Ticking/Creaking Bottom Bracket? - Shimano 105 5600

JamesFree

I think its coming from the BB as have tightened up all bolts etc but im getting a ticking when I put down alot of power and it appears the ticking is in the same position of the revolution of the cranks.

Will the bottom bracket have to be replace or can I just remove and service it myself?

And also is it easy for me to do myself if I were to have the correct tools and what tools would they be for my BB type

garrynolan

Had exactly the same problem, especially going uphill. Sounded like a broken bottle was rattling around the BB. Got it stripped by LBS who said they couldn't find anything wrong. Next time out... not a problem. May just be some loose play that a stripdown and reassembly fixes. Wouldn't attempt to do myself though :? - if something was wrong it may impact on any warranty by doing it yourself.

JamesFree

No warranty to worry about here so would rather give it a go myself for future use on other bikes

dieselgeezer

I went through 3 Hollowtech 2 Ultegra chainsets. They all started clicking after about 1000 miles & were replaced under warranty. The noise wasn't coming from the BB. In the end I gave up & now use the old type Octalink chainset & BB with no clicking issues. I reckon the noise comes from the interface between the axle & back of the spider so there's nothing you can do about it.

Zendog1

I've had the same thing on my 105 a couple of times. I think the cranks tend to work slightly loose with use and then they creak.

Should bey easy to fix. It's probably best to get a good quality bb tool (always useful to have)

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Park_ ... 360013016/

Take off the cranks regrease and replace. Its important to use the little plastic knurled thing to pull the whole lot together (finget tight) before tightening the crank bolts.

see here for instructions

http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/media/techd ... 646763.pdf

TiBoy

I get a clicking from mine every now and again and everytime its the pedels that just need a quick loosen and tighten up, it does sound like it's comming from the BB and it is in the same place on the rotation. Just a thought.

zanes

I've just solved a very similar problem- turned out to be the mating surface between mech hanger and frame had filled with crud and loosened slightly over the years. Strip, clean up, liberal coat of assembly compound and a bleddy good tightening=minimal clicking.

Surprisingly, this clicking was usually in the same part of the pedal rotation each time. I put that down to poor pedalling technique on my part.

reformer

had similar problem could have sworn it was BB. swopped peddles and no more clicking. worth a try if you haven't done already.

TiBoy

The law of sod has happened, mine started clicking yesterday. Pedal was to blame again, always seems to be the drive side one.

petemadoc

Just thought I'd add my similar experience

Same ticking noise but with FSA gossamer cranks. Simply fixed by tightening up all the crank bolts. If they seem tight already then just loosen them a bit and tighten them up again.

ugo.santalucia

Stripping down the bottom bracket is one of the easiest jobs... just get yourself the Park Tool BBT9 tool.

Undo the bolts on the crank arm (left) with the hexagonal key, undo the plastic washer with the BBT9 tool, remove chainset, then remove bottom bracket by turning anticlockwise on the left side and clockwise on the right side.
Check the bearings on the BB.. if they're not smooth, get yourself a new BB, otherwise clean, lube with grease or antiseize and reassemble...

Easy peasy, it only takes 15-20 minutes, honestly... it's the only way to get rid of the problem at the root

Gav2000

And clean the threads of the BB / cups before reassembly, a bit of silt/grit can cause a creak; at least that was my conclusion after doing 2 bikes a couple of weeks ago and curing them both just by removing, cleaning and refitting.

twoodley

I have a very similar problem. I am getting a clicking noise when the left pedal is at about 11 o'clock (just on the down stroke) but only when under load (does not happen if I turn the pedal with the wheel in the air), and only on the large front crank, no click if I use the small crank. Oh! and it sometimes just disapears for a few miles, and then comes back.

It is driving me nuts

ride_whenever

The quick fix is to buy a new bike.

The cheap fix is to take the ENTIRE bike to pieces and reassemble it properly.

JamesFree

It was the BB in the end and was easily sorted.

Treated myself to some proper bike tools at long last, and just Removed my cranks and then bb, gave both a nice clean, greased and reassembled and now have lovely smooth and quiet bike.

Wickers

Shimano do recommend that you tighten the bolts on the crank arm periodically anyway, it's happened to me a couple of times and I've removed the crank arm, cleaned and greased and put it back on - everything sorted. I wasn't aware of the plastic dust cover malarkey before tightening the bolts though, thanks for that, and the bolts do need tightening incrementally. Stripping the BB is a little beyond my skills and tools.

I would advise (from painful experience) a half decent torque wrench though, I ended up shearing the hex on one of the bolts, luckily it came out OK (but I couldn't retighten it) and I replaced it.

nferrar

@twoodley - there's a known problem with the Cannondale Six Carbon BB clicking, couple of people I ride with have had it and Evans (where they bought them) fixed it. Think it's some issue with the BB30.

My own experience of clicking turned out to the the pedals, 09 105 ones had a plastic plate where the cleat sits into and that combined with the plastic cleat caused the clicking. Grease would help for a few miles but I ended up swapping to Ultegra's which had a metal plate and had no more clicking (I think the current 105 model have a metal plate now to).

Gav2000

Wickers wrote:

Shimano do recommend that you tighten the bolts on the crank arm periodically anyway, it's happened to me a couple of times and I've removed the crank arm, cleaned and greased and put it back on - everything sorted. I wasn't aware of the plastic dust cover malarkey before tightening the bolts though, thanks for that, and the bolts do need tightening incrementally. Stripping the BB is a little beyond my skills and tools.

I would advise (from painful experience) a half decent torque wrench though, I ended up shearing the hex on one of the bolts, luckily it came out OK (but I couldn't retighten it) and I replaced it.

If you can get the crank off you are half way there (on the assumption you've got some sort of square taper BB). Whatever you have you only need one more tool to remove the bottom bracket. As usual its not a universal tool but should be eaily findable online.

ringworm

I'm suffering the same ailment myself on a 2010 Specialized Allez Comp with 105/R600.A repetitive ticking from the crank/bottom bracket area that always occurs when the left hand crank is just going past top dead centre. Seems to be the non-drive side crank only, I've unclipped and pedaled single foot on either side and it's only on the non-drive side that the sound appears. It has a tendency to become particularly apparent under heavy pedaling.
I've installed a new chain, had the bike in at the bike shop to get the BB re-greased, checked and torqued all potential offending bolts (pinch bolts, front mech clamp, chain-ring bolts, seat clamp, rear hanger). Am at a loss as to what can be done... replacing the BB appears to be the only solution at this stage.
Anyone got an other troubleshooting tips or recommend a replacement BB?

IanMSpencer

ringworm wrote:

I'm suffering the same ailment myself on a 2010 Specialized Allez Comp with 105/R600.A repetitive ticking from the crank/bottom bracket area that always occurs when the left hand crank is just going past top dead centre. Seems to be the non-drive side crank only, I've unclipped and pedaled single foot on either side and it's only on the non-drive side that the sound appears. It has a tendency to become particularly apparent under heavy pedaling.
I've installed a new chain, had the bike in at the bike shop to get the BB re-greased, checked and torqued all potential offending bolts (pinch bolts, front mech clamp, chain-ring bolts, seat clamp, rear hanger). Am at a loss as to what can be done... replacing the BB appears to be the only solution at this stage.
Anyone got an other troubleshooting tips or recommend a replacement BB?

Creaks are notoriously hard to trace. Those BBs aren't that expensive and I'm tempted to say that if the bike shop has done all the work to replace the BB without actually replacing it, then it probably would have been worth changing the BB at the same time, though presumably the bike shop checked that the bearings ran smoothly when they were removed and dismissed that possibility (though a smooth running bearing pushed round with the fingers might still complain under stress).

Have you changed pedals? Stick on any old set of pedals to eliminate that.

It could still be saddle, headset, cables creaking, the tapping of a gear cable against the crank. It could be something that is triggered by you weight moving around, but a very consistent creak at a set point does point to the crank. Firstly, try some acrobatics, placing your weight in different places - tilting the bike, leaning far forward, riding off the saddle, anything you can think of to see if you can persuade the noise to go away or change the position at which it is produced.

Also, an occasional creak from a bike tends to be a fact of life. You are right not to ignore a BB creak as a loose BB can destroy the frame, but having eliminated that, I would concentrate on riding. The worse it gets, the easier it will be to find, and if it doesn't get worse, then its not a problem!

ringworm

I don't have a spare set of pedals but I took mine off, re-applied some copper slip on the threads and popped them back on... the ticking has gone! Not quite sure how that has fixed the problem but I'll take it (for as long as it lasts). Few things better than a quiet steed.

timtak

I get a ticking creak on the left side under load (at the max push oart of a high gear spin) too. LBS recommended new pedals since the old ones were *old*. No joy . I think that the bike shop disassembLed because they could see no crack in the BB. But perhaps they did not ckean. I ordered a hollowtech spanner (5Usd) and Shimano 105 Bb (10Ukp) both from ebay but perhaps I should have tried removing and cleaning the left pedal, since there is no reason that the bearing should go on the left first but the left side is the pedal removal side. I was convinced a bearing had gone but grit in the pedal to axcle interface would sound like this I think.

I replaced a carbon frame for a similar creak!

I think I will need to wait for the Holowtech tool anyway, to remove the plastic crank cap.