Carbon frame noises

Wulz

Hello all as above,

Two weeks ago i picked up a new Kuota Kebel which is my first shot on a carbon frame.

Prob nothing but its makes the odd creaking/crack here and there when im out and about. Not particular to heavy load but more or less of its own accord.

Now ill point out that im not in the "is it ok to get carbon wet, blah blah brigade" but having never had a machine anything like this before im just looking for a frame of reference before i mention it at its free service.

Any one can comment then please do, but spare me carbon melting etc jokes thanks


BTW the kebel is outstanding , im utterly blown away by the way it moves and the general feel.

Cheers

Willie

CiB

Can you identify the source of th e noises? Mine was creaking a bit; nipping up the stem bolts cured it. Don't overtighten them though.

dennisn

FWIW. I have a HED 3 spoke carbon wheel that makes the occasional hollow sounding noise. No problems though.

Wulz

thanks for comments,

It sounds a lot like its from the bottom bracket area, still a slight chance its from the headset tho.

Just wanted some opinions from folk before i go to the shop and have the guys say " ah yeh all carbon frames do that". To be fair the guys seem sound but best to have spoke to a few folk before speaking to them i think.

thanks

Willie

dennisn

Wulz wrote:

thanks for comments,

It sounds a lot like its from the bottom bracket area, still a slight chance its from the headset tho.

Willie

FWIW, I find that ALL noises come from the bottom bracket area. Even if they don't, they sound like they do.

rake

stones flipping off the road can make a terrible cracking sound.

e999sam

I had the same problem and seemed to have cured it by tightening the stem bolts a little more than the specified torque setting. Because noise resonates in the large cavities of a carbon frame it makes it difficult pinpoint where noises come from.

Papapete

Similar problem for me also when I took my first carbon bike out, eventually found that I had set the seat too far forward, past the recommend scope. Also, check your bottle cages.

masterchef

i saw that bike today and my god it was amazing! lmao, try seeing if ur spokes or bottle cage arnt loose:)

Wulz

Some good sounding suggestions so thanks folks.

Think ill just go and get the blokes at the shop to have listen.

Having just been fitted to the bike i still fell like the seat is too low so ill be popping it up a small anount soon. If it happens to be seat related id hope the noise would either go away or get worse. At least that will be one factor taken into account.

next ill take a look at the stem bolts.

Cheers

willie

paulieb2006

You could also try greasing the Stem, Bar, Headset areas. Also a little bit on the axils where they clamp onto the forks front and back. Could be your Seatpost/Saddle also. Just a general tighten up of these things could do the trick. Only take 30 min.

Wulz

As id said earlier ive upped the seat post about 5mm and it seems to have changed the noise a bit so maybe its been that all along. Ill be going for a blast tomorrow so ill see how it goes. The noise is a less obvious so hope it stays like that.

Cheers

Willie