ive pretty much narrowed it down to cassette/chainwear!

the reason for this i had a pg990 cassette fitted in november – it endured alot of miles over a shitty winter….i came to check the chain in probably febuary (never checked before) and low and behold it was worn, easily went into the 1.0 markers and .75 with ease…..

i changed the chain, not really thinking it would be that worn that i couldnt use another chain….

so this creaking continued….

new xt chain on, and under 1 month easily, the chain is almost at 1.0 again 🙁 proving the cassette is ko’ing the chain….

i have been a bit crappy with lubing the chain also, so the other day (trying everything else imaginable to cure the creak, as i knew it was drivetrain related) i decided to clean the chain and and give it a PROPER lubing (right in each roller, as it was stiff to bend in places)…the creak continued for about 10-20 mins after continoulsly riding, then miraculously stopped the lube had obviously worked its way into the rollers and lubed it all….it hit me instantly that the chain was buggered and the reason was it was stretching extremely fast and not being lubed either….so a leason learned, must check chain wear much quicker to avoid this, and a new chain definitely wears with the old cassette in super fast fashion….i have also being running the same powerlink for the last 4 chains, not even beginning to think that this may be the cause too as its super worn!

so always check the most obvious of things and eliminate everything else!

im wearing this chain/cassette into the ground, as the noise has now gone since ive given it a super lube too!

anyways boring story, but a true one 🙂

Why reuse the powerlink when you get a new one with each new chain. 😕

it didnt, i use xt chains….i think i gave my last new one to a mate as his chain bust out in the wilderness, and never replaced it 🙁

My creaking turned out to be a cracked rocker link and a cracked chainstay! must lay off the pies

I love stories like this! It just goes to prove that there are other people out there* as lackadaisical, and prone to endless interwoven tales of tediously successive mechanical trauma, as I am… You are AWESOME 😀

Incidentally, how in god’s name do you even re-use a Powerlink? I usually end up confidently snapping mine together, only to find the chain’s actually too long, whereupon – after a few furtive swearing attempts at trying to separate the bastid Powerlink – I have to split and re-join the chain using a chain tool. Not exactly ‘best practice’, but it doesn’t seem to have done me much harm so far…
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* Actually prepared to admit to being ->

hahaha quality! i know, the things you expect it cant be the cause, end up being so 🙁

i changed the chain thinking it would cure it, but being totally oblivious to the fact the chain was instantly being stretched by the cassette 🙁

could of course be massive massive massive coincedence that the lube penetrated the chain and the noise went…..im having to lube it a fair bit now to keep the noise at bay…..done it twice now when its attempted to come back noisy, and then its gone again with the lube!

funny thing was i thought it was the chain first off 😆 almost sounds like a hamster in wheel thats spinning, thats the noise i was getting…

bizarre bikes!