…and I’m sure the swingarm has more lateral movement than my wife’s Diva 5.

The bike has creaked for a bit, but a change of bearings (after 5 years) the other week seemed to sort that.

However it’s back. Creaks when I pedal, stood or sat, but not when I bounce on the bike to work the suspension.

Bottom bracket is new, but I check it for tightness, rear QR is damn tight (and it had a 10mm bolt through previously which also creaked).

Chain rings might be worn.

Anything else before I decide there might be a frame problem (crack or worn pivot axle or stretched swing arm clamp)?

To be fair if it is bust, it’s had a long career and worked very hard – but I’d like it not to be.

You’ve done all the obvious stuff apart from pedals and loose spokes, might be worth checking the cable runs, especially if yours has stops rather than guides, as we’ve had some horrendous creaks that have turned out to be cables moving in their stops.

One thing I have done in the past is take wheels off bike, lie frame on it’s side supporting swing arm and front triangle separately on blocks of wood.. Then press down on pivot area. Does it creak? Also try removing shock and doing the same. That way you’ll rule out pivot bearings and shock mounts by isolating the frame form the other parts.
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After that start looking at bottom bracket, cranks, rear QR, etc.

Check the stub axle welds for the swing arm pivots and make sure you know where your receipt is.

Other quick checks that have solved creaks for me in the past:
– check all chaingring bolts are tight
– remove the pedals and apply light grease to the threads
Hopefully easily solved!

I know where my receipt is – unfortunately it’s dated 2006

I would try it with a different back wheel, just in case.

That was a tip I got on here last year, and it worked to prove that it was wheel not frame that was ‘cracking’ for me.

HTH!
Kev

a long shot but ive being getting a creaky type noise from mine, thought the bearings were gone (which they were absolutly shot) but the creak still persisted 🙁

ive done a few things, i needed a new rear mech anyways as it had a bash…..(thinking it was making gears skip/catch/creak under load)

still doing it with that changed 🙁

and so ive tried changing the mech hanger, when i put the new one on, the gears were totally totally totally out…thus meaning the mech hanger must have had a fair old bend in it….everything is now parallel and the gears are shifting super smooth….im yet to test it out….but im hopeful it is that that was causing my creak…..

somebody else has told me to check my SPD cleats, as they could be seized and worn…..

failing this working, mine could well be pro 2 hub bearings or the freehub 🙁

have you checked the drop out is tight?

The rear QR needs to be really tight other wise it creeks. I recommend using a shimano QR as you can still open them when they are really tight.

Check the QRs, give them a good clean and a light grease too.

Regarding creaks from headset, after a headset service and clean are you supposed to grease all the metal to metal parts before reinstalling or not?

XT QR done up bastard tight. Failing that have you rechecked the pivot bearing to make sure that they don’t need a cinch up after their bedding in ride? A bit of copper slip between bearing faces, axle and frame?

Been down the same road found out it was my hollowtech cranks,i know its a pain but try swapping your wifes cranks over and dont tell her

I went through this pain with my 5 last week, exactly the same symptoms. It had been sat in the garage for about 5 months, and when ridden up the street made creaking noises more offensive than my neighbour banging his fat girlfriend.

After an hour of checking everything that moved, I realised it was the spokes in the rear wheel which had settled. Panic over.

Found out what it is, and it’s expensive (in outcome).

Duff pinch bolt on one side.

They were both torqued up equally 4 rides ago when I had the shock and bearings changed (I witnessed it being done). One side was bang in line with Orange’s recommendations last night, the other had lost tension. Not a problem though I, it’s just settled in. Using my torque wrench and checking Orange’s torque setting I slowly tightened the “loose” bolt, shearing it half way down. No damage to the Allen head, and the alloy thread that this steel bolt goes into held up well.

I was being gentle and using a torque wrench having checked the settings, so I don’t think I was being ham-fisted. And if the bolt was suspect it explains why it slackened over a couple of ride.

Anyway, completely inaccessible, other than drilling and getting a screw extractor to it and sheared at a 45 degree angle so the drill wants to slide off.

Looking like a new swing arm minimum.

Ouch.

Like I said it’s done good service over the years. But if I get another one (and I probably will) I might replace those bolts if it ever starts creaking.

Could you not rotate it with a flat head screw driver since there is no tension on it now?

Get to a pro engineering shop (if you are not one) I suspect with a pillar drill and a better clamp arrangement and 40year experience they might have a better chance of getting it out cleanly.

What crotchrocket said.

I got a bolt well and truly stuck in my hub when trying to swap discs and the local engineering shop sorted it with no stress to the hub that a screw extractor would cause. Charged me 10 quid to do that plus some other machining to a frame drop out.

Result!

Mate at work has a sideline in building / rebuilding rally cars. He managed to drill the bolt – bit of cosmetic damage to the spacer but nothing to worry about.

The downside? Already ordered the Alpine as a replacement…

…anyone want a 2005 Five? Not looking for a lot for it…

Blob of copperslip on your dropouts

Mine drove me mad for ages – after trying all the normal – this worked

my local engineering firm sorted me out when i sheared a bolt off in my old heckler swingarm….they had something iirc called sonic blasting which they fire at said bolt and its accurate to some ridiculous tolerance anyhoo bolt removed they enjoyed the challenge and it cost me £10..
dont write the swingarm off!!!!

You just wanted a new bike didn’t you 🙂

…anyone want a 2005 Five? Not looking for a lot for it…

I might be interested, how much is not a lot?

everytime i have had noises from mine it has seemed to come from all over the bike , and its always been the rear skewer so i’d check that first as its so cheap to sort out compared to the other stuff

The rear skewer causing a creak is usually down to the aluminium skewer biting into the aluminium frame. Either a dab of grease on the knurled area of the skewer or a steel knurled bit on the skewer as this will bite into the aluminium frame better.

Key areas on creaks from my Sub5 and 5 have been rear QR, seat post inc. the QR and saddle rail clamps. Bloddy annoying but once sorted happy riding.

i might be interested in details and photos too… tamarvin at googlemail.com

Tom, Nathan,

You have mail, but photos will be tomorrow night as I’ve been out riding.

KingofBiscuits – Member
You just wanted a new bike didn’t you

Yes, don’t we all? It was probably going to get changed next spring anyway.

I’ve a similar creak on my 2007 5. More like an intermittent cracking noise that seems to come from the front of the bike and quite loud at times. It does seem less noticeable in wet conditions though. I’ve worked my way through the suggestions above but it still persists, with the exception of new pivot bearings as they seem fine with no obvious play and are still smooth with the shock removed. Any ideas on this one?

I thought I had a creak on my specialized enduro but narrowed it down when I noticed it was only doing it on certain surfaces – was tiny little stones constantly being flicked up and hitting the frame due to the type of frame finish!

Old-mtber – based on my experience, and given it costs a few pence, I’d replace and re-torque the swingarm pinch bolts. Even stainless steel bolts corrode over time.

Thanks Igm. Been thinking along those lines myself have re-read all the posts above. Although the cracking seems to come from the front end on past experience sound travels well in an Orange frame so I still think the pivot bearing may be the culprit.

Have you checked the frame for cracks?

I used to ride a 2005 5 that developed a creak that I couldn’t get to the bottom of so did a full strip and clean of all the pivot and drop out surfaces with a view to greasing it up and replacing the bearings.

…and it was a good job I did, there were 3 seperate cracks in it! 2 in the swing arm and on in the front triangle. Have you checked for cracks and lifting paint?

Best buy a second hand rear end has this will be about £ 400 plus for a 2005 rear end from Orange.

unklebuck – bike shop checked it and gave it a clean bill of health (at least the guy actually checking it did, while the rest of the staff stood at the other end of the shop going “bust that one, you’ll want a new one…”)

grantway – £400 plus with the emphasis on plus I think. But thankfully I have a friend with some very sharp neat drills.

First thing I thought of was a frame crack as its so intermittent. Checked carefully though an can’t see anything obvious. Appears mostly whilst climbing or strong compressions of the suspension. However I have found that there was not really enough compression on the headset so have added another spacer and will report back tomorrow!

Solved!! Bought a new pivot bearing kit from Orange on Monday, delivered on Tuesday and changed the bearings today with no problem. Both bearings were completely dry of grease, rusty and full of gunk. The drive side bearing outer shell was cracked across and a piece fell off when I removed it. Strangely although both were seized the swingarm still moved easily and had no obvious sideways play. I will not be leaving the new set for 3.5 years before replacement and feel I probably avoided a difficult mechanical here. 😆