Originally Posted by
andrewclaus
Before you go through the trouble, see if the noise goes away when you pedal while standing up. If it does, the noise is coming from your saddle. It's amazing how sounds from the saddle telegraph into the bottom bracket. Many have been fooled by that.
Bottom brackets are sometimes blamed for noises that come from other parts of the bike. I had a creak that I thought was coming from the bottom bracket of my Look 481SL every time I pushed hard. I removed, inspected and reinstalled the bottom bracket with no success. Turned out the noise was coming form the adjustable rear dropouts. After I cleaned up dirt trapped between the removable dropout and frame all was silent and has remained that way for many years.