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Creaky bottom bracket

Old 02-13-22, 07:35 AM
  #1  
Joearch
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Creaky bottom bracket

I am riding a 2020 Bianchi Infinito CV and noticed a creaky sound from bottom bracket. BB is Shimano Ultegra. ,When bike is stationary and I put pressure on pedal it make similar sound. LBS said that sound could be from a number of potential things other than BB. Wondering is I should consider an upgrade to the BB if that turns out to be the issue. Bike has 7-8k mikes on it. I ride 4-5 times a week 30-45 miles per ride with moderate hills. Thx in advance.
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Old 02-13-22, 08:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Joearch
I am riding a 2020 Bianchi Infinito CV and noticed a creaky sound from bottom bracket. BB is Shimano Ultegra. ,When bike is stationary and I put pressure on pedal it make similar sound. LBS said that sound could be from a number of potential things other than BB. Wondering is I should consider an upgrade to the BB if that turns out to be the issue. Bike has 7-8k mikes on it. I ride 4-5 times a week 30-45 miles per ride with moderate hills. Thx in advance.
you could start by reinstalling and retorquing the BB, cranks and pedals. 7-8k is nothing to a BB
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Old 02-13-22, 09:05 AM
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Press fit BB they are not my thing. You should go to a Praxis or get rid of the bike and get a BSA threaded. Worst thing on bikes today are the press fit BB. Even Spec has realized this and returned to using them on some models.
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Old 02-13-22, 09:18 AM
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my Ultegra lasted 2k before it started creaking, ended up replacing with a new one, hoping it last longer than the last one!
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Old 02-13-22, 11:13 AM
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Thx for thx responses. Another clue. I noticed on my ride this morning that the bike was quite until after about 15-18 miles it started tne creaky noise. Very odd.
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Old 02-13-22, 11:30 AM
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How do you know it is the BB making the noise?

Could very easily be the pedal, chain ring bolts, rear dropouts, etc.

If it is the BB, upgrade to what? Why. I would consider using better bearings if they are shot.

Personally, I would check the other stuff first. Then, I would pop the BB out, Clean, and use that special loctite to hold it there. If the bearings are slightly rough, I'd but NTN bearings in.

If you can't do this stuff, are you confident in the LBS? If so, just pay.
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Old 02-13-22, 11:41 AM
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If it's just noise and nothing physical IE:movement or drag where there shouldn't be any, why worry at this point? Just keep an eye on things and see if it gets worse. Then you'll know for sure what and where the problem is and you can fix it proper.
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Old 02-13-22, 12:17 PM
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I thought I had a creaky BB, too. Took it apart, cleaned, and regreased it. Still creaky.

Someone here suggested it could be my seat post. I removed it, cleaned my seat tube and post well, and then lightly greased the seat post. Creak is gone.
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Old 02-13-22, 03:40 PM
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Great points. The excellent Bianchi shop where the bike came from went over these same alternate noise sources. The sounds does get quite loud as the ride progresses. Don’t like the noise. Weird on a group ride. Fact that pressure applied to to pedal while not on seated makes me think it is drive chain related. Original question was IF it is a BB issue does it make sense to upgrade bearings etc.to something that might help performance a bit. I upgraded to carbon wheels, better tires and tubes and they made a difference. Was also wondering if noise would maybe an indicator of some type of component failure which would of course want to avoid.
Bike goes in this week to start working thru the options.
thx
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Old 02-14-22, 10:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Joearch
Original question was IF it is a BB issue does it make sense to upgrade bearings etc.to something that might help performance a bit.
On parts like the bottom bracket, I'd choose reliability and durability over other considerations. Doing so might coincidentally get you better bearings, but how much more "performance" can you get out of a bottom bracket, anyway?
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Old 02-14-22, 08:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Rolla
On parts like the bottom bracket, I'd choose reliability and durability over other considerations. Doing so might coincidentally get you better bearings, but how much more "performance" can you get out of a bottom bracket, anyway?
Having it looked at today. Seems like any improvement in the drive train will provide better performance like any other component. A very high percentage of topics on this forum have to do with improving performance. I would hope durability might also improve. Will see what the outcome looks like.
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Old 02-14-22, 10:22 PM
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Both and, not either or applies to many things for me.
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Old 02-15-22, 02:18 AM
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On a performance note, I had a BB on a mtb (probably didn't matter that it was press-fit vs threaded) that needed to be swapped as the bearings were shot. One side was whirring, the other was crusty grinding. Once it was replaced, pedaling was incredibly easier. I wonder how many watts I was wasting fighting it.
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Old 02-15-22, 02:36 AM
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It is possible to get press-fit BBs where the two halves screw together in the middle which, I imagine, would solve any problems of this nature.Having said that, I put a Wheels Engineering press fit BB on my bike. It's now done over 5,000 miles and been completely silent and trouble free. Unlike many press-fit BBs out there the Wheels Engineering shells are made of metal, but whether that has any bearing on the matter, I don't know. It's certainly a nice quality BB. All other things being equal I think I'd prefer to have a threaded BB but I certainly wouldn't consider swapping a bike just because of a press-fit BB.
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Old 02-15-22, 03:09 AM
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Just had a look around and found this article, which may be of interest.
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Old 02-15-22, 04:23 AM
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Originally Posted by jgwilliams
It is possible to get press-fit BBs where the two halves screw together in the middle which, I imagine, would solve any problems of this nature.Having said that, I put a Wheels Engineering press fit BB on my bike. It's now done over 5,000 miles and been completely silent and trouble free. Unlike many press-fit BBs out there the Wheels Engineering shells are made of metal, but whether that has any bearing on the matter, I don't know. It's certainly a nice quality BB. All other things being equal I think I'd prefer to have a threaded BB but I certainly wouldn't consider swapping a bike just because of a press-fit BB.
Another example of why I love BF, great input and the article is super helpful. Makes sense that slight misalignment could cause problems. Will definitely share with the LBS owner who is working on the bike. Thx so much for sharing. Will be reporting back once we figure out what the source of the noise is.
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Old 02-15-22, 08:26 AM
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Could be the common shimano crank problem. The two halves could be separating when they are glued.
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Old 02-15-22, 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by GhostRider62
Could be the common shimano crank problem. The two halves could be separating when they are glued.
right, I remember reading about that awhile ago. I honestly don’t think I put down enough power but worth looking into.
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Old 02-15-22, 07:50 PM
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Originally Posted by pennpaul
I thought I had a creaky BB, too. Took it apart, cleaned, and regreased it. Still creaky.

Someone here suggested it could be my seat post. I removed it, cleaned my seat tube and post well, and then lightly greased the seat post. Creak is gone.
Had you tried pedaling out of the saddle to see if it still creaked? That will generally tell you if it's the saddle rails or seat post. (BTDT).
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Old 02-15-22, 10:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Camilo
Had you tried pedaling out of the saddle to see if it still creaked? That will generally tell you if it's the saddle rails or seat post. (BTDT).
I do go off the saddle sometime. To be honest I don’t remember if the noise was still there. I think was.
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Old 02-16-22, 04:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Joearch
right, I remember reading about that awhile ago. I honestly don’t think I put down enough power but worth looking into.
The defect on the DA and Ultegra cranks isn't power related. Here is one well known wanker's perspective

https://www.hambini.com/shimano-cran...ring-analysis/
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Old 02-16-22, 01:57 PM
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Always check and make sure everything is cleaned properly greased, pasted or anti-siezedand torqued as needed. This includes any quick releases, bolts, seat posts...basically anything that can be installed on the bike wouldn't hurt to be double checked. The B.B. creak is not usually a B.B. creak and if your shop said yeah probably not that and you are saying well I should replace it, don't until you are sure or if you really have upgrade-itis which is fine get a thread together B.B. as some have suggested. Again though make sure that is the problem by eliminating everything else. It is also just a good chance to overhaul the bike in general which one should do every once and while.
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Old 02-16-22, 03:27 PM
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Originally Posted by veganbikes
Always check and make sure everything is cleaned properly greased, pasted or anti-siezedand torqued as needed. This includes any quick releases, bolts, seat posts...basically anything that can be installed on the bike wouldn't hurt to be double checked. The B.B. creak is not usually a B.B. creak and if your shop said yeah probably not that and you are saying well I should replace it, don't until you are sure or if you really have upgrade-itis which is fine get a thread together B.B. as some have suggested. Again though make sure that is the problem by eliminating everything else. It is also just a good chance to overhaul the bike in general which one should do every once and while.
The LBS is also a Bianchi dealer and knows the Infinito CV well. He told me when I dropped the bike off he will be working thru all the other items first, which are all excellent suggestions. I hope to hear from him today. I live in the don't fix it if it ain't broke world.
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Old 02-16-22, 06:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Camilo
Had you tried pedaling out of the saddle to see if it still creaked? That will generally tell you if it's the saddle rails or seat post. (BTDT).
I did and I could have sworn I still heard creaking so that led me down the road of dismantling the BB. I'd never done it before so at least that was a good learning experience and the BB tools weren't expensive.
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Old 02-16-22, 09:34 PM
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I got the call to come and pick up my bike. All the potential creak points were taken apart, cleaned and put back together. Seat post. Pedals, BB, etc. So will see next ride how it goes. At the very least bike ended up with a full service, new chain and cleaned up. BB itself was cleaned but did not need any parts/replacement. Hope I can get in a ride tomorrow morning. Thx for the thoughtful input.
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