Whats that creak?

pr8jaa
pr8jaa Posts: 8
edited June 2008 in Road beginners
I purchased my Felt F80 from my LBS around 8 months ago.

Since then I have done around 800 miles of road cycling and a few triathalons.
The bike has (unfortunately) been cycled in the rain and the wet.

About 2 months ago I noticed a creaking noise. When cycling it is difficult
to ascertain where its coming from but so far it has not been reproducable
when off the bike, it only originally happened when I got out the saddle and put
some power down and has got progressively worse, I can now produce it if I really
go for it when seated.

I have had a good inspection of the frame and there appears to be no cracks
I have also tried to see if the cranks will rock side to side (i.e. bottom bracket prob)
but they don't.

Now I have a three question? can anyone propose what this noise actually is?
should I expect my LBS to fix it now some 8 months on? or is it a simple me fix job?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice

James

Comments

  • feel
    feel Posts: 800
    wear and tear serviceable repair - you pay. Try removing pedals/cranks and regreasing as a reasonable starting point. Then go onto chain rings and maybe BB cartridges if the first two don't fix it.
    We are born with the dead:
    See, they return, and bring us with them.
  • Diogenes
    Diogenes Posts: 1,628
    Second the above, also try taking the BB out and putting a bit of grease on the threads. Its not uncommon with alloy shells / steel BB to get a creak if the grease dries out.

    D :D
  • fizz
    fizz Posts: 483
    have you got clipless pedals, if so try tightening the cleat bolts as that can cause a creak sometimes to. Make sure your seatpost bolt it tight to. Bascially go over the whole bike and check all the bolts are done up tight.

    I've got an annoying one on my bike at the moment and I cant track it down. So I'm in the process of doing all of the above at the moment.
  • sub55
    sub55 Posts: 1,025
    my money Would be on the headset
    constantly reavalueating the situation and altering the perceived parameters accordingly
  • clanton
    clanton Posts: 1,289
    http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/keepitquiet.html
  • CrookedCucumber
    CrookedCucumber Posts: 324
    Sounds like worn bearings in the pedal axles or crank to me. If you can beg or borrow another set of pedals you could try them on in five minutes and see if that's it. Dismantling the crank is a bigger job :/
  • topdude
    topdude Posts: 1,557
    Hi, start with some simple stuff, remove/clean/lightly grease the following,
    Handlebars to stem
    stem to steerer
    saddle rails
    seatpost to frame
    cranks to axle
    If none of the above stop the noise then try different pedals, then as a last resort remove and grease the bottom bracket (might be a LBS job as they can be impossibly tight).
    Good luck.
    He is not the messiah, he is a very naughty boy !!
  • howiejmidlands
    howiejmidlands Posts: 389
    On my Felt, i had a creak on every pedal rev, when it was under pressure, ie high gears of climbing out of saddle.
    The bottom bracket was not square, and you can see this easily by looking around the bottom bracket cup. If the lock ring has a small gap on one side, and totally flush on the other it is out of square.
    It will need to go into a bike shop to be squared off. It only takes 30 mins or so.

    Hope this helps
    Just a fat bloke on a bike
  • CrookedCucumber
    CrookedCucumber Posts: 324
    Incidentally, I have a suspicion that bike shops sometimes install cheap pedals on new bikes, because they know that owners will change them pretty soon for whatever suits their preference. Cheap pedals are terrible for squeaking.
  • pr8jaa
    pr8jaa Posts: 8
    Thank you all for the posts, I will have another good look bearing in mind
    your suggestions,

    Thanks

    James
  • Swannie
    Swannie Posts: 107
    I'll be attacking my pedals tonight. I'm pretty sure the right one which was squeeking, is now creaking. Hoping that taking them off, regrease the threads, and back on again will sort it.

    They are relatively new Shimano pedals (been in use 6 weeks, ~300miles maybe), so I really hope it's not the bearings.
  • Bronzie
    Bronzie Posts: 4,927
    Finally found mine after weeks of messing about and it starting to drive me round the bend. What I tried:
    - remove pedals, regrease, re-fit
    - swap pedals for another pair
    - remove chainset & bottom bracket, regrease and re-fit
    - remove chainset & bottom bracket, wrap threads in PTFE tape and re-fit

    It turned out to be a load of authentic Belgian toothpaste (from riding a wet Flanders sportif this April) in the cutout for the rear mech hanger. Cleaned it out and applied a little grease to keep the rain out and now the squeak is history. 8)
    It's a Lifestyle! -+-+- Coggan Training Levels
  • pr8jaa
    pr8jaa Posts: 8
    In case anyone returns wondering about these annoying issues,

    The BB wasn't tight enough and was moving around (had to remove chain to see this)
    I expect this wasn't really apparent until it got to this stage.

    The LBS gave me the offer to clean and tighten it up, but since it was also
    pretty kanckered I went for the replacement upgrade and I'm back to
    road riding without an awful creaking noise.

    Cheers for all you help and advice

    James

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