JohnUSA

I got a Cannondale SuperSix EVO Road bike in September this year. I love the bike, but the seatpost creaks like crazy.

I have a torque wrench and tightened the seat post binder bolt to 5NM and I used carbon paste. It still creaks. I removed the post, cleaned, and regreased. Still creaked.

I have heard that a little electrical tape can stop creaking, so I put a little electrical tape on the seatpost and it eliminated the creak. However, now the post slips in the frame with 5NM of torque and carbon paste.

So my dilemma is use electrical tape, no creaking, but the seat slips, or don’t use electrical tape, have a loud creak but no slippage. What do I do?

John

Bmach

Wear headphones?

is the post raised up higher than it should be?

did you talk to the dealer yet.

JohnUSA

Post is at least 3 inches lower than maximum height, so that isn’t an issue.

I haven’t spoken to dealer yet, was hoping to find a solution elsewhere.

mr_bill

Besides checking with your local bike shop where you purchased your bike:

* Who told you electrical tape? They are wrong!
* Check interface paste is correct. Carbon/carbon or metal/carbon?
* Check seatpost-clamp. (Clean inside clamp and outside of frame, use correct interface paste. Don’t forget seatpost-clamp bolt too.)
* Check saddle rails and saddle clamps. (Clean and use correct interface paste and correct torque.)
* DI2 battery inside seatpost? Check it too.
* Still have creaks? Are you sure you know where the creak is coming from?

-mr. bill

JohnUSA

I have determined exactly where the creak is. It comes from the area directly where the post is clamped to the frame. The SuperSix has seatpost Binder wedge instead of a traditional clamp, and I have regreased and cleaned that several times.

It is definitely not the saddle rails or anything else, it is certainly the post/frame Interface. A little electrical tape there clears up the issue, so I know that is where the noise is.

mr_bill

Have you tried torquing the seatpost binder to 6NM?

-mr. bill

55murray

I had a QR seatpost clamp that I could never shut up as well, did not mater how tight I made it. I replaced it with a traditional clamp. No more issues.

TheRabbit

While this may sound crazy, here is an idea to explore.

I had a creak on my 2016 Caad12 that I swore was coming from the seat post and or bottom bracket. After MONTHS of trying to solve these sounds at the source, the issue was that there wasn't enough grease in my rear hub. What the hell!

In my experience, it is often not the exact location of the sound, but something else nearby resonating through the tube forms and making the sound.

Check literally everything - down to the grease in the bearing of your wheel hubs. Spoke tension is another one. Best of luck.

bpcyclist

^^^This. Unless for some, what I personally would consider to be unusual, reason, you are 5000% certain of the exact origin of this sound, what a whole darn lot of us have found is that we are not very good at adjudging where sounds are arising from. It is absolutely worth checking everything. I had a clicking sound I was sure was from the front end. Positive. Turned out, it was coming from a creaky fastener inside my helmet! Just sayin'.

veganbikes

We had a similar problem where the customer and the shop staff thought it was a creaky BB but it turned out to be a slightly loose QR (or thru axle) skewer causing the noise that plagued us for a while. Generally if you have taken good steps to ensure everything is done correctly and torqued everything to proper spec then it could be elsewhere. I would take it to your local shop especially if they sold it to you and have them take a look unless you did something sketchy when purchasing the bike should still be under warranty and the shop should be able to take a look at it. If they don't have a fix they can at least reach out to Cannondale and figure out next steps.

Hawkinssmythe

got the same problem. Did you get it sorted in the end?

JohnUSA

Not really. I just put more carbon paste on the seatpost and the creaking is far less frequent, but still there.

daviddavieboy

Check the interweb, one thing 'Dales are known for is noise. That's why they are called creakingdales in the mechanic world. I have had many.

mr_bill

Please read the manual.

Assuming you are correctly identifying the source of the creak, see pp. 15-17. You need both carbon paste and synthetic grease.

-mr. bill

LBUK

If anyone finds the solution please could post it as my 2020 Cannondale supersix evo actually scares passers by if I’d go over rough ground!
There must be a solution to this!

ADIHEAD

I've got the same bike and it's driving me as mad as it's driving you. For others it's not the BB or anything else, it makes the same noise when you torque up the seat post clamp as it does when you ride it. It's been back to the dealer 3 times. Last time Cannondale sent new clamp and the 3mm tape mentioned in the manual. The tape seems useless as the grease gets into it and it comes unstuck. It only fixed the noise for a couple of rides anyway. Where did you place the electrical tape?

ADIHEAD

my seat post is alloy. Do I still need carbon paste? That's what I used, but wondering if that's the problem with the alloy post?

mwc10

I have had the same issue. I bought mine in early March. I absolutely love the bike, but the creaking is just horrible! It gets so bad at some points that I feel like my frame is about to come apart below me. I actually called Cannondale this week (had to leave a voice mail probably due to all of the virus mess). I'm hoping that they have some sort of "fix" for this. I'm not a fan of alloy seat posts in carbon frames, but I never thought of something creaking this badly. The shop I bought it from couldn't fix it either. They definitely did all they could though. It has to be something to do with the interior clamp mechanism rubbing up against the aluminum seat post. I can't imagine switching to a carbon post would change anything. It has to be the clamp inside the frame. I will post something when I hear (if I hear) back from Cannondale.

Paul Barnard

A light coat of marine grease will solve the problem, and no it won't slip at the proper torque spec.

mwc10

Thanks, Paul. Do you have a SuperSix EVO? If so...where exactly did you apply the marine grease and, if you don't mind, can you define "light coat" for me? I'll definitely give this a shot!

mwc10

So...update. I bought some Marine grease at Lowe's. I used it liberally not lightly (on the advice from a good friend who has worked on bikes for years). I now have ridden it twice. The first ride was for about ten miles (30 minutes all out)...no creaking. The second ride, yesterday, I rode 32 miles (about an hour and 40 minutes) on several different roads from freshly paved to desperately needing work) and NO creaking again! So, two plus hours of riding in and no creaking on several different types of roads. For those of you who have this bike, give it a shot! So far, it has worked for me.

I tried to post a pic of the one I purchased, but I don't have 10 posts, so I cannot post pics. Just google Lucas Oil Marine Grease and it will come up in your search. It cost all of $7. Definitely worth the investment.

camilosixevo

Hello friends, I am from Chile and I bought the SUPERSIXEVO RIMS 2020, and I also have the curse of the seat tube. This also sounds to me like toast every time I walk on roads that are not smooth or when I move in the saddle, I did everything from the manual, a lot of mounting grease and bearing grease, I tightened the bolt to 6Nm and it still sounds, I think which sounds because of the tube, bolt and frame design, I actually see them very thin for the weight I have (86kl). It can also be the combination of being a metal tube and the carbon frame, they have different flexures, I imagine that if I had a carbon tube they would flex more according to the material. Anyway, I think I'll take the option of adding bearing grease to the tube and listening to music to avoid the inconvenience. If anyone knows the answer please help us. Greetings from the south of the world.

Hola amigos, soy soy de Chile y me compré la SUPERSIXEVO RIMS 2020, y también tengo la maldición del tubo de sillin. Este también me suena como pan tostado cada vez que paso sobre caminos que no son lisos o cuando me muevo en el sillin, hice todo lo del manual, mucha grasa de montaje y grasa de rodamientos, apreté a 6Nm el perno y aun suena, creo que suena por el diseño del tubo, el perno y el marco, en verdad los veo muy delgados para el peso que tengo (86kl). También puede ser la combinación de ser un tubo de metal y el marco de carbono, tienen flexiones diferentes, me imagino que si tuviera un tubo de carbono se flectarian mas acuerdo al material. En fin creo que tomaré la opcion de hechar grasa de rodamientos al tubo y escuchar música para evitar la molestía. Si alguien sabe la respuesta ayudenos por favor. Saludos desde el sur del mundo.

mwc10

I had the same issue and tried the marine grease and so far it has done the job. I plan to do a longer ride sometime this weekend and that will be the big test.

mcav

Where do you put the marine grease?
According to the manual, the only part that should be lubricated is the back of the sliding clamp and the grub screw.
I have the same problem (SuSiEvo2020 HiMo). I tried to clean and reapply carbon paste & grease (Teflon). It worked for approx 60km but then the tik-tok noise was back.

mwc10

I wiped all everything down first - seat post, inside the seat stay, and took the clamp out and thoroughly wiped it down as well. I applied the grease liberally to the seat post and then to the clamp itself. Once I placed the clamp back into the frame (the most challenging step for me!), I slowly put the seatpost back into the frame and tighten it down once I get to the right placement of the post. There will be a lot of grease that doesn’t make it in the seat tube (frame) and comes out of the frame where the post enters. Once I tightened it up, I just wiped the excess grease away.

Quick note: If you haven’t already....make sure you mark the seatpost with electric tape where your location is so that you keep from having to constantly adjust the seat post. This will ensure the grease to stay in place (hopefully).

I also spoke to Cannondale. They have the same clamp set up on the System Six, but there is no creaking. They definitely know about the issue and are going through warranty steps with customers who experience the creaking even to the point of eventually replacing the entire frame!