A clicky creak developed a few weeks back on the gravel bike.
Swapped the pedals, creak still there.
Removed the cranks. Chainring bolts are tight. Everything cleaned and replaced at correct torque.
Replaced the bottom bracket and initially all was good. Creak developed after 20km.
It seems to click/creak when the non-drive side pedal is at 10 o'clock and 3 o'clock and under load.... When climbing or when pushing.
Have removed the chain, bounced on the saddle, kicked/pushed the cranks in all directions. No noise.
Anything else I can look at before giving up and riding 30km to the next bike shop tomorrow?
I had a SRAM Rival crank that did this (I think the axle type is GXP). There was a tiny bit of wear at the base of two of the tapered splines where they should have been meeting the inner race of the BB.
Incurable and my SRAM equipped bike now wears a GRX crank.
Does it happen when in and out of the saddle?
Can you post a pic of the bike or provide more details of the spec which you have as this will help folk provide more specific to your set-up ideas.
A couple of my thoughts off the top of my head...
- Q/R skewers/axles. Are they lightly greased and correctly torqued?
- Spokes - are they evenly tensioned all the way around the wheel?
- If you have a hollow-tech type axle in the B/B, did you lightly grease it before reassembly?
Do you use clips, if so check them, I had a click with worn cleats, and the seat post ……..
+1 on check your axles. A noise I was sure was my BB creaking, only happened under load, was, in fact, a loose rear thru axle.
Seat post clamp, saddle clamp, stem bolts.
Does it happen if you pedal and take both hands off the bars
Over tightned bb . Once due to bad eyes did the bb to 64nm instead of 54nm Stripped the whole bike down looking for the creak.
Had this on my bike. Turned out to be a knackered headset.
Good luck with that, it can be just about anything and almost certainly won't be replicable in the work stand.
Saddle rails & seat clamps can be surprisingly noisy and hub bearings starting to fail can be noisy too.
Is it a HTII crankset? The non-driveside is the crank that bolts onto the spindle, some fresh copper grease on the splines might be worth a try.
-- Edit --
Sorry it's Sram isn't it. Do these work the same way?
+2 check axle. I had an annoying creak that was front axle.
My annoying creak that had had every sensible solution thrown at it was solved by a colleague tightening the bottle cage bolts. My colleague, a long serving shop wrench, was very pleased with himself.
my SRAM equipped bike now wears a GRX crank.
It's got 105.
Does it happen when in and out of the saddle?
Yup. Saddle ruled out.
Ribble CGR Ti, 105 groupset, relatively new DT Swiss G1800 wheels.
Every bolt correctly torqued.
Headset reset as realised it had a little play, so that now tightened to spec.
When I swapped the BB I tightened the new one "enough" and it was creaking. Tightened it "more" and it still creaked at the same point in the pedal stroke.
Does it happen if you pedal and take both hands off the bars
Alright, show off.... It happens with one hand on the bar.
Does your headset need a regrease?
I've developed a bit of a creak and was the headset. Took it apart and bearings are still running smooth but definitely looking a bit dry, so have repacked the inside of the headset and the bearings are now coated...and creak has stopped.
My most recent creak turned out to be a tiny crack in the rear hub brake mount. I hope yours is a cheaper solution.
Alright, show off.... It happens with one hand on the bar.
it was a fair question, most recent creak on my MTB was solved with 2 mins tightening up the handlebar clamp on my stem mid-ride. It wasn’t loose as such but sometimes “tightened to spec” plus a few miles riding is all it takes.
The most recently developed ‘knock’ is (I suspect) the RH pedal, but I shouldn’t rule out the BB, seatpost, saddle, bottle bosses, rear hub, headset, cassette or simply a cable somehow catching/tapping on something… it’s always the last thing you check 😉
Is it creaking in time with the pedalling speed or the wheel rotation speed?
How smooth do the cranks spin with the chain off the rings - could be BB bearings. If the cranks don't spin smooth it could be from an out of spec BB shell (e.g ovalised) causing the BB to not be completely aligned. Suggest getting the BB shell faced and chased and then fitting a new BB (or new BB bearings).
Chainring bolts tight?
my SRAM equipped bike now wears a GRX crank.
It's got 105.
Does it happen when in and out of the saddle?
Yup. Saddle ruled out.
Ribble CGR Ti, 105 groupset, relatively new DT Swiss G1800 wheels.
Every bolt correctly torqued.
Headset reset as realised it had a little play, so that now tightened to spec.
When I swapped the BB I tightened the new one "enough" and it was creaking. Tightened it "more" and it still creaked at the same point in the pedal stroke.
Does it happen if you pedal and take both hands off the bars
Alright, show off.... It happens with one hand on the bar.
Thanks for the details here, a couple of things have drawn my attention which perhaps you could check out:
- The 'relatively new' wheels - have you checked that the spokes are still evenly tensioned and haven't developed a bit of play from being 'ridden in'? Also have you checked the points where the spokes cross - do they rub and cause a creak?
- I seem to recall reading that the replacement BB was correctly torqued, were all surfaces greased appropriately also? Another (and more scary thought) - did you check the area around the BB for cracks?
Is there an official flow-chart anywhere for the correct order of diagnostics from start to (hopefully) finish of what to check on your bike when you hear a mystery creak? Because I could really use one.
Last time I had this problem I smeared a tiny bit of grease on the rear dropouts (inside and out) and it seemed to work on my Giant TCR.
Overall though, I am a combination of a) very picky about any unwanted noise at all and b) not massively mechanically competent so its super frustrating to hear mystery creaks and I just can't tune them out of my head the entire ride so it really ruins it.
Is it talk like a pirate day already? 🤣
Did you say you'd lightly greased both hub axles and the interface they have with the fork/dropout?
Hang on, I'm confused. I thought it was the bottom bracket. You removed and regreased and it stopped creaking. It's got to be that surely?
Is there an official flow-chart anywhere for the correct order of diagnostics from start to (hopefully) finish of what to check on your bike when you hear a mystery creak? Because I could really use one.
No. But i have a mate that is quite methodical about these things and he gets a water spray and adds a spray of water to a likely culprit then checks to see if it still makes a noise... if not, spray another spot, and on until he finds it.
I tend to just pretend I can't hear it.
