CREAK DETECTIVE! How to Resolve Your Noisy, Squeaky, Creaky, Bike!
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- Опубликовано: 5 апр 2023
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Filmed/edit by @MitchBoyer (a rare, under 10% gradient video for him)
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Ha, Phil… the joke’s on you. I had a noise, replaced my BB and the noise went away… until I rode it again 2 days later and the noise was back. Darn you! Haha (was the seat post)
I’m convinced that this accounts for almost as many bottom bracket sales as oatmeal raisin cookies that are mistaken for chocolate chip
@@worstretirementever hahahaha, probably
As a bike shop employee, I can say checking chainring bolts is always on the short list.
I agree 100%. Or the spider - crank interface if there's a direct mount system.
This was my problem, one bolt missing, the other loose, and only creaked on the big ring when power applied on the left hand side (non-drive).
Boom that, was my creak.
I cleaned my chainring bolts and the noise went away thank you
@@dpgrenfree Same as mine, good job I ordered a new BB and sussed the creak before it arrived... LOL
I’m 50. It was my knee. Well both of them. And my hips and ankles.
Bike is working great. It was not the BB.
Im 60 and the same problem...
🤣
We're the bottom bracket.
I had a squeaky bottom bracket the last few days. So the bike shop had to fix it by tightening the bolts of the chainring. Classic bottom bracket fix.
mountain roads are rough i my neighborhood. Despite this, I was stupid enough to buy a bike with a ceramic BB. Several times the creaking WAS my bottom bracket. My current bike has a steel BB.
For how many Cannondale’s Phil has rode, it’s amazing how it’s never been the Bottom Bracket.
Came here to say Cannondale. It’s never not the bb
Have a Cannondale Synapse. Never has been the bottom bracket. Has been, seat bracket, seat post, cable knocking on frame, quick release.
My thoughts exactly 😂
@@ukestjohn Every brand has issues. I’m just poking fun at issues that they had in the past.
On my cannondale caad10 it's DEFINITELY the BB
#1. Stand up and pedal. If the noise goes away, it’s the seat/seat post. This is number one because it’s the easiest. Do the easy stuff first👍😀
I've had seatpost clamp to saddle rail creaks on 5 or 6 occasions. Never anywhere else.
My LBS fund that my seatpost was just dry and needed a little lube (Aluminium frame and seatpost). I had checked everywear but the seatpost. Learning everday!
it's always the seatpost or quick release skewer or dirt between the spokes where they touch.
THIS ONE. Seat post issues sound exactly like the BB ticking (not creaking) on some of our fatbikes. Sometimes it's because the seat clamp needs tightening. Also, can be seat tube burred or not completely square. I rap them down with a rubber mallet these days after carefully deburring them. Post gets fully greased. (The world's creakiest bottom brackets on my trail -- that really are the BB -- are press fit. Threaded may click if they're loose, but they rarely make that sickening creaking.
I once worked on a Liv Langma Adavnced that creaked when I pedaled off-saddle. When I applied downwards force to the saddle, the exact same creak was triggered, so I figured the seatpost was dry and I was right. A new layer of carbon paste later and all is well.
I never thought I'd see Jim Carrey play a bike mechanic playing Sherlock Holmes
Still pretty sure it's the BB
It's not !
I love this. Last year I was on a group ride here in San Diego and found myself riding next to Olympic Track Medalist, Nelson Vails. Another rider had a creak we could all hear and swore it was the bottom bracket. Nelson said, “It’s never the bottom bracket.” The other cyclist loudly disagreed. Nelson sat up and emoted “WTF would I know? I only have a silver medal in bike riding.”
I remembered that and always problem solve creaks starting at other points-and it’s usually my pedals (speedplay needs to be periodically regreased) or a worn chain. FFW to this month where I’ve tried all other points that I can think of and finally took it to my LBS where I described what I’d looked at already and when I experienced the creak. I got a call the next day. It WAS the bottom bracket bearings that were worn out. 😂
So, it’s ALMOST never the bottom bracket.
Hell yeah that’s a solid endorsement
Guy brought in his bike after being to 3 different bike shops, one replaced the Bottom bracket and the others re greased and re torqued everything etc. Still creaked. Dude was pulling his hair out. After looking the bike over on the stand could see nothing obvious. Take it for a ride and sure enough creaks all around. back in the stand silence. Put the bike on the ground and had one of the sales guys sit on the bike while holding the stand for balance. Got him to lean to the right, silence. Leaned to the left, creak. Finally diagnosed as a the pedal threads due to the owner accidentally cross threading the pedal at one point when swapping pedals and had been slowly tearing the threads of the crank arm out. Replaced the arm and silence again. Needless to say it was not the bottom bracket.
My bottom bracket creak was my rear quick release not being tight enough. Yes, I ride a bike with rim brakes. I even have the lawyer tabs filed off.
Never rule out the seatpost, particularly an alloy one. I had a nerve-racking creak once (2015 Giant Defy alloy frame) only when in the saddle and pedaling, and very pronounced when climbing. The LBS couldn't figure it out. I ended up removing the seatpost and what I discovered was horrific. After a good cleaning and some anti-seize lube, I haven't had the issue since. Keep this in mind if you ride in inclement weather. Be safe everyone!
i was in the exact same situation few weeks ago! The dirt can get in between the top tube, clamp and seatpost.
I had the loudest click on the down pedal but only on the left. Wasn’t the BB but the seat post! I would had bet a $1000 it was the BB #neverTheBB
Similar experience--removed the seat post and was stunned by the amount of gunk and sandy grit I found. If you ride in the rain, you gotta deep clean.
The two hardest creaks to track down for me were from a bad saddle (creaking against its rails), and slightly dirty cleats creaking in my pedals, both of which I diagnosed after replacing the bottom bracket…..
same here with the saddle rails.
The little rings on the valve stems.... drove me NUTS trying to figure out what was rattling. Also, sometimes the brake cables inside your frame, depending on how they were installed, can knock against your frame if you are out of saddle giving your bike the business..
The first thing you remove from a new bike are these valve rings and valve caps, exactly for the reason to eliminate one source of unwanted noise.
Check where your spokes cross each other (if your wheel is laced that way) - cleaning those cross points and potentially a dab of lube has fixed creaks under heavy pedaling that sure sounded like a bottom bracket creak! Oh and external cabled bikes - ferrule contacts/zip tie points/etc!
And if you're convinced it's the BB - brakes on hard and step on each pedal without allowing the bike to move - great check for pedal spindle issues too.
I'm dealing with this right now! First time it was new pedals.
Now, idk. Bike shop has it right now. They said it's never the bottom bracket. 😂
You're the best Phil!
Mitch killed it on the editing on this one! Not that your videos aren't normally great, but this was a step up!
Haha that’s because Mitch did it
Most often, it’s the saddle or the seatpost. Once, I had a squeaky noise from the bottom bracket area, but it was not the BB - it was a slightly loose spindle. I hadn’t applied enough torque when installing the chainset, and it got looser and squeakier with time.
It’s most-certainly the front-derailleur cable slapping against your right crank arm while pedaling.
It will drive you insane for almost a month as you are repeatedly trying (and failing) to locate the origin of that obnoxious clicking sound.
Have fun screwing around with your limit screws as you wrongfully believe it’s your chain slamming against the front derailleur, you absolute legend.
Traveling to Mareira next month so had to get some different gearing for my trusty old FUSO. Had an 11-32 cassette from an old MTB in the drawer so cleaned that up nice and shiny and all worked fine for a few weeks then developed the dreaded creak. Checked everything (yes BB as well) and even rebuilt the free hub. Then I finally dismantled the whole cassette and cleaned each cog and spacer. That fixed it.
Thank you Phil. I was so sure it was the BB. I used your method to decipher the steerer tube bearings as the failure point.
Thanks for the video and loving the comments, lots of good help. I have an ongoing issue with my back breaks. (story time) Took my bike in for the 1-year maintenance after 1000 miles. Had issue with 0 braking, lever to the grip. As part of their bigger 'package' they checked them, bled them and gave the bike back to me. No noise for first ride. Next time I went out, the noise shown up. Brakes "feel" like they're grinding. Figured I either have new brake pads that just need to be worn in a little, or some gunk on the disc. Got some brake cleaner, sprayed them off, that seemed to work, for awhile. After 100 more miles, the issue still persists. Had the shop check them again, no issues, just needed bled again. I don't think so. The brakes are slowly getting worse again, and the noise still happens when they get 'hot' (long descents). My guess is they are leaking mineral oil gunk on the pads causing the noise.
Press fit BBs get blamed for many noises they don’t deserve… I feel badly for them. Love your process and agree wholeheartedly! I once suffered a noise that ended up being my AL seatpost in any early 1994 titanium MTB frame. It only made the noise when I was out of the saddle!!! When I finally realized where it was coming from, a simple clean and lube fixed it.
Another pro tip is to try only one fix at a time so you know what did it… then you learn from your bike.
Phil how true. My non-BB creak was rear through axle not tight enough. Cheap fix👍🏽
Good tip to start with anything that’s changed recently. My most recent noise was a nasty squeal, which turned out to be coming from a new set of rear derailleur pulley wheels. Derailleur hangar bolts can be a sneaky source of noise, along with chainring bolts.
Click with every crank rotation? Test the chainring bolts (thank you Zinn & The Art of Road Bike Maintenance!).
I’ve been annoyed for the past few weeks about a creak on the bike. Took off crank, bottom bracket, head tube to bearings (bottom head tube bearing replaced b/c of some mild grinding), and after watching this video I tighten up the chain bolt bearing and Eureka! -No more creaks!🎉🎉🎉
It was the hairline crack on the in-side of dura ace Crank arm
For me, it's some stupid spacers in the freehub. I take it apart, clean, lube and it's gone for a few rides. And once, it was the rear quick release. I was able to reproduce it by standing on the pedal with the front wheel rammed into a wall. I asked my son to come and listen where it's clicking.
My ancient Vitus 979: aluminum wheels, rim brakes, downtube shifters, threaded bottom bracket. I take it out and not a sound.
Newish BH with carbon everything and nearly every ride results in a new annoying sound to track down and resolve.
Seat adjusting bolts were under torqued; took me a dozen rides to figure it out, but once I torqued it down the silence brought me such joy on my rides since.
Silent bike is such a bliss! That's one of the main reasons why i clean my drivetrain so often, i just love the silent humming when i put power through the pedals :)
Had a bottom bracket noise on every crank revolution. Tightened up the springs in the pedals where the cleats engaged, and the bottom bracket was miraculously fixed. Another bottom bracket noise was fixed by tightening a crank fixing bolt. A third BB noise was fixed by the bolts holding the handlebar to the stem. It amazes me how far those bottom bracket noises can extend throughout the bike.
Yesterday it was the BB! The nice mechanics in the Subaru dealership way out in the Japanese countryside leant me some tools and grease and in 15 minutes I was back on the road.
The moment you showed the pipe trick, I knew it's gonna be a proper how-to for bikers video. Definitely thumbs up!
For me it has frequently been the pedals. It goes away lubing up the little springs that keep you cleat in place or the thread that goes in the crank
You are the best Phil!
I have had creaks from seat rails front QR and yes, BB. BB got wet during a rainy gran fondo and I had to get the bearings replaced, so it CAN happen.
I'm very happy for your good fortune in only having one true creaking bottom bracket in your experience. From my perspective, almost entirely vintage with some extremely wack threadings, sometimes, yeah, it is the bottom bracket. That said, you don't exactly need a microscope to look down and see a French fixed cup backing off of the shell with 1.5mm of threads exposed.
Amazing !! Your video gives me the authorization to slap my bike mates when they complain they have a creaky bottom bracket !
I had a bb30 bottom bracket that was always noisy. In fact it was the bb30 to 24mm conversion cups that creaked. Just required frequent cleaning and the cranks torqued properly. That bottom bracket took a beating over the years from winter commuting/cx/road rides by multiple owners. Never once was it actually the bottom bracket.
my seat post seems to be creaking. After this highly educational video, I feel empowered to identify and fix the issue!
It's never the bottom bracket...until it is! I've had issues with my Cannondale Supersix bottom bracket for years. The bottom bracket has been unpacked and cleaned so many times it hurts! I finally bought another bike with a threaded bottom bracket. Not the most economical fix, but a fix nonetheless!
Good diagnosing tips. Only happens while standing up does not necessarily mean handlebars or headset. I once had a clicking noise only when standing up and it was my Shimano hollowtech crankset being cracked.
Clicking noises I’ve found
1)Seat tube shim. I thought it was the seat. Stuffed some grease between the frame and shim. Solved.
2)Folding bike. Cracking sound. Oiled the hinge. Solved.
3)Clicking from pedaling. Loose cranks. Switched to hollow tech no problem with loosening anymore.
4)Another clicking noise from pedaling. It was the BOTTOM BRACKET. Took about 100km for the ceramic bearing BB to spoil. Switched to steel and never a problem and they spin as easy at the ceramic 🤪
5)Clicking from rolling. Spokes got noisy from too much water intrusion. They were tight and not loose. Oil and solved.
3 of these clicking noise were caused by water.
I had a clicking on my bike that was present upon load and of course sounded like it was coming from the bottom bracket. Took it in and even the mechanic had a hard time finding it but it was a screw on the rear derailleur that wasn't tightened down all the way and the chain kept rubbing against it. The mechanic said that the sound resonated through the frame to make it sound like the bottom bracket.
Mine was the front derailleur clamp on the down tube….after reinstalling the bottom bracket multiple times 😂. Grit between clamp and tube after a wet ride. Thanks Phil!
Bought a 2007 Steel Axiom 2 years ago. Was told it was kept in an attic for 15 years, had less than 300 miles on it. Inspection (drive chain wear, paint,…) confirmed. After about 500 miles, there was a “creak” on every strong downstroke. It sounded like the bottom bracket. So I googled it and found, of course, that it’s “Never the bottom bracket”. Did all the non-BB suggestions here, and more! The creak persisted. FINALLY, I opened the threaded Ultegra BB, noted some dried up thread-lock? Old grease? Who knows. So I cleaned the threads, added a small dab of grease, torqued it down, and, lo-n-behold,… wait for it…
It was the… Bottom bracket!
It was fun doing all the maintenance! I learned a lot, bought a bunch of tools, got a well-serviced, creak-free bike that I absolutely love to ride! And learned that I should not trust everything on the internet!
So for the sake of future ChatGPT hashes, sometimes it *is* the Bottom Bracket.
If it's a Cannondale, it's the BB!!!
On my Cannondale CAAD-12 (BB30)... it's the headset! It's impossible to adjust the headset for no binding and no play in all positions, so the bearings aren't parallel. Great quality control!
My daily driver Surly Crosscheck commuter bike DID get a bottom bracket creak, on an ISO bottom bracket. Tightened it up 1/8 turn and done. That was after going through stem, crank bolts, chainring bolts, and pretty much everything BUT the bottom bracket.
I tore down and rebuilt my mtb twice last spring to resolve a nasty creak. Replaced the BB and frame bearings and it still creaked. Turned out to be pedal bearings on right pedal. Live and learn…
@6:27 once when i had a Cervelo S3 set up for hill climbing, it was the rear hub creaking against the frame, due, in part, to installing the wheel dry, and not quite torquing the Tune skewer quite enough. Once i put carbon assembly paste around the hub and inside the frame dropouts.. problem solved :D Cheers Phil for the video.m
Just had a creak and needed to replace… my bottom bracket… but at least 19 times out of 20 it is NOT the BB. Loved the coasting tip.
Took me some time to track a noise down to a frame pump that was coming apart. Seat rails a given. I just end up gluing them in place with JB Weld. Had an odd popping sound once. I eventually pulled the seat tube out, cleaned and put carbon paste on. Took care of that.
Great video. I can garantee you this video will be very successful 😉
One time I thought it was the BB. It was loose chainring bolts. And some grime had worked its way between the chainring and the crank arm. Removed the crank arm. Removed all the chainring bolts. Cleaned and greased all contact points. Reassembled. Noise gone.
I work as a bike mechanic. Twice in the last two weeks I’ve had a customer complain about a “creaky clicking noise” when they pedal. Both times it was the bottom bracket 😮 Don’t know if it was a coincidence but both were aluminum bikes with cartridge bottom brackets that were loose a half or full turn on the drive side. Removed crank, snugged it up, noise gone.
My mtb made a terrible sound when peddling under load on bikepack trip. Spent whole say with that sound , could be heard half a mile away. When I decided to just get a new groupset as the noise had forced my hand , I couldn't help notice g how loosely tightened the bb was , which I think 🤔 was the probable cause , but I will never know cause I replaced whole groupset and new bb 😅
Press Fit BBs creak like mad - especially BB90. Glad to see bike frames going back to threaded - much better
no. no they don't. it's never the bottom bracket
Mine was cracked glasses, I had to board them up, also I cycled through a rough neighborhood all the windows were boarded up, the window cleaners had sanders…..the pub was so rough even the piano had a bandage on the leg, and the first question in the pub quiz was , who you looking at. There’s millions more just mail me……
check the quick link in your chain, after a while it deforms and starts making a clicking noise as it moves through the sprockets or derailleurs, that can easily be mistaken for the BB
Oh, I forgot about the other time it was the BB. 1983, broken bearing in the BB somewhere in Montana. The next bike shop was in Bismark North Dakota, 300+ miles away. I ground that BB into little tiny metal fragments before I could replace it. That one made some noise.
For me it was actually the upper fabric on my shoes (s-works torch), I figured that out after I replaced the Bottom Bracket. Wish your video was out two weeks ago :)
Ouch!!😅
Yeah, my Shimano XC shoes are also noisy. Pleather against pleather
lmao my bike is in the shop (guess what the problem is) But it was definitely echoing throughout my entire bike. Sometimes it's been a simple problem (& one time it was a cracked frame and there was NO warming - I was sailing along, quiet bike riding beautifully and then CRACK, WALKING HOME FOR THREE HOURS DRAGGING THIS BROKEN FRAME) But this was a very helpful video.
In terms of the bottom bracket, I've had that once before this time - the repairperson, when I brought in my bike, was worried that the bottom bracket he had replaced on my last bike broke when I told him 'hey, you actually did a fantastic job, that's why I'm back with my new bike.' In the case of the first one, it wasn't just unlubricated, it had cracked - the part was cheap. So I'm looking forward to finally getting my bike back (it's been nine days in the shop and they're just two dudes serving like half a city) and until then, watching great videos like this.
my worst creak....it wasn't my bottom bracket. it was spokes rubbing at the cross point when under load! tight the spokes and lube the cross point. Yours was a great video. from others on the interweb, I have a list of 12 things to check. I will now move bb to the bottom of the list where it belongs.
If only more bike mechs and bike shops would actually know this hahahahaha for a long time I thought it was my bottom bracket only to find out it was my Fulgrum hubs, now I just clean & re-lube my bottom bracket for less friction, great video!
If You are still riding a "real" bike with rim brakes, the quick release skewers can make a clicking noise if not lightly greased. It usually happens when standing in a hard climb. Also if all else fails, take your rear wheel out and remove the derailleur hanger and grease the interface between hanger and frame.
Definitely had BB creaks and solve them but fully agree to check everything else first.
With the bike on the trainer, I had my wife crawl around to pinpoint where the sound came from. She triangulated it down to the bottom bracket. It was a squeaky dry jockey wheel.
I don't have a trainer, so I made my gf run along next to me stooped over until she could tell me where it was coming from. She too said it was coming from the bottom bracket. It was one of the suspension bolts.
Like the nylon tape tip, that one is new to me. Entertaining as always, thanks 😊
Actually Teflon... but if it does the job, no one cares!
Another trick... Natural gas tape (usually yellow) is thicker than plumbers tape and you don't need to do as many wraps....Learned that from an Ingersol-Rand compressor installer
Last year, creak-a-palooza! Canyon Grail - rear hub bearings were SHOT. Storck Aernario - rear freewheel body was DRY - man, did THAT make a racket! All solved now though..., in both cases, it WASN'T THE BOTTOM BRACKET. Thanks Phil!
Greased the pedal bearings. Changed the pedals. Changed the seat post. Changed the saddle.
Added grease to the bottom bracket.
It was the bottom bracket!
Thank you Phill. I followed your Sherlock Holmes steps and find that my rear wheel quick release was echoing through the frame which made me think the bb was dirty, but it was not.
Love it!
I love this! I know it's not my bottom bracket, I think it's my seatpost!
If you have rim brakes, check the rear wheel quick release skewer and tighten it. A very common cause of creak that sounds like the BB. Grease it if you can.
Chainring bolts, so often. Remove grease and torque. I keep extras in my small parts bin to save friend’s creaky bikes. The other funny one is mechanical FDs where the cable is too long and sticks out and to the side, where it contacts the crank arm to make a tiny click on every pedal rotation.
One time it was a broken seat rail. Twice it was a broken frame. In the old days handlebars had a sleeve where the bar clamps to the stem. One time that sleeve came loose. Many times it's been the cleat pedal interface. One time it was a loose cassette lock ring.
It may not be the bottom bracket, but sometimes it is a nearby. A loose chain ring or crank bolt will sound like it’s coming from the bottom bracket.
You're spot on, I took the bike to a mechanic cause I thought the noise was coming from the the bottom bracket. Eight months later after many failures, a new mechanic managed to figure out the noise in fact was produced by the hub in the rear wheel, not the bottom bracket, the hub unfortunately was incorrectly installed by a previous mechanic. Apparently a recurrent problem with this type of wheels, hence the new mechanic knew about it.
Let me guess…enve?
@@worstretirementever Nope ... Vision wheels, but it might just be many mechanics don't fallow factory instructions .... for the Vision hubs the rims are different size in the front vs the back.
The most frustrating search was on a titanium frame a customer brought to me. It ONLY creaked when he stood up. We put it on a trainer and had him pedal standing up and used a paper towel tube to listen to various parts of the frame, trying to isolate the noise. Literally every part of the frame resonated to it, so it sounded like BB, headset, rear axle....you get the picture. Final diagnosis? The lower bottle cage rivet on the seat tube had worked slightly loose. 30 seconds with a rivnut tool and the noise was gone. Dead silent. Before we got there, pretty much the entire bike had been overhauled.
Creaks going up a hill on my steel BSA bike were coming from aluminium spoke nipples corroding against the aluminium rim. After 12 years, I should have known. When added some lubricant to the nipple rim interface, it fixed the problem. It is amazing how the noise did resonate as if it were coming from the BB, especially when climbing out of the saddle.
Decades ago, I had an Asia-made Bianchi (Tange or Ishiwata tubing) with a steel crown fork and the creak was caused by a crack that ran right through the crown lugs (yes, both layers of the steel). I never looked there because I thought it was impossible for it to break. During the manufacturing of this fork, it is heated red hot to do the brazing and this what likely made the steel more brittle. I was only 16 at the time, and didn't realize that Bianchi should have replaced it, even though my warranty had expired.
Nice hat.
seat post was most common for me; cracked bottle cage the most recent.
I had a mystery creak that I couldn't figure out, turned out to be the spoke nipples and spoke holes were making noise after I went through a shallow flood and let it dry out. Some lube & GT85 worked a treat. Bike shop told me I needed new wheels.
I second the chain checker tool. I got the cheapest one from Park ($8 I think?) and it is incredible how long my cassettes last now. For almost two decades I used to wait way too long to change my chain and then I would have to replace the chain AND the cassette. I'm on probably my 5th or 6th chain on the same original cassette from a bike I got new 4 years ago thanks to the chain checker.
Brand new Trek Domane and it turned out to be a bolt that secures the cover around the seat post at the frame for the isospeed was not holding torque and both bolt and cover needed to be replaced. The looseness allowed the post to flex and creak as I rode especially when pushing up hills.
The second was on my Emonda and I went through every possible check to figure it out even to the point of replacing the bottom bracket in the end. Thought it was the speedplay pedals clicking so swapped in a different pair. It turned out to be the chain after riding for 100 miles would start to bind and click. Freshly cleaned and lubed no problem. Swapped out for a waxed chain and no more noise.
Is your carbon Domane an early 2020s model? If so, there is indeed an issue with such Domanes having their IsoSpeed hardware coming loose. Same thing for 2019 - 2022 Madone SLRs.
Yep 2020 Domane. LBS recognized it almost immediately.
The other big culprit I've run into is slightly loose crank bolts.
I've had the clicking noise now on 4 of my bikes. 2 I haven't taken the time yet to properly investigate (however, I do have spare bottom brackets ready). 1 sounded like the bottom bracket but upon replacing the bottom bracket I found out it was the pedal. And the last one was *drumroll* the bottom bracket!
"slap yourself, it's not bottom bracket" made me laugh, great video
Crossed spokes that rub, chainring bolts that creak, qrs... oh, the laced shoes... the lace hitting the crank arm was the best
On my only two bikes, a Canyon and Trek. It was the bottom bracket both times. Trek had the old style (non-hollowtech) and it was bone dry. Greased it up and worked great until I finally upgraded. The Canyon's Ninja bottom bracket must have had a failure in the seals because the drive side's bearings were destroyed and filled with muck, the other side looked new. Replaced it, no more creak.
Always the skewer, or derailleur hanger’s tiny-ass bolts. Have had TCR’s /press fit for years, and it was never the Bottom Bracket. Thx Phil.
That tape is good idea! My issue is that i have to put some SERIOUS torque to bottom bracket or it starts to creak. Way too much torque for it to be healthy on the long run.
I've had a case where the bike only made noise when pedaling and it still was coming from the rear disc brake. The freewheel body was worn and had a bit of play/movement on the axle. Force applied by pedaling comes from one side only. That changed the angle of the wheel and the disc brake rotor attached to it ever so slightly and made it rub the brake pad just a tiny bit. This was on cheap mechanical disk brakes that were fiddly to center to begin with, and 8-speed cassette. More modern 10 speed (and up) systems probably have tighter tolerances and hydraulic brakes center better so I doubt anyone with those will stumble on this.
My go to is the crank to bb connection. After that it’s pedals or saddle. Carbon frames are brilliant at making noises appear somewhere well away from the source😂
I tried ignoring the bottom bracket as the cause of the creaking on the bike absolutely because you told me it wouldn't be the cause of the noise..
Gave in today, took the cranks off and the bottom bracket was a mess. I'm blaming you entirely for my problems, I'd have fixed the bike 2 weeks ago if I hadn't seen this video!
I solved a whole symphony of noises by switching from 28mm to 25mm tires. On the stand the 28's seemed to have enough clearance, but out on the road with weight on them they were polishing the underside of the brake boss to a mirror finish. (and making lots of noises).
I had many drivetrain shifting problems and fiddled 1000 times with every high, low, bb screw and other ones, cleaned the chain and pulleys, but at the end, the hanger was the cause. every single time. My "it's never the bb" is "it's always the hanger".
I’ve had a click click click basically since installing a Hambini bb86 in a new frame. It’s definitely a rotational noise, not a seatpost creak (I had that too, and resolved it); only occuring when standing pedaling on a hill steep enough to need doing so. There were no parts being repetitively touched, nothing. I looked at other possibles, every other, but the standing only clicking that corresponded precisely to the crank rotational cadence seemed convincing. It’s a BB noise, but what?
So I removed it, cleaned it, as well as the frame bore, and reinstalled it using some medium Loctite. No more click click click.
The only thing I noticed was a very small bit of damage to the drive side inner edge of the bottom bracket flange; a tiny bit standing out. I carefully filed it back. Perhaps that was what was up? Who knows? But the click is gone. It was the bottom bracket.
Great hat.
You are right, i had a most irritatating sound. Id did all thise things you mentioned. Pedalling with one leg, swap out pedals, seat tube and so on. Finally took it to the bike mechanic and... it wasn't the bottom bracket, which i finally thought. No it was a little dirt in the cassette body 😂
Had a weird creek that sounded like the bottom bracket on my hard tail. Turned out to be half right, but it was actually the fact that I had bent the crank spindle somehow and that extra movement was the culprit. Who knew 🤷♂️
Phil, you're no Jeremy Brett. On the topic of creaks, I've had so many. Once it was a bad pedal bearing. That was easy to troubleshoot by swapping out pedals. Another one is lack of lubrication for the seat post on steel frames. And, saddles can creak over time where the metal rails are encased in the nylon shell. Make sure the jockey rollers are lubricated. They can make a high-pitched squeal under load. Steel bikes with cracks make a distinctive noise, especially when riding out of the saddle. Almost always you can detect the crack by visual inspection. The downtube at the headtube is a common place for cracks, and at the bottom bracket. When I used a carbon fiber fork with steel hubs I was surprised to find a creak. I had to clamp down the quick release with more force to fix it. I agree, it's never the bottom bracket.
I’m also no Rob Ford