Amt0571

My 5y/o road bike has started to creak sometimes. It seems more prone to do it when riding at night, so I suppose temperarture is a factor.

The creaking coincides with the crank movement and it also does it when standing up (so it's not a saddle issue). It creaks more when on the big chainring.

So far I've disassembled the cranks (Rival) and removed and reinstalled the bottom bracket. Bottom bracket is pressfit but has never creaked in 5 years. I regreased everything when I assembled it. I also disassembled the chainrings and greased the bolts. I have not removed the pedals (Shimano M520), but it creaks when pedalling using only one foot, either right or left, so they don't seem to be the cause either.

I have also greased the rear through axle and even the space between the RD hanger and the frame.

Finally, I've tightened the cassette and checked the freehub and everything seems alright. I have also checked the frame for cracks and found nothing. I also checked the wheels (Vision Team 35 disc) and they don't have cracks (I replaced the wheels the past summer because the old Mavic's had cracks on the spoke holes, which also caused creaks).

Any ideas? Am I missing something?

frankenmike 

Long shot, but I discovered creaking from my skewers. Switched to closed cam for a slight weight penalty and no more creaks.

Amt0571

It's a thru axle bike. I've already greased them. In any case, they've been working creak free for 5 years,

andrewclaus

Try recreating the noise on the stand. Align a crank with the seat tube, wrap both hands around the crank and seat tube, and squeeze. Then pull them apart. This will usually point out any motion in the BB.

ridelikeaturtle

I recall a thread years ago about someone with this problem, and after dismantling the entire bike, it ended up being the zip on their cycling jacket, which they only wore on cold days.

The point: could be lots of things, so don't discount anyone's input.

Have you tried different shoes? Maybe one of the cleat bolts is loose?
Do you have a spare / different wheelset around to try?
Recreating it on a stand or turbo trainer is a good start.

Kai Winters

Perhaps the handlebar/stem interface...happened to me once this year...it was a tiny bit loose after a position adjustment and I failed to tighten it to torque spec.
Headset...

Amt0571

There's zero motion in the BB. I've already checked that when I disassembled it. It's also freshly greased, so I don't think it can creak that early.

Yes, I know creaks are elusive and can come from the less suspected place. I once almost completely disassembled my mountain bike looking for one. Unfortunately it's not the shoes (it happens with different pairs). I have a different wheelset, but that wheelset creaks a lot by itself because the rear wheel has cracked spoke holes (I replaced it last summer with my current wheels for that reason).

It happens when riding hands free, so I assume it's not the bars. You remind me that it could be a good idea to remove the steerer and grease the bearing / frame interface though. I don't think it's the cause, but I can't really rule it out. Maybe I could try to ride in a wheelie, but I'm unable to ride a wheelie without holding the bars, so that wouldn't fully rule it out.

Crankycrank

Sometimes old cable housings start to creak against the ferrules when the metal housing strands get corroded or start to protrude further from the plastic housing and every little movement from the bars can cause a creak. Even though you say it happens hands free the bars are still moving a little so try moving the bars back and forth when the bike is stationary to see if you can create the noise.

rm -rf

Locating the noise:
I found my rear quick release creak after checking a bunch of other things: Indoors, I stood next to the bike and pressed down on the pedal that was at 6 oclock, to torque the frame. The noise is coming from the back of the bike!

quick release noise
A couple times a year, I remove the quick release and wipe off the cam surface and add a light film of grease. Fixed!

KerryIrons

Clicks tied to your pedaling can come from

- BB (grease all threads in contact with the frame and BB, all metal to metal contact surfaces, and torque to the recommended settings, which can be quite high), the faces of tapered BB axles if they have a little corrosion

- bolt holding the BB cable guide onto the frame (grease threads and make sure the bolt is not touching the BB shell inside the frame)

- BB cable guide (grease threads and tighten)

- crank bolts (grease threads and washers)

- chain ring bolts (take them all out and grease the threads, the faces where they contact the CRs, and the CRs where they contact the crank spider arms)

- a dirty chain, inadequately lubed chain, stiff link in a chain or a burr on one of the "break off" special links used to assemble the chain

- front derailleur clamp (clean and put a light film of grease on the inside of the clamp where it touches the seat tube)

- front derailleur cage hitting crank arm

- the pedals (grease the threads and the shoulders of the axle where it butts against the crank arm, get some wax, silicone etc. on the cleats, check for play in the bearings, squirt some lube into the guts of the pedal machinery if possible)

- shoes/cleats - loose cleat nut rattling around in the shoe sole, shoe/cleat interface, cleat bolts, cleats touching pedals (wax lube, silicone, or furniture polish)

- seat post and saddle (grease the post, seat post clamp, seat post bolts, saddle rails, and add some oil to where the rails go into the saddle body)

- bars and stem (grease the stem where it clamps to steerer or goes into the steerer if quill type, top cap, stem bolts at both ends, h'bar bolt if quill stem, and h'bar where it goes through the stem)

- grease/tighten QRs and where the hub axle contacts the frame

- tighten cassette lock ring, grease cassette hub body and cassette spacers

- grease steerer tube spacers (if threadless)

- replaceable derailleur hangers (remove, clean, grease all parts and threads, reassemble)

- any other bolt (bottle cages, derailleur clamps, derailleur bolts, shift cable casing stops, etc.)

- cables hitting the frame (cable donuts), or shifting in their end ferrules (lube contact points).



Wheels can make noises when pedaling or coasting (check for spoke tension, particularly on the rear non drive side, put a drop of lube where each pair of spokes cross and where each spoke enters the rim and the hub flange, check for loose metal bits or spoke nipples in the body of the rim and cracks in the rim at spoke holes.).



Clicks that happen when you coast can come from:

- computer wheel magnet hitting the pickup (computer pickup reed switch noise cannot be fixed)

- nuts on threaded Presta valve stems (throw the nut away)

- valve stems hitting/moving against the rim

- wheel reflectors wobbling.

- pinned rim joint flexing

- bits of loose metal inside the rim left over from manufacturing

Iride01 

And when you disassembled and reassembled the crank you also checked the chain ring bolts?

The creak may also be the spokes on your wheels. Take a strong piece of cloth soaked with soapy water and wedge it between the places where the spokes cross each other and clean them good. Or you can just lube the crosses with paraffin or your favorite oil or other lube.

masi61

You say you re-greased the press fit bottom bracket. Does that mean that you physically removed the cups from the bottom bracket shell and re-intstalled them?

robobike316 

Two possibilities not mentioned are;
1. Cracked BB shell, this happened on a mountain bike of mine. Clean it all real good and inspect thoroughly for any crack, this will probably be on the bottom and not easy to see.
2. The BB cups of a cartridge type system. We had alot of problems with that issue and always just automatically installed them with the copper antisieze on the inside and outside of the cups. Easy fix.

Amt0571

Finally got around to removing the pedals and reinstalling them with grease. No creaking.... for 5km. It then started again. The same happened when I disassembled the whole BB.

Sometimes I can make it creak when stationary by pushing hard on the pedal while holding the rear brake. I'm thinking it's either the crankset/chainrings or the freehub. It seems to me the sound comes from the crankset, but in my experience the creak sounds can be misleading.

I noticed I missed something when I disassembled the chainrings tough... it seems that my Rival cranks have a removable spider. I still have to check that one. I've had bolts come loose and cause creaks more than once, and those cranks have more 25.000km at the moment.

Thank you all for your ideas and suggestions!

100bikes

Is it possible a seal on the bb stiffens in the colder temps?
That would explain a number of the symptoms.
rusty

Amt0571

It could be. I installed everything with abundant grease however. I don't think it should creak for a long time.

Jughed

Was thinking of starting a new thread, but I will tack on here and see if any of the above apply.

Triple front chain ring. Zero noise in the two smaller rings. I get a clicking noise when in the large ring.

The noise happens regardless of power output. It happens at all cadence levels. And it is steady - it doesn't increase or decrease frequency with changes in cadence.

I've torqued all the chainring bolts, but not greased them.

elcruxio

You didn't grease the BB shell before pressing in the bearings did you? Grease is not the correct chemical for that use case.

Amt0571

Yes, I greased it. I have always done it like this on all my PF bikes with no issues.

What chemical should I use?

Amt0571

UPDATE: yesterday I disassembled the crankset spider. It was held by 3 bolts that felt more than properly torqued. I greased the spider/crankset contact surfaces and the bolts themselves. Today I did my 30km commute between -1ºC and 5ºC and the bike was silent. The spider had never been disassembled since I bough the bike.

I'm waiting to see what happens when I return home in the afternoon. I'm hoping for the best.

grumpus

Presumably the first thing you checked was front mech cable to crank clearance.

Jughed

Presumably - I should have...

Because that is the correct answer.

Homer Simpson moment.

jimincalif

I had a noise like that a few years ago. After trying everything I could imagine that might cause it, I took the bike to my LBS. He took apart, cleaned and lubed the headset. I was skeptical, but that was literally the only thing I hadn’t done. Sure enough, that fixed it. Frames act like speakers for these noises making it hard to pin down the source.

BTinNYC 

My Canyon Endurace is like fine Italian cello, amplifying every squeak, creak, and click.

Jughed

My ALR5 (aluminum) is like a guitar amp.

During a long charity ride the bike started making a racket loud enough for everyone else to comment... "Your BB is screwed"... "damm son, whats wrong with that thing"...

A bearing on the inner hub was starting to go, just a slight tick when you spun it using your finger - the frame amped it up and you couldn't tell where it was coming from.