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Bike creaks under acceleration?

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Bike creaks under acceleration?

Old 05-31-17, 11:41 PM
  #1  
boshk
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Bike creaks under acceleration?

I have an Aluminium bike, Diverge DSW.

Does your bikes creak under a 'standing on pedals' acceleration?....

I don't notice the creaking/noise as much when sat on saddle...

Where to start to try and reduce the noise? Grease everything again??
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Old 06-01-17, 02:30 AM
  #2  
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Good luck tracking it down. I've had a super hard time tracking down creaks on my DSW Allez. Maybe start with the hubs. I'd do all the easiest places first.
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Old 06-01-17, 05:01 AM
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My TI frame creaks just as you describe if the skewers are not super tight on the wheels. Try the easy stuff first.
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Old 06-01-17, 06:04 AM
  #4  
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Most likely the crankset is loose.

But it can be a ton of things. As mentioned above it can be a front QR skewer ( a little grease on the skewer and proper tightening solves this)

If you have a spare set of wheels, swap out wheels and see if the noise goes away, to rule out wheels.
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Old 06-01-17, 06:08 AM
  #5  
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I went through this as well. It took a long time. Yep, a loose crank is most likely but the other things mentioned could be it as well. In my case, it was a slightly loose headset.
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Old 06-01-17, 06:10 AM
  #6  
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boy I'm glad i'm that out of shape I can't accelerate so hard it upsets my bike.
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Old 06-01-17, 06:22 AM
  #7  
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I have a creak on my bike when I push harder on the right pedal. I just put my headphones on. hehe
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Old 06-01-17, 06:59 AM
  #8  
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Sounds like BB30 creak to me.
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Old 06-01-17, 07:33 AM
  #9  
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got an old beater I tortured all winter that began doing this. been wondering what to do about it, too. was gonna start w the wheel bearings & thought maybe the bottom bracket might need "service"

Last edited by rumrunn6; 06-01-17 at 07:45 AM.
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Old 06-01-17, 09:02 AM
  #10  
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Originally Posted by boshk
I have an Aluminium bike, Diverge DSW.

Does your bikes creak under a 'standing on pedals' acceleration?....

I don't notice the creaking/noise as much when sat on saddle...

Where to start to try and reduce the noise? Grease everything again??
I've had two bikes that did this. Both had press fit bottom brackets. Yes, the noise came from the BB despite the claims of the mechanics who hate to admit that the BB might be at fault. Press fit BBs suck.
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Old 06-01-17, 03:05 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by t595
My TI frame creaks just as you describe if the skewers are not super tight on the wheels. Try the easy stuff first.
My carbon and aluminum frames do the same. I'll add that you should be sure that the clamping mechanism of the skewer is clean and not excessively worn. The skewers on my novatec hubs weren't clamping well enough, even with a lot of pressure on the lever. I swapped to another set of skewers and the noise was gone, even using reduced pressure on the lever.
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Old 06-01-17, 03:09 PM
  #12  
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I've got a pretty loud creak that I'm sure is coming from my BB30. It creaks on the bottom of every stroke, right and left. It's a little annoying, but I'm wary of making it worse if I try to fix it.
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Old 06-01-17, 03:10 PM
  #13  
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Test the easy stuff first. But know that you're probably talking about a press fit bottom bracket issue.

Cheaper to manufacture. Harder to service for the home mechanic. The bike company engineer who started this disaster deserved the bonus he received from his employer.
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Old 06-01-17, 04:41 PM
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Most of the common areas have been mentioned. One area not mentioned yet is creaky freehub. I had a set of i25 rims stock on a mtb that required warranty because the freehub body creaked significantly under acceleration. I thought for the life of me it was coming from the bb or crank area.
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Old 06-01-17, 05:02 PM
  #15  
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GCN made few videos helping you tracking noises, go check them out !

I had the same issue and the squeak was comming from the front wheel's quick release
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Old 06-01-17, 07:48 PM
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thanks
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Old 06-01-17, 07:53 PM
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Start with easy stuff, like pedals (remove, clean, grease).
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Old 06-03-17, 06:35 AM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by dmanthree
I've had two bikes that did this. Both had press fit bottom brackets. Yes, the noise came from the BB despite the claims of the mechanics who hate to admit that the BB might be at fault. Press fit BBs suck.
Went for a 30mins ride today and it looks like its the BB.
Its pretty much each push down on the pedals I get the creaking noise....

I'll do what the others have said too before I go for the next ride:
Redo the pedals
front Thru axle
rear QR

IF it does turn out to be the Praxis BB30, what can I do about it 'DIY-wise' bearing in mind I don't have any crank or BB tools.

Last edited by boshk; 06-03-17 at 06:44 AM.
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Old 06-03-17, 11:26 PM
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Originally Posted by boshk
IF it does turn out to be the Praxis BB30, what can I do about it 'DIY-wise' bearing in mind I don't have any crank or BB tools.
IT may be the QR's, good luck.

As for what you can diy for a press fit BB without the appropriate tools, pretty much nothing, AFAIK...
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Old 06-04-17, 08:17 AM
  #20  
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Are you sure it's not your knees?
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Old 06-04-17, 09:01 AM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by boshk
IF it does turn out to be the Praxis BB30, what can I do about it 'DIY-wise' bearing in mind I don't have any crank or BB tools.
Remove your cranks, clean them, and apply a liberal amount of grease to the spindle and all contact points. My Cannondale was creaking something awful last summer and I was sure it was the BB. Turns out that a little bit of grease on the crank arm socket was all that was needed.

If that doesn't work, I think you have to remove BB bearings and smear Loctite 609 in the shell.
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Old 06-04-17, 09:08 AM
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cranks, chainrings, headset, seat post, skewers, pedals/cleats... the possibilities are nearly endless.
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Old 06-04-17, 09:30 AM
  #23  
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Also check that the screws on your derailleur hanger are tight. This was a creak for me (and apparently is not unheard of [pun intended] on Giant bikes)
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Old 06-04-17, 11:00 AM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by boshk
Went for a 30mins ride today and it looks like its the BB.
Its pretty much each push down on the pedals I get the creaking noise....

I'll do what the others have said too before I go for the next ride:
Redo the pedals
front Thru axle
rear QR

IF it does turn out to be the Praxis BB30, what can I do about it 'DIY-wise' bearing in mind I don't have any crank or BB tools.
How is your relationship with the LBS? If it is the bottom bracket, replace it with a threaded PF30 bb from wheels manufacturing and end the issue. I've replaced varying BB30/PF30 bottom brackets on 12 bikes with creaking issues and none developed the issue after replacement. There was one with an annoying ticking noise, which turned out to be a shifter cable that was sticking out and hitting the pedal...we replaced the BB anyway (couldn't hear the creaking through the ticking)
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Old 06-04-17, 02:39 PM
  #25  
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My first post on this forum some years ago was about this very issue. Someone suggested I check my seat post. That was it.

I've seen the same issue resolved on friends' bikes in the same way.
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