New creaky carbon frame

J273

Ive just had a replacement 2010 enduro s-works frame built by my LBS.


The first ride was fine but now ive got a loud creaking when i apply pressure to the rear shock and unload pressure as i get off the bike.


I also seem to have a creak when i push the bike along on the front wheel and dab the brakes.

At first it didn't really bother me but it seems to be getting worse as i use the bike.Being a carbon frame its difficult to pinpoint the problem but is getting annoying

Ive looked but cant seem to to find the correct torque settings for the upper shock and lower shock mount....as anyone any idea as to what the correct torque should be? Being a carbon frame the last thing i want to do is over-torque something.

Also is there anything else i can check?....its defiantly not the seat or post as it happens when i push down on the frame alone.

Thanks

supersonic

Park Tools has a great guide on bike noises.

sib321

How flippin' annoying are those creaks eh? I feel for you.

I normally use about 12Nm for shock bolts along with some anti galling lube. I don't know if that's much use to you with your frame being carbon though.....

skaffen

J273 wrote:

The first ride was fine but now ive got a loud creaking when i apply pressure to the rear shock and unload pressure as i get off the bike.


I also seem to have a creak when i push the bike along on the front wheel and dab the brakes.

One thing to check that's easy to overlook are all the cables and hoses. I had a terrible creaking/grinding noise that I was sure was from the headset, any movement on the bars would set it off. After about a week of fiddling with different things to try and track down what it was, I found out that one of the mount points for the rear gear cable (where the hose stops) had some dirt trapped in it. Cleaned it out and put a bit of grease in there and the noise vanished. It's surprising how loud a noise you can get from something so minor.

J273

Was going to wait for my torque wrench to arrive...I just backed the upper shock mount bolt off and the creaks gone....I still have a slight creak from the headset it seems.

I'll take the forks off tomorrow and re-grease the bearings as when I endo the bike the creak is noticeable.

I posted this on another forum and was told it's not a good idea to endo a carbon frame....would you say it's a bad to do this on a carbon enduro??..I would of thought these frames can take a lot of punishment especially specializeds top end s-works model

Thoughts?

Thanks