sdimattia

I run 46x16t on my SS daily commuter. Current bottom bracket is the Shimano BB UN300 square taper. I threw a new KMC SS chain on about 100 miles ago. I clean and re-lube the chain and bike after ever wet ride. I've noticed that when I'm putting lots of torque on the pedals (SPD clipless if it matters), either from a standstill at a stoplight or when climbing up hills, the chain seems to creak. The tension is as it should be and accommodates the tight spots of the chainring which has ~2000miles on it.

I removed, re-greased, and reinstalled the bottom bracket which is relatively new (<500 miles) and did a deep clean of the chainring and cog. Upon measuring, the chain hasn't stretched yet, but I'm at a loss of what else I should look at. Any thoughts please?

Juan el Boricua

Relube chain, lube pedal threads with grease and torque to spec, torque crank arms to spec, lube pedal clip mechanism, and ride to recheck.

dsbrantjr

Try slacking off chain tension a little; maybe you are twisting the frame and taking the slack out of the chain.

sdimattia

Haven't tried regreasing the pedals yet, I'll do that. Thanks.

Are you referring to frame flex around the bottom bracket? I'd be surprised if I could put that much power through the cranks. I only weigh 120#, albeit in good physical shape but still shouldn't generate that many watts even at max effort. It's a 725 Reynolds steel frame so not the stiffest but not generic 4130 chromoly.

Chain has about 1/2" of movement up and down each way. If I made it looser, even to accommodate tight spots or frame flex, it'd be floppy. But I'll try and reseat the chain and back off the tension a bit more.

Andrew R Stewart 

Bolded- The grade of non stainless steel has no bearing on stiffness, only tube diameter, wall thickness and cross section (stay ovalization or clearance crimps) do.

Other- have you removed, cleaned, lubed and reinstalled the ring bolts? Andy

sdimattia

Double butted skinny road-type steel tubes then

I haven't done the chainring bolts, will add that to the list. Thanks.

ClydeClydeson

I have seen persistent and annoying creaking noises from inside SS freewheels because of excessive play in the ratchet mechanism. THe solution is either a higher quality (+$$) freewheel, or disassemble the existing one and see if you can't adjust bearings (usually by removing one ore more of the thin spacers). It's not super complicated to disassemble a freewheel, but they are not really designed to be user serviceable, so can be intimidating to less experienced techs.

sdimattia

Update: took the entire bike apart and gave it a bath. Save for the cockpit, I cleaned every single bit from the bottom bracket back. I regreased and relubed the appropriate parts, chainring bolts and pedals included this time. Soaked the chain in degreaser and gave it a deep clean before reinstalling / relubing. I had a spare cog that was the same tooth count so I swapped them out. The original cog was ~$20 so I'm fine with binning it for now. Put everything back together.

Now, the chain only creaks every once in a while. It's entirely possible that while the teeth of the chainring are still usable, it's no longer perfectly round due to tight spots and this is when it's causing the creak. Everything else is moving beautifully. Thanks again everyone for your input and advice.

Juan el Boricua

Three things then: have someone ride behind you and tell the person to watch/see for frame torquing while going up or better yet, record you while doing so. Is your frame sound; in good condition; have you checked lugs/welds/bonding, particularly around the bottom bracket? Have another chain or someone who can lend you one to test?

sdimattia

The bike got t-boned back in June. I checked it over and the bike shop checked it over, no issues. I’ve put another 2000 miles on the frame since.

I did realize that for some unknown reason, I bought a 1/8” chain even though the whole drive train is 3/32”. I’m beginning to think that’s why and where the noise is coming from. Since 3/32” SS KMC chains are 2x more expensive than 1/8”, I’m not going to bother changing it over. Other than the occasional noise, at least the widths aren’t swapped around.

Rolla

So splurge the extra 75 cents and get a 3/32" 7-speed chain.

sdimattia

Huh, I thought multi-speed chains were different than SS/fixed for some reason (the mm measurement?). I currently have a KMC K710 1/8" for $18. Comparatively, the 3/32" is $34. If it is the same, then that works.

cjenrick

cut down on your wattage,

have you seen that Pro Peloton helmet cam where the race starts and you hear a chain snap?
talk about torque, you can hear one of the riders go "what that a chain?" and the other guy goes "yeah, and the dreailleur too"

maybe switch to a track chain,

drlogik 

How do you "clean and relube" after every wet ride? Water? Solvent? Wipe with a dry cloth? Chains don't need to be cleaned all the time unless they are caked with dirt. It is possible to clean a chain with some chemicals that will actually over time remove much of the factory oil/grease from the chain links.

cjenrick

yes, Tri-Chlorethelyne, unfortunately if yo se it enuff your liver will rot out,

Rolla

As long as your chainring and rear cog are 3/32", you can use any 6,7, 8, or 9-speed chain, as they all have the same internal width of 3/32". They work fine on singlespeeds.


Chainrings don't go out of round due to tight spots; chains have tight spots because the chainring is out of round to begin with. Sheldon Brown says that if you loosen the chainring bolts, you can tap the chain with a wrench to re-seat the chainring more evenly on the bolts to reduce tight spots. See "Centering Chainrings" in this article. The whole page is actually worth a read.

How's the chainline?

sdimattia

Good read, thank you. Always looking to expand my cycling database. I’ll do as suggested and give my chain a tap.

Chainline is 42mm, nice and straight.

I clean it with a park tool chain cleaner and generic bike degreaser whenever it gets super gritty. Otherwise I just relube it with Finish Line dry lube. Probably not great for wet conditions but dry to wet is about 75/25.

Iride01 

Maybe just think of the noise as telling you not to try putting any more power into the pedals. Does everything have to be quiet?

Ev0lutionz

Freehub body?

sdimattia

It doesn't necessarily need to be quiet but when things that were previously smooth start to creak and grind, I figure something isn't right. Also, I can't not put more power into the pedals when I need it as I also can't gear down.

I tapped the chain to try to get it to seat. All the building and rebuilding seems to have worked out most of the kinks. I'm ordering a 3/32" chain tonight and should have it in a couple of days.

yannisg

I had a creaking problem from the BB area that troubled me for awhile that was caused by the chain ring mounting surfaces. I cleaned thoroughly all the mounting surfaces, lightly grease them, and used loctite 202 on the chain ring bolt threads. Occasionally, I disassemble the chain rings for cleaning without problems. No loosing of bolts either.
Occasionally, It's difficult to pin point the exact area of the source of the creaking sound.