I’ve not long built up a new frame, a Specialized Enduro SL. I’ve started to get a really annoying and quite a loud creak when putting down power. I’ve removed and refitted the crank/bottom bracket and still no joy and I can’t pinpoint where it is coming from. No cracks in frame as far as I can see.

The BB is less than a couple of months old as are the cranks. I can ‘feel’ the creaking through the crank arms/pedals if you now what I mean.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance

Video here, excuse my huge white feet on a Sunday afternoon:

Chainring bolts?? Pedal bearings?
😯 it sounds like the Addams family front door!…

Race face cranks? Last time I had any kind of creaking was due to play in the cranks. Everything greased up well and torqued correctly? QR’s (if you have them) all nice and tight?
Sounds like pedals could be an area to look at if you can feel it, can you swap em and at least eliminate? Sorry…not much help!

Edit…cassette on and torqued/ greased properly?

The chainring bolts are worth a check.

I’d say probably it’s the pedals

When you re fit them, did you give them a good smack? Bit of wood and a hammer, really gets them seated.

Freehub body? I’ve got a creak on my CX at the moment and it seems to be that.

After a week of head scratching and google previous owner not torqued the cassette correctly, greased and torqued last night at 11_30, out at 8 this morning to a beautifully quite ride.had tried everything bb etc, to Jo avail.

Thanks for the responses. 🙂 I’ve just checked the chain ring bolts and they’re tight…hadn’t thought of that. I’m pretty sure it isn’t the pedals as the noise occurs when putting power on either side and they are tight with no play. I also had this crank/pedals on my old frame and the noise wasn’t there at all and has only developed since building the new frame – was fine for the first half dozen rides.

When I say I can feel it through the pedals it’s like it is reverberating through the frame and cranks, if you know what I mean. I built the bike up myself, admittedly without owning a torque wrench, so I’m pretty sure the cassette is on tight and everything is greased up properly. Crank got fitted with rubber mallet and I preloaded the crank with the shimano tool.

I can sometimes replicate the creak if I place a sideways load on the BB area and flex the frame slightly. Could it be coming from a dry bearing or something in the frame? Not sure how likely that is.

Again, thanks for all your help so far.

Actually, smiththemainman, I fitted a new cassette about 2 weeks ago and that’s roughly when it started so will check cassette again. I know it should be torqued properly, but will nip it up a bit tighter and see if that helps.

It’s usually dry or loose threads/surfaces…BB, pedals, cranks, chainring bolts.

It’s rarely bearings.

If it’s not the above it can be something a bit random like a gear hanger.

Remove and regrease pedal threads to start with.

check you have minimum insertion for seatpost…

and also stem, remove, degrease, grease lightly and refit.

Mine creaked and after having forks replaced, the creaking went away – indicating to me that the creak on my bike was the stem…

Good luck – creaks are annoying as hell.

Not much more help as you’re looking at it anyway, but I solved my annoying creak today with removal of the cassette, wipe down of the freehub body and then re-fit and torque up tightly – creak gone. That was the last thing I checekd after spending a week’s worth of riding doing one thing after each ride (BB, pedals, wheel bearings, maxles front & rear…..)

😀

My bike was driving me mad with it’s creaking, I took pretty much everything apart, cleaned and used anti sieze on the threads and it still creaked.Then I gave it a good wash, lo and behold no creaking.

It sounds like something is moving about considerably on that bike…I would assume it would be pretty easy to locate as this isn’t an elusive squeak that only turns up occasionally and could be anything on the bike.

Try fitting a different back wheel/different BB/cranks to isolate the noise. Could be a dry pivot twisting somewhere in the suspension

I had the same problem with a Rockhopper ,Mech Hanger Bolt was slack cured it right away 😳

Instead of creating a new thread I thought I would revive this one as the creak sounds the same. Mine is on a Cannondale prophet. It only creaks when putting down the power though I can reproduce a loud crack by laying the bike down and standing on the BB with the cranks off and pressing on it. It only does it once then if I turn the bike over it I can then get it to creak from the other side but again only once.

Oh and the creak goes if I ride for a long time.

Does it still happen if you stand up and pedal? If so then you can eliminate seatpost/saddle related issues

i used to have a stumpjumper that made a similar noise, it was one of the bolts that was loose where the rear shock connects to the swingarm, worth giving that a once over.

GEDA sounds like loose/dry crank-axle or bb threads.

When I pedal standing up it is still there. I change pedals from flats to clips and it is still there. I did swap the top and bottom bearing of the headset as the bottom was really stiff. I didn’t think it was that though. I will try putting some grease in the axle and BB.

Its the suspension bearings.
My Enduro SL 07 did exactly the same.
Chainring bolts can be a source of a creak for sure, but the way you describe it – its pivot bearings.
Specifically the main bearing that sits next to the front deraileur.
It will quieten down into a ride as whatever crud is in there is moved around the shot bearings providing a nice lubricating grinding paste.
You may be able to see or feel some movement if you lift the frame up and down with your fingers on that lower bronze coloured nut on the non-drive side.
£50 for the full set of bearings – but the Specialized Bearing tool is very expensive…. I put mine into the shop.
Good luck !

Dry rear axle?

check the shock bushings…. my rose had a creak that was driving me nuts, turned out that one set of bushings was rubbing itself to death (noisily)

After taking pretty much everything to pieces, over a period of time, it turned out to be the bashguard that was making the creaking noise. It had a hairline crack which creaked each time pressure was applied through the pedals and this resonated through the cranks and frame.

Sorry for the thread resurrection but I thought it might help somebody with the same problem to follow this up. Silence is golden! 😀

Thanks for all the help.