Jughed

Some info:
New wheel bearings and freehub installed.

Prior to putting any miles on the repaired wheel, I installed a shimano 105 11 speed 11/34 cassette and the bike began to make all sorts of creaking noises. I adjusted everything I could on my own, then took it to the shop. They regreased everything & torqued the cassette - still making a racket.

Bike shop claimed it was the bottom bracket, but told me it was Ok to ride while the parts were being ordered.

I spent a week in the mountains with the bike just flat out making a racket with every pedal stroke.

Back to flat lands & I changed the cassette back to a 105 11/30 - no more noise.

Any idea as to why?

Iride01 

Was the noise in any gear? Maybe you didn't have the lock ring tight enough or the spacers were incorrect. Or perhaps you didn't check the alignment of the rear DR with the cogs when you went from the 11/30 to the 11/34. You'd think it'd be the same, but perhaps what wasn't quite off enough on one to be an issue was off just enough on the other.

alcjphil

When you installed the 11-34 cassette did you also install a spacer behind it?

SoSmellyAir

Exactly! The 11-speed 11-34 cassette needs a 1.85 mm "Low Spacer" (part no. Y4T724000) to fit onto an 11-speed freehub.

Amazon.com : SHIMANO 11-Speed 1.85mm Low Spacer : Bike Cassettes And Freewheels : Sports & Outdoors

I would not get my bike serviced at that bike shop any more.

Jughed

I tightened the lock ring a bunch... bike shop reinstalled, and it was so tight I needed a breaker bar to get it off.

I also checked the rear derailleur adjustment more than once, so did the shop. It didn't sound like gears rubbing - it sounded like something was about to fail.

It made noise in every gear - hence thinking it was either the new free hub or bottom bracket. BB was smooth feeling with the cranks in and out - no play.

Jughed

Yes. I installed the spacer with the cassette.

Jughed

I put the cassette on myself. They installed my original cassette when they did the repair, i swapped it out and used the spacer.

maddog34

"I tightened the lock ring a bunch... bike shop reinstalled, and it was so tight I needed a breaker bar to get it off."

it's possible that the shop broke something in your freehub when they over-tightened the lockring.... would be my guess.

best course of action: remove the cassette, then the freehub, and inspect the freehub body and wheel hub for damage/noise/roughness.

Jughed

Old cassette is reinstalled and working fine. No noises at all.

andrewclaus

I once installed a cassette that would not tighten on the freehub. Its manufactured tolerance was too small. I pulled it from the bin at the co-op. All the rest in the bin fit correctly.