Help! Please!

Esteemed biker dude/lady community

Like many, if not all of the guys on here i love my bike, the sport of MTB and everything that comes with it. I have a 2014 Lapierre Spicy 527 that i absolutely love riding and thrashing up and down the trails. But recently, she’s pushing me to the point of divorce…

The bike has developed an incredibly annoying creak/crack when force is placed through the crank by pedalling, most notably on the drive side. The noise can been heard on the non-drive side also, but i would assume this is due to release of pressure. I have had this stroppy piece of aluminium on wheels in pieces and still can’t eliminate the noise. I’ll sum up what i’ve done that has had no effect (everything was cleaned and regreased before being replaced):
Crank out, new one in
Pedals out, new ones in
Bottom bracket replaced (3 different press fit BB’s)
Linkage taken apart around shock
Headset taken out
Seatpost taken out
Seat clamp removed
Rear linkage triangle dismantled
Bearings in the seattube were also removed and cleaned, also switched onto the other side to check this wasn’t the problem
Front mech removed
Chain stay removed
Zip ties for hoses/cables replaced
Rear mech hanger removed
Changed the rear wheel
Cleaned and greased the rear axle and axle cups
Cable clamps on underside of frame removed and cleaned

Only thing i can think of is the bearings have gone in the frame and need replacing. Switching the ones over in the seat tube did nothing so i doubt it’s them. I’ve spent a long time examining the frame all over and there are no signs of cracks in the frame at all. The creaking still occurs when the chain has been removed and i’m hopping up and down on one side of the crank.

I’ve reached the end of my patience with this now and would very much like to not have to sell this bike on (it drives me that insane), so i would love to hear any suggestions from more experienced bike engineers and riders! I realise questions like this can become annoying on the forums but i have literally tried everything!

Thanks in advance guys

Scott.

Is that a press fit BB? If so it could be that that causes issues.

Can you prop the bottom of the BB shell on some bricks/block of wood, and recreate the noise? i.e take all the weight off the back wheel. That might rule out the rear suspension linkage. Could the BB cups be moving in the shell?

Doe sit do it sat down and standing?

My guess was cracked rim bed in the wheel, but you replaced that!

Bearings then surely?

It is press fit yeah (I hate them), that’s why i complained several times and got 2 sent out under warranty. Had a Shimano BB71 in, replaced it like for like twice and still no effect! Believed it to be the crappy plastic shells that this uses so i put in a steel Hope PF BB in the hope that would be it but still no luck 🙁

The blocks of bricks is a good shout. I’ve had the rear wheel out and a mate’s wheel in and no luck too. I would certainly not expect those damn steel BB cups to move in the frame, damn tight fit!

Tried sit down and standing riding too, obviously does it more when standing due to increased pressure but strong force through pedalling when sitting down also creates the noise.

It’s infuriating!

Does it creak when you pedal standing up?
Does it creak when you’re not on the pedals and you just pull the bars from one side to another to try and “twist” the bike on the ground?

Silly simple thing, but I’m amazed by the number of bikes that creak slightly when pedalling hard because the rear QR isn’t done up properly – but I mainly work on road bikes with QRs, not bolt-thru axles.

Also, try wiggling the saddle on the post – I’ve seen plenty of creaky saddles where the screws (or bonding) holiding the saddle body to the rails has come loose.

Ok – if its the bearing cups in the frame try loctite or grease in the interface

Nope, no creaking when just sat on the bike and no pedalling. Trying the ‘twisting’ technique you mentioned hasn’t caused the creak. Had the axle in and out several times, cleaned, greased, tighted, loosened, no bloody effect.

When i popped the seat tube bearings out, cleaned them and switched them over, i also cleaned and reseated the bearings with plenty of grease. Using loctite to seat them is a good idea. I’ve literally greased every moving part on this frame without success 🙁

Might be worth trying some plumbers’ tape around the BB as you re-press it into the frame as a temporary diagnostic fix. If the tolerances aren’t great around the press-fit BB (if the BBs press in easily, for example) then even a brand new BB will move very slightly in a baggy BB shell. We see this a lot with cheap low-end carbon frames like Planet X and Ribbles, especially with BB30. They end up creaking under pedaling pressure and there’s not a lot you can do to fix it – in some cases even fitting something like the Praxis or Wheels Mfg screw-in BB adaptors doesn’t help!

I’ve had good experience with the magic of PTFE tape before, problem is getting those solid BB cups back out again, right faff. I mean without paying about £40 for the Hope BB tool, which just seems like a waste of a lot of money for one use. Just seems odd that 3 different bottom brackets haven’t had any effect on the issue. Surely the Hope BB with it fitting so tightly would have stopped the problem if it were a baggy BB shell?

Front forks ? Had a creak on my 2014 Fox float around the crown area.
Common fault!
Internal cabling ?

I definitely know the fork creak you’re talking about mate, had my 2014 34’s replaced under warranty because of the CSU creaking and groaning. I’ve got 3 month old 2016 Fox 34’s on and i’ve checked them and it’s not coming from there fortunately. And the only internal cabling i’ve got is for the reverb seatpost which i’ve also greased. Don’t get it cause it’s only through excessive pressure!

Cartridge bearings make a creaking noise when the cages start to break up I’ve had that happen a few times. Tends to come on fairly quickly though and get terminally worse in a short space of time

The other thing of course is a crack in the frame. Any welded joints hidden under gussets or seatposts not inserted far enough?

Just saying like *cough*

Did you grease the threads on pedals when fitting?
If not, do so!

You can also try dry lube on cleats, although i suspect you’d have noticed if that was the cause.

Tried greasing your chainring bolts? They can be real sneaky beggars sometimes.

Hmm a bearing replacement is certainly on the cards… Where to find a replacement set though that isn’t excessively priced at £40+?
Had a real good check for cracks but i honestly can’t find any signs whatsoever. Although i am starting to believe that there has to be one somewhere with this list of potential causes shrinking 😯

Yep greased the pedals, even changed the pedals and changed the crank! Chainring bolts are sneaky little bleeders but they’ve been done also. The damn source has to be somewhere! What am i missing?

Your knees?

I do have knees made of rusted iron…

I’d say if you have just greased the bearings then it’s time to replace them. Somewhere on Google will let you know the sizes you need so you can order them cheap off eBay or from a bearing shop, but £40 for what must be eight bearings doesn’t sound too obnoxious.

I’ve got the same thing on a Giant road bike, everyone can hear the creak but no one can find it, they have tried everything, 5 weeks warranty waiting period and still no one can make a decision. It did it straight bout of the box first pedal stroke. It’s very annoying.

Shock eyelets can creak sometimes. Does it do it if you sit on the saddle and bounce up and down?

I had this and it drove me mad, eventually traced mine to the mech hanger and although it had been replaced previously all it needed was a squirt of wd40 and bingo, all noise gone. Must have just been flexing just a little bit and creaking on frame.

I’m thinking bearing replacement is the only option left too mate.

Having a brand new ride creak straight out the box is surprising though, would expect the bike to be completely silent with brand new bearings, fresh grease, brand new bolt threads etc. Would question whoever built it! Have you or the techs tried any of the above?

Heard of shock eyelets groaning before, a mate had that issue, replaced the shock and it was gone. Think i’ll switch the shocks over with his and see what that does. I’ve had mine out, cleaned and regreased and not getting any creak when sat down just bouncing up and down. Not even when balanced on the crank standing up and cycling the shock does it happen. There has to be flex in the frame somewhere when pressure is put through the crank, so movement of something somewhere is creaking!

I’ve heard of the mech hanger sometimes being an issue too, took mine off and greased it but still no luck! I’ll try WD40 though, might do something that grease can’t.

Giant road bike

I’d be a million pounds that’s steel cable end caps in the cable stops. Giants, for whatever reason, are beggars for this.

QR skewers!* Especially if they’re not Shimano.
This has turned out to be the culprit for mysterious creaking noises on two bikes for me now. Both times it was the external cam bit, not where they meet the dropouts.

*If you have them!

Someone mentioned a squirt of WD40 – I had an annoying creak/click on one of my bikes, I used some GT85 to sqirt in a couple of places and this at least eliminated it for a while so I knew what was causing it. So, you try going around the bike, frame, bearings etc and give it a squirt one thing at a time then ride and see if it gets rid of it, if not move on to the next bit. This might help you identify where it is? Then you can deal with it.

Bars and stem off, clean interfaces, clean and grease bolts. This is what was creaking on my 2014 Zesty (albeit they were aftermarket Renthal parts). Got to be worth a go.

Could be the frame that houses the press fit bearings is worn and under load the outside diameter of the bearing is rubbing the frame and creaking. Can you check for ovality in the bottom bracket?

I had this on a yeti and tried everything.turned out to be the pin on the outside of the chainring touching the back of the crank arm. Quick file, no more creaking!

🙂 MBR Guide

Tried the WD40 remedy, still not got it.

Had the bars and stem off too, cleaned and regreased, no luck 🙁

The bottom bracket is brand new mate, brand new cups and bearings so there can’t be any ovality there. The inside of the frame was checked also when the new BB’s went in.

Wish it was the crank, could just replace it! That guide is pretty good mate!

This is a tough one lads 👿

You don’t mention if you changed the chain?

Not changed the chain actually mate, but i removed it and got creaking when i jumped on the crank arm on the drive side. Just to eliminate the drivechain.

Saddle rails?

Have you lightly lubed all the spokes?
Especially where they join the hub.

Treat it like noises you get in the car, just turn up the radio and the noise goes away.

So, wear headphones and wait till the offending bit falls off 🙂

QR cam?

Well did you find it?? I ask because my stumpjumper is doing the same and going to try and find the problem shortly. I have also replaced the bb30 with hope and have replaced frame bearings, I think mine may be the dropper post as it moves left to right.