For the best part of 2 months now i have had a metalic creaking, tapping noise coming from somewhere around the drive chain area but only when pedaling and worse when pedaling is difficult (steep or high gear). It happens in all gears. I’ve changed the bottom bracket for a new one, i’ve swapped pedals, tightened the main pivot point to no avail. It’s driving me mad. Any suggestions would be much welcome.

make sure drop out hanger is bolted up tight.

Cables can creek in the stops.

you dont have a ks dropper post on it by any chance do ya?

Loose chainring bolts

dry skewer

Seatpost creaking

Many many causes – alternatively just replace it under warranty

Try some liquid maintenance – i.e. spray everything with WD40*

*this may not actually be a good idea

I had a similar creak on my Intense Carbine SL. Over a period of about 4 weeks I virtually dismantled the whole bike – Pivot points, cranks, bottom bracket, seat post, saddle, headset, brakes, pedals, mech hanger etc etc. I was at the point of jumping up a down on it and putting it in a skip when just by chance I put in another rear wheel and hey-presto the creak was gone. It turned out to be the rear hub – Although the hub was not loose, it just needed to be tweaked! Regardless to say, I am now back in love with my Carbine.

you dont have a ks dropper post on it by any chance do ya?
No it’s a reverb.

Many many causes – alternatively just replace it under warranty
It’s a self build.

Will try all the other suggestions thanks.

the only reason i ask is the exact same thing happened to me on my ariel and it ended up being the seatpost, sorry cant help you further

Any suggestions would be much welcome.

Ride with someone with an Orange, it will drown yours out.
HTH.

There’s a really easy fix for this and believe it or not, all you need is an old spoke. What you do is, put the bike in a workstand, hold the spoke tightly by the j-bend end, then poke it in your ears.

thanks NW, keyboard now full of coffee….

seat/seat post rails – sending vibrations down the seat tube to the bb??

The creak that took me longest to find was the rear mech hanger.

The intermittent creak on my five turned out to be not enough grease far enough down the seat tube, I used to only grease the seat post rather than the seat post and seat tube so most of the grease would be scraped off when I inserted the post into the frame.
It drove me batty chasing that creak round the frame.

Would it not creak wether pedaling or not if seat/post related?

The intermittent creak on my five turned out to be not enough grease far enough down the seat tube

that was the issue with my ks dropper, it had ran dry and just needed a bit of lube.

myti, guess the only way to tell is to try another seat post, you put different stresses on the seat and post when pedalling.

Great will try greasing my post then

seat/seat post rails – sending vibrations down the seat tube to the bb??

had the same on my trek, it was the rails a bit of sandpaper and some oil,make sure the rails bed down into the slots, on the pillar cradle.

Found the cause of mine when removing rear wheel and cassette fell off!
Broken axle on Hope hub 🙄

[quote Found the cause of mine when removing rear wheel and cassette fell off! Broken axle on Hope hub
I had that happen to me not so long ago…

I had the same problem recently, though it was from headset or BB. Turned out it was the rear shock bushings. Removed, greased up and replaced and all was fine.

I thought I has a creaky seatpost, turned out to be a crack in seat tube between clamp and top tube

Had a creak a while back sounded like it was coming from the bottom bracket, cleaned it greased it, tightened it etc.

Eventually found the cause by accident, turned out to be the QR on my Reba’s. If I tighten it too much bike creaks like hell.

Pedal bearings can do it too.

It might be a crack. They creak a lot under pressure.

Defo not seat or post related as creaks when standing and pedaling…I’m thinking it must be pivot bearings.