Chain ring bolts

ajoten

I'm getting creaking around the bb/crank area that I've tried various things to fix without success. I'm going to try replacing the chainring bolts as an experiment, as I read that alu bolts can be a bit rubbish.

So

a. Does my off-the-peg Centaur chainset actually have alu bolts?
b. On ebay does "alloy" mean "alu"?
c. What kind of bolts might be better?
d. Is the whole idea daft?

Ta.

Monty Dog

Rather than replacing them, have you tried removing, cleaning and smearing grease on the existing ones? - including the chainring / spider facing surfaces. Dirty / corroded chainring bolts will creak regardless of material.

ajoten

Thanks for the suggestion - have just tried it. Made no difference though

Is it worth pursuing the steel/ti bolt idea? Or is it an old wives tale?

colsoop

Would be unusual to get creaking via those bolts. if they are tight thats it there isn't really any room for them to flex or creak.

Does the creaking occur during any particular motion on the bike - standing up on the pedals sprinting hard etc etc.

Pokerface

General question - is it more likely that it's the bottom bracket creaking than the chainring bolts?

woodywmb

Cleaning and regreasing bolts is one answer. Creaking BB could also be at fault. I would try greasing the pedal axle and tightening it as it enters the crank arm. My money's on that.

ajoten

Thanks everyone - will def try the pedal axle malarkey... when it stops raining.

Thing is, there are so many options with "BB" noises, and the interweb suggests it's never the BB itself. So in the last 6 months

1. had a new bb (pro install)
2. had a new stem
3. had new handlebars
4. tightened cranks
5. had two shops try to find the problem
6. tried 3 different sets of pedals
7. and so on.

mattshrops

stick it on ebay and get a new one

pinkbikini

Put a little grease on the dropouts and clamping surfaces where they meet the skewers. Then remove rear mech hanger, again little bit on grease on surfaces and re-loctite the screw threads. Worth a try before you replace all your chainring bolts and skin your knuckles.

stevec205gti

You don't say what type of BB you have - if the cranks are mounted on square tapers then that could still be a problem, a bit of grease can help. Also consider seat post in the frame and also where it clamps the rails.

As an aside, I had a an older Centaur chainset, that due to a bit of a screw up by my local bike shop ended up being installed on a Shimano BB. Due to a mismatch in tapers I never got the creaking to stop for more than a week despite purchasing more than one new Campag BB. I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my crank to an ultratorque model and my bikes super silent once again....

ajoten

Yes, this Ultra Torque thing could well help. If only so I can get a compact chainset...