops going up properly. I need to slap on some carbon paste (though frame and post aren’t carbon, it just reduces the force required to grip the post without it slipping).

Axles is my bet….either QR or bolt through. Take em out, clean, a bit of grease and refit properly and snug em up.

Then rejoice in the sound of silence!

I’ve a se lust if things I check when u get a creak.

Seat post and clamp are the first things I remove and clean. I was amazed the first time I realised it was just a dirty seat post clamp driving me insane. After that, chain ring bolts and pedals.

9 times out of 10 that sorts it. If not BB and frame bearings next.

Good luck

talking to an intense dealer, he reckons that the mech hanger is a cause of creaks on all intenses. Take off, clean, grease and put back on. Might help!

Try greasing the shock bolts (but not the threads)

2nd grease whole shock bolts and all where they will go.

+1 for chainring bolts, especially if alu ones.

Knees

I had this. Ended up chasing it down via

– RF turbine cranks, NDS was loose (I didn’t even know it was removable!) and it had trashed the plastic end float thing. Fixed that and loctite’d teh *****. Previously always checked chainring bolts first but this is direct mount and took a while to work it out (i.e. it had to nearly fall off)

Better but not fixed

– As you’ve done, stem bolts, all pivot bolts, took everything out, cleaned off original now very dry threadlock and re-applied.

Still not fixed but suspension now didn’t creak

– Desperation, saddle rails, rear mech hanger, mech, cables.

Nope.

– Rear axle had the tiniest bit of grit on it. Simon Barnes of this parish suggested that. Removed, cleaned, regreased.

Blissful silence ever since. I hope you find it. It took me about 3 week/7 rides and I was ready to set my lovely new bike on fire by the end!

my guess is that the bearings have gone again

i’m pretty sure it isn’t the pedals as ive recently changed from flats to SPDs, though I don’t recall the noise before

It’s the pedals. Or the inserts in the cranks

Does this bike have Rockshox Pikes? could be them creaking (famous for it) turn it upside down,put your feet on handlebars and push and pull the fork lowers, this should show it up if it is indeed the culprit.

you mention you recently switched from flats to SPDS. could it be your shoes/cleats? or the SPD mechanism being a bit dry

My hardtail was creaking recently, reproducibly but only in the small chainring, under low cadence when climbing. I was sure it was going to be the press fit BB, but it turned out to to be the last thing I checked – the bearing adjuster on the rear hub. Silent now, but just goes to show how hard it can be to diagnose bike noises. Trial and error is the only way sometimes (I had to put a different wheelset on to work this one out).