timgriffin2

I posted this on the Hybrid section and had a suggestion to cross post here since it's a mechanical question.

I was looking for the source of a creaking noise on my new Sirrus. I found that the cranks move in unison side to side quite a bit - maybe 3/16 inch side to side - and when it does it pushes the chain against the front derailleur making noise while I ride. I'm not a mechanic, but that doesn't seem right (or safe) to me. I was getting ready to go for a ride and decided to try and find the creaking noise source first. I guess a trip to the shop is in my future plans instead of the ride which sucks!
I already had to bring it back to the shop the day after I bought it when the front derailleur cable came undone in the shifter housing during my first ride. I never had any issues with my Crosstrail Sport over the course of a few years and 2,000+ miles other than normal maintenance - and it NEVER had any sloppy movement in the bottom bracket/crank area.

Has anyone else seen something like this? It doesn't seem normal for the front gears to move sideways like that. I'm thinking that's what's been causing my shifts to sometimes be clunky or jump 2 gears sometimes instead of one.

Here's a video showing the movement - can anyone answer if this is normal?

dsbrantjr

Although it sucks to have to do it, I think your plan to take it to the shop is the right one. Don't ride it as you may cause damage to loose parts. Don't do anything which may void your warranty on a new bike.

Crankycrank

+1. Should be covered by warranty.

Dylansbob 

Take it back and make the shop fix it. There is definately a problem.

It pains me to say because I know that there are some decent shops out there, but "Specialized" bike shops seem to be some of the most corner-cutting, ruthlessly economy-minded shops out there. I imagine they've got tweeked out high school kids doing the new bike assembly. Their service staff is also probably underpaid, underappreciated and overworked. The mindset is that anyone can do assembly/repair work, so why pay someone more than minimum wage to do it. Of course, then you end up with tweeked out high school kids.

alcjphil

The shop did not install the cranks and bottom bracket, that was done by the factory that manufactured the bike.

Dylansbob 

Exactly.

A good shop pulls the cranks and checks that the bb is tight before it goes out. The importance of that is doubled on low-end bikes, where the QC isn't being watched as much and the parts are more likely to imprecisely made. I've been shops that tear down every bike to make sure it's assembled right, I been at shops that had Walmart assembly-rejects doing the job.

It would appear that the OP's bike shop is pulling the bikes straight out of the box and putting them on the floor.

timgriffin2

***UPDATE***

I took the Sirrus into the shop I bought it and they re-torqued it. The guy said that they've been seeing this lately - where new bike bottom bracket loosen with use - especially from those that use a high gear and pedal hard (I don't). But I only had 100 miles max on it and believe that it came from the factory this way and they slopped mine together without any normal checks. I already had to bring it back - after 1 use - when the front shifter somehow quit working. They said that the cable came loos inside the shifter. My question is how and why. I've never had issues with other bikes like this.

Iride01 

2020 Sirrus 3.0???

Specialized Sirrus Recall

I hope your bike shop was aware of the recall and knew that your bike already had the fix or that it didn't apply.

If they are an authorized Specialized dealer and they didn't know about the recall you should give them some of your concern that they were oblivious to it.

timgriffin2

When I look at the images in the above recall link - the bike looks like the pics that say to stop riding and bring it into the shop - as far as I can see. The ring is still there with writing on it anyway.

smashndash

From what I can tell, this is the exact issue that the recall was issued for in July. The problem isn’t a defect. It’s improper installation. If OP bought this bike 2 weeks ago, it’s straight up criminal negligence on the part of the bike shop.

Also, OP, the BB and the crank are separate components. The BB seems to be fine. The crank was installed improperly. This style of crank doesn’t just “get loose from riding”. It’s a really old, reliable design by shimano. The problem you are seeing only happens with improper installation.

I assume the service fixed the issue?

timgriffin2

They re-torqued it if that's what you mean. On the recall page - on the "Don't Ride" it shows a pic of a spacer on the left crank side and the "fixed" pics show no spacer there. Were they supposed to remove the spacer? The cranks are tighter than any I've had now and you can feel the resistance when turning the cranks by hand on a stand - it seems like maybe he over torqued it now. I'm not a bike mechanic by any means so this is all bizarre to me. I trust the bike shop to take care of anything other than cleaning/lubing/tire pressure. I'm at their mercy really. I think I'll call and speak with a manager tomorrow to ask for a explanation. Thanks for the reply.

cpach

The two pictures show completely different cranks, the one being warrantied has a external bearing system and the one that is not warrantied is a square taper.

Basically the way the system works is the bolt on the side of the left crank arm tightens the left crankarm onto the spindle preloading the bearings of the bottom bracket and the two pinch bolts hold that adjustment in place. The issue is probably that the pinch bolts came under torqued from the factory. Ideally the shop should've checked that all fasteners were torqued appropriately (I do this, as do many mechanics in good shops, often as a matter of formal policy) but admittedly bottom bracket and crankset torque is often done by pneumatic tools at the factory and is if anything overtorqued more often than not so I could see how a quick assembler at the shop could've missed it.

I am frequently disappointed at the quality of new assembly coming out of some shops. Its fine to have less experienced employees assembling bikes, but you need to set standards for assembly and they need to be gone over by an actual experienced mechanic before they can be touched by a customer. I'll admit I do get a kick out of trying to fail the assembly of others.

timgriffin2

Will over-torquing cause problems? I swear since they re-torqued it yesterday the cranks are noticeably stiff to spin them. I've never had a bike that had more resistance when turning the cranks than the weight of the wheels or whatever. Maybe it'll loosen up over time?

I'm so disappointed in the shop. First they said it'd be built the day I purchased it and it wasn't. So I had to drive back 2 days later to pick it up and complete the purchase. It's like 1 1/2 hours round trip! Then I had to bring it back after one ride when the front derailleur cable stopped working - they said it came loose in the shifter housing and "shouldn't happen again" 2 weeks later I had to bring it in for the bottom bracket issue. So 4 trips already in the course of less than 3 weeks and maybe 100 miles tops on the bike. I had my Trek 7.2FX and Specialized Crosstrail Sport for years with no issues other than normal maintenance...

Andrew R Stewart 

And this is exactly what every shop I've worked in and owned does. I have heard of a VERY few shops that claim to pull cranks during a new bike build up. Funny that in all the towns I've traveled in and their bike shops that I've visited (and this list is in the dozens) when talking about the shop's process not one has mentioned pulling cranks during a build. Unrelated it's sad how many don't even adjust hub bearings (or BB bearings if not a cartridge bearing unit).

In defense of what I feel is poor practice (not adjusting bearings) I will say that this year the shop's time is especially challenged. When the demand doubles and the day has the same number of hours it's challenging to get every bike done, on time and in the best way. Not saying this is a good thing but it is the reality of having so many customers demanding their bike gets done quickly and the margins not allowing for more professional staff.

We see BBs coming loose within the shell on relatively new bikes a few tines a year, out of a few hundred sales a year. As we offer a free tune up shortly after the sale we can catch and make right this and other new bike break in issues with no trouble.

BYW we see this on every brand of bike, since few brands are also manufactures it's not the brand that is at fault but the assembly factory. Treks, Specialized and others are many times sourced from the same factory. Lastly I wouldn't say that Specialized dealers are any worse or better then other brands' dealers. That's like saying that all gay people are bad. Human motivations know no brand loyalty. Andy

Dylansbob 

Sounds like you've been in some sketchy shops. If you've been in a shop, you know cheap bikes need work. Wobbly cranks, bent derailleurs, crappy housings. These are things that need attention before a bike is saleable. Any place that doesn't have a competent mechanic checking things over before putting them on the floor or heaven forbid before they leave is flirting with some liability potential. I've seen it before when a guy forgot to tighten a stem for a test ride, the bars turned, the guy fell and sued.

My experience of working and shopping is that if they carry a brand with big name recognition (Trek, Specialized, Cannondale), you'll find there's a premium for that name. Owners of these shops tend to be less involved in operations because it's just one of (usually many) investments. Store managers cut corners to make their numbers look better to their supervisors. Why pay an experieced mechanic $7.50/hr, when a high highschooler can take a bike out of box. Employees get treated badly and their work sometimes shows it.

I'm sure COVID has made things even worse. You've got a boom like the bike business right now, every bike is flying off the racks, current staffing can't keep up. Stores hire green employees that don't get trained on the proper ways. Guess which people get the call next spring to work? The cheapest ones, not the most capable..

Iride01 

Have you ask the shop about the recall? Give them a chance to step up and make it right before you get to imagining they are the scum of the earth.

However if you can't get satisfaction, then it might be wise to try and find out if Specialized has regional representatives and can contact them directly. Some won't deal directly with the customer, others do.

Certainly another Specialized bike shop is an option too. But still give the first one a chance to realize the issue tell you what they will do.

Andrew R Stewart 

Not sure what to take from this post. But if the bolded (my bolding of the text) is what you really think of how to succeed in business please get out of the bike industry and don't let the door hit your back side as yo leave. We see all kinds of people hoping to work in what they think is a gravy job, fixing bikes and no hard stuff It would be easy to hire low cost bodies but then we would go out of business soon enough as the people who provide out pay (the customers) started to have reason to go elsewhere. What's hard is finding qualified staff. Building a business in not an easy job. Running one into the ground is vastly easier to do. Andy

Andrew R Stewart 

I tend to have a three and out policy on posting to threads. So here's my third one- We're not talking about a safety issue, not about a shop quality one (as it's understood that most all BBs are factory installed). We are talking about an easily fixed situation, no need for warranty complaints to reginal reps. Just call the shop and take the bike in. Only after giving the shop a chance to correct the issue should any claims of this or that be considered. There is a reason why the better brands have a dealer network and fixing the rare loose BB is one. Andy

cyclist2000

I have been reading this thread and I don't understand what is the problem, I mean there is the recall notice but it doesn't say what is being done for the crank problem? Isn't the probable solution resetting the torque on the cranks? As for having a bad cable, sometimes things happen. I used to work at a local shop 35 years ago, assembling new bikes, we did lots of things, we used to pull the cables and lube them, but I don't remember taking the cranks off to check the bottom bracket. I do remember the shop owner always told the customer to return after a few weeks of riding to see if anything needed to be adjusted.

timgriffin2

I had investigated several bikes and knew about the recall on the Sirrus - so specifically brought that up prior to the purchase. I was told that all of that had been corrected and was not an issue any more, so if it wasn't the recall issue - am I to understand that this was something else?
The shop took it right in and applied the fix for free - as they did the shifter cable that previously came loose.

cpach

Yeah, I tried to put into context why this particular issue was likely missed--this isn't generally a common factory assembly problem, unlike, say, derailleur setup, which any half-competent assembler would assume is off on a factory boxed bike. Nobody can pay for a retail space and the large average deprecation of stock on bikes and totally tear down every $500 bike and rebuild it, sell it at MSRP, and pay rent and payroll. That said, also in the shops I've worked and in my own build procedure this particular problem would have been avoided. I do require that all bolts at least have a wrench on them for a sanity check for torque. I wouldn't ever have pulled the crank to check the BB, but I certainly would've checked for crank preload and that the pinch bolts were tight. Seeing this particular problem wouldn't totally sour my opinion on a shop on its own.

Also, yeah, really sad about hub bearings. It bums me out when I see a bike that's seen years of service with way too tight hub preload and prematurely ruined the hub races. Happens way too often. Adjusting hubs takes me a couple minutes per bike. You don't need to set an insane tolerance and spend a ton of time to vastly improve most entry level bikes.