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I've a Giant Defy Composite road bike, since riding TdF stage 1 the other day, the saddle or seatpost has really started making a terrible creaking sound.
It is a Fizik Aliante saddle on the Giant seatpost which is an odd shape and specific to the frame. I've taken the seatpost out and re-applied more carbo-grip to the bottom of the seatpost and along the saddle rails, made sure the seat clamp is done up to correct torque, greased the bolts that hold saddle tight etc, but it lessens it but still so bad that it is embarrasing to ride and i've got another 100 miler at the weekend. Any thoughts??
any cracks?
If you've definitely eliminated the saddle end try wrapping a layer of electrical tape around the area where the post gets clamped by the frame.
It took me ages to fix/find mine but this is what solved it. Found the tip on a road bike forum - googling should help you locate it.
I had a post that creaked dreadfully in the frame.
Replacing carbo grip with grease sorted it out.
Not the thread I found but there's a nice little tip in the last paragraph...
I read on this forum where someone had a process for wrapping the bottom of the post with 1 layer of electrical tape - reasoning that because of the aero shape of the tube and post, there isn't a snug fit all the way around like with a round post. I did the process for wrapping with tape and reinserting the post and (knock on wood), the noise has been completely gone for a month or more!The only "tricky" thing to doing it right had to do with how to remove everything (post, clamp, brass shim) and put it back in so you could keep the tape wrapped cleanly and yet slide the post in and get everything greased.
From this thread : http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/p/353/1704.aspx
My TCX does the same. Cleaning the clamp seemed to settle it. Being cyclocross through it gets covered in muck on a regular basis though. I can't do the clamp bolts up evenly either as the saddle is then pointing to one side. Naff design in my opinion
Thanks for all the replies......back to the garage.
mine was playing up recently. Its about 7 years old now so getting on. I read somewhere that a few drops of chain lube where the rails join the saddle helps. Its much better 🙂
Like chrssmale says it might be where the rails are joined to the underside of the saddle...gt85 or some lube at either end.
If you have a spare saddle it may be worth sticking that on for a short test. I have had 2 creaks where it turned out to be the saddle itself rather than the post or frame.
I was suffering from "creaky saddle" a couple of weeks back with a Nukeproof plasma and after greasing contact points, etc. I noticed that one of the screws that attached the saddle carcass to the upper frame (small screw on the right hand side of the photo) had stripped. Nothing I could do about it, new saddle cured the problem though. 🙂
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Spray liberally with some silicone lube, I wouldn't use gt85, wd40 etc as they can damage rubber and plastics.
Right, this is the specific Aliante cure.
Hang bike front wheel down, so saddle tip pointing down.
Drop a few drips of light oil onto saddle rails, leave overnight.
The oil runs down the rails into the tip which is where the noise comes from. Also nip up the nose fastener.
Not familiar with the bike but I had a creak that turned out to be caused by the seat clamp seat tube interface.
I removed the clamp, wiped a thin layer of grease around the inside of the collar and refitted.
Peace was restored and all was well in the world once again.
Thanks again for all the replies, lots more options to try.