OK - Im prepared to accept that Iv probably bought the wrong frame - but I don't have the time or money to change it now. I'm going to the Alps and the constant creaking is going to do my nut - and doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the machine.
Its a 2012 Mondraker Dune. Plenty of people have said that they're naff but I liked it and bought it anyway. To be fair it rides really well despite all the noise. Iv swapped out the shock bushes which were worn out but this hasn't helped. I know its the rear end as it creaks when I compress it off the bike and has done since Iv had it- though its got worse lately. Next job is to take take it all apart and inspect the frame bearings.
This is a job iv done many times on other bikes but its always been to replace worn bearings to eliminate play - Iv never had problems with creaking.
The trouble is this time there is no play so I don't actually know what I'm looking for. Can anyone help. What might need greasing / replacing / thread-locking??
Any advise greatly appreciated.
ear plugs.....
Bit of bube on anything that moves and see what happens?
If the vreaking is when your sitting down its the seatpost-remove n wipe 🙂 otherwise, get greasing! (or buy a hardtail 😆
Stripped off everything on my creaky bike but could not get rid of the noise and it gradually grew worse.Turned out to be a crack in the downtube which was slowly working its way around.
When was the last time the shock was serviced?
Sounds like pivot bearings , if there's no play they're probably dry .
I have the same thing at the moment. Creaking up front when climbing. Last time it was actually the seatpost (despite noise seeming to come from the front). Just had new headset so puzzled bout noise form the front end.
i had this with my hardtail. tracked it down, and it was the saddle, sprayed some gt lube and its cured the creaking, its a charge spoon btw
How tight is your rear QR? I had a phantom creek on my recent build and it turned out I had tightened the QR against the brake caliper, This meant that the QR wasn't fully tight and when the suspension moved it rubbed against the brake.
Other things you might not have thought of include your saddle rails, the saddle clamp, the seatpost slipping in the frame and the seat post QR/bolt (I have had all of these).
Its def nothing to do with the seatpost or saddle as it creaks when Im stand up. Its not the cranks, peddles or BB as it creaks when off the bike pushing down on the saddle. So this leaves pivots, wheel, wheel frame interface.
Im pretty sure its the pivots as Iv reduced the noise by tightening some of the pivot bolts. However they're already tighter than they should be and loosening makes it worse.
When replacing pivot bearings should I use loctite bearing fit compound? or just grease. I'm guessing loctite on the bolts too.
Remove the bolts and grease them, it could be that they are too tight and are rubbing on something. Tightening them up further could just restrict suspension movement and will increase wear on the bearings.