6 week old specialized allez sport with creaking cranks!

mattward1979

Over the last week, I noticed a small amount of creaking coming from my bottom bracket, that I can feel through the cranks...

This went away for a day or so, then after a particularly harrowing ride through a tsunami then the subsequent 2 hours armed with baby wipes and lube, it is back with a vengeance.

Basically when powering down on the pedals, there is a series of clicks.. not so much metal on metal squealing, but as if there was grit in there. But after 20 miles the sound is there and its rythmic.. which in my mind rules out a foreign body in the mech.

Could it be a duff bracket? Bearings? ceasing of parts?

I know the spesh has a "spesh" bottom bracket, but luckily I still have my free service to cash in from Evans so Id like to know what to tell them to look for.

thanks!

nicklouse

sounds like you need to re preload the bearings.

just tell them that it is creaking.

is the BB the BB30 press fit internal bearings?

VerwoodAsh

don't discount the pedals either! I've had the same before and it was down to the lower spec SPD's I was using at the time.

redddraggon

nicklouse wrote:

is the BB the BB30 press fit internal bearings?

Both the 2009 and 2010 Allez Sport use Hollowtech II external bearing cups.

If it was mine I'd take the crank offs, tighten the BB cups, replace the cranks and make sure they are properly installed. But as it's only 6 weeks old I'd take it back to the shop and get them to do it.

A few years ago I had a creaking chainset/BB, turned out that the shop had crossthreaded the pedals when installing them, and my pedalling removed the rest of the thread - I found out when my pedal fell off as I was riding - so don't discount anything.

nicklouse

redddraggon
so nothing special

so lose cups and preload need checking and then all the other suspects.
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=123

greasedscotsman

Couple of things I would try before pulling the BB to bits.

Take the pedals off and apply some grease to the threads.

Swap the front QR skewer (no, I'm not joking). I've had this on a Cannondale and a Giant, creaking noises coming from the bottom bracket in time with the pedal strokes. Swapped the QR skewer and the problem disappears! It also might be that you have the skewer too tight.

topdude

Hi, i agree with the greasy scotsman
In addition to the above, remove, clean, grease the seatpost. I know it sounds unlikely but the seatpost / frame interface is a bugger for creaking / clicking sounds.
Noises always sound like they come from the Bottom Bracket / cranks.
Good luck.

sturmey

I had a creaking from the bottom bracket area on a brand new bike fitted with A Hollowtech BB. I took the pinchpolts out of the left-hand crank, greased them and tightened them evenly and the problem went away. The relief was immense. Nothing worse than a creak.

mattward1979

Thanks for the advice,

Got it booked in for the free service on Tuesday and not leaving till its fixed!!
TBH despite Halfords having the poor rep for technical stuff, the build of my bike was somewhat lacking from Evans...

Wasnt asked 1 question about how I wanted it setup, and actually had to ask for them to adjust the seat height and inflate the tires properly...
The Clips/straps were tied wrongly, back brake slightly loose against the frame, Indexing on the middle chain ring so appaling I have 3 useable gears..... 6,7 with the derailleur close to middle and only 1 when its fully out....

I figure I love the bike so much I forgave all that but now its bugging me that I have this new symptom of a shoddy build!!

Ah well at least I know exactly what to look for when they work on it in future.