BTinNYC 

Was actually chainring bolts that needed tightening. But I did get to change a press fit BB twice.

Andrew R Stewart 

I find ring bolts are often dry of lube and rarely checked for tightness. Since they are easy to check for tightness this is one of the earlier things I do when chasing crank noises. Andy

soyabean

Should chainring bolts be blue loctited?

I haven't seen, but may be a good idea, and also aids as an anti-seize.

Kontact 

"Creaky BBs" are actually creaking only about 20% of the time.

Andrew R Stewart 

I have thought of LockTight for threads as being a somewhat last resort. Having drilled out too many ring bolts that were frozen but still loose I like being able to easily tighten or remove, clean, lube and reinstall them. IME fine threads want little or no threadlockers. Andy

Kontact 

Yup. Lots of machines functioned perfectly before the advent of threadlock. Grease allows bolts to be properly and completely tightened.

oldbobcat

Yeah. Worn chain rings make a similar kind of noise.

Lombard

I had a "creaky BB" which turned out to be a creaky seatpost. Sounds can be tricky to track down.

yannisg

I had a creaky BB30 BB on my new Cannondale Synapse a few years ago.
I tried everything with the BB30 brgs. Removal, re-installation, and using a special sealant. I spent a lot of time with the BB, and even contacted Cannondale, but the problem continued.
When I removed the chainrings from the crank, cleaned, lightly sanded the matting surfaces, greased and re-installed them the creaking disappeared; I used loctite 202, and torqued them to specs.
Whenever the creaking re-appears which happens after a year or two I follow the same procedure to eliminate the creaking. This procedure is always successful.

Lombard

There apparently have been quite a few issues with creaky BB30's on Cannondales. I'm one of the lucky ones who never had that problem with my 2014 Synapse at over 16K miles - knock on carbon!

Kontact 

The person you quoted didn't have a creaky BB either.

Lombard

Yes, I know. I just have to wonder how many of those "creaky BB30's" were actually crankset bolts instead.

Kontact 

For Cannondales to get a bad reputation for creaky BBs due to chainring bolts, there would have to be something about Cannondales that makes chainring bolts creak that don't creak on other brand bikes.

So this seems unlikely.

Lombard

Except that for awhile, Cannondale was putting chrapo FSA Gossamer cranksets on bikes - I presume as a cost cutting measure. After 4K miles of substandard front shifting, I ditched it and got a Shimano 6800.

Kontact 

So were tons of other companies. Yet FSA Gossamer cranks don't have a reputation for creaky chainring bolts.

yannisg

My Cannondale synapse HiMod BB area started creaking after 2 years. I estimate about 8k klm during that period since I was using the bike only for races and brevets and not for training.
After using the procedure mentioned in my post above the creaking was eliminated and returned after 2 yrs, and again I used the same procedure; 5 years later (a month ago) it returned. Using the same procedure the creaking disappeared.
Both BB brgs turn smoothly to the feel with the DS very slightly less.
I have never found the chain ring bolts loose.
Since the creaking goes away with this simple procedure I don't plan to change anything.
I understand if I was to replace the crank with a Shimano I would have to install a sleeve in the BB, and have read that this setup can creak also.

cjenrick

i vote yes on the locktight,

chain ring bolts seem less precise nowadays, lots of slop,

grumpus

I use Copper Ease if I'm organised enough to remember it. It can save a load of hassle later on, particularly with bolts that screw into the back of the crank.

Welshboy

I always check the chainring bolts before stripping out the BB. In the summer months I've had good results by simply laying my bike down (drive side up) and applying lube (not WD40) to the chainring bolts. The sun warms up the chainset and you get good penetration of lube and it can save a lot of work. It's not 100% effective though and it didn't work for the dreaded 'Cannondale Creak' on my CAAD12.