creaking from BB!!

grahamfocal

Hi I have a fairly new (3months old) scott CR1 bike, seems like there is a creaking coming from the BB, could this be true. I have tried tightening the rear qr and the seat post, could I have tightened these too much.
Is there any way of adjusting the BB, ie tightening it to cure the problem. Its not a major fault at the moment, more of an annoyance. But want to make sure the BB is not on its way out.
hope not
cheers

Smokin Joe

Every noise on a bike sounds like it is coming from the BB, most don't. The first thing I always check are the cleat bolts on my shoes, they take an enormous amount of force and can loosen up after some initial use.

If that doesn't cure it, no doubt people here will point you in the direction of the 101 other things that creak and squeak.

aero blob

Hi graham

pedlas and cleats yep! Could also be a loose BB as you mention. (poss more likely loose than the new BB going) Need to remove the chainset and crank arm to check. You then need a bottom bracket tool. most likely you have outboard bearings as its a new bike so this is a special tool. If you don't have these you can either get from a bikeshop or it might be best to get the bike shop to do it if you're unsure.

Another possiblity is that the chainring bolts may not be tightened fully - these being the 5 (usually) allen key bolts connecting the rings to the chainset. I'd say try that first.

andy
www.kinetic-one.co.uk

grahamfocal

thanks guys, that gives me a lot to try at the weekend, I like to give things a go, so I shall buy the tool and carefully try all the ideas.
cheers

feel

well worth checking the pedals - releasing , greasing and retightening mine cured an irritating click on my bike that i had originally thought was from the BB. Trying to work out when the click happens and under what conditions may help diagnose it. eg pedalling with just one pedal at a time helped me realize what the problem was.

duckiciao

This webby I always find is super useful:

http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/keepitquiet.html

Btw, my MTB's BB has a lot of play on it (4-5mm), how much would a shop charge to sort this out?

grahamfocal

thats exactly the thing I was looking for, top notch link thanks

popette

feel wrote:

well worth checking the pedals - releasing , greasing and retightening mine cured an irritating click on my bike that i had originally thought was from the BB. Trying to work out when the click happens and under what conditions may help diagnose it. eg pedalling with just one pedal at a time helped me realize what the problem was.

yes, agree. I heard creaking from BB and just ignored it until eventually my pedal came off, the thread inside was completely destroyed.

Down the Road

Take it back to it's mechanic.

peanut

is the creak only when pedaling one side or both sides ? does it get worse when you stand on the pedals or climb ?
I have had a very annoying creak for weeks now and I'm convinced its the cranks where they fit onto the axle. Mine are the square taper type. I'm going to remove clean the inside of the crank tapers and the axle tapers and put it all back tight later today. Hopefully that will do the trick.
Hope I don't have to replace the BB :roll:

fossyant

What you need to do is strip and re-grease all drive chain parts to find it - believe you me it can range from a slight amount of play in the BB cups (not usually the bearings) to the chain ring bolts, to a loose pedal....... very tricky to sort out sometimes !

I hate any creaks - if it persists, then it's new bits !

Alex_Simmons/RST

Check the front QR skewer. Lots of creaks are just a slightly loose front QR. Sounds like a BB, as do many such probs.

Gussio

Excellent excuse to buy a new bike

winkywonky

Check your stem bolts where it joins the handlebars. A club mate had a noise which sounded to both of us as if it was the BB, but in the ned it was the stem!

scherrit

Lube the pedal mechanisms, you can get weird squeaks and creaks from the plastic/pedal interface if they have float.

Unused nuts in your shoes sole can move around and create odd noises...... my track buddies were terrified at the horrible broken BB noise coming from my track iron, turned out to be unused nuts bouncing around in the shoe sole!

See if you can recreate the noise somewhere more quiet like a side road, or in the repair stand, on your turbo trainer with the roller off the tyre????

Good luck,
S.