Creaky rattling

grenw

Trying to identify the source of a noise on my bike.

Bike is a 2015 Giant defy 0 - around 9 months old with around 2,500 miles on it. and the sound is best described as a creaking rattle. It could be coming from anywhere from the headset to the bottom bracket.

Creaking as it's a sort of bearing or rubbing sound. Rattling as it really only happens on rough road surfaces. It happens whether I sit or stand and whether I pedal or not. I'm not sure but it may be a little more pronounced when I put some power through the pedals when climbing.

I've checked and tightened stem/bars, bottle cages, chainring bolts, seatpost and brake calipers. I've also given the cables the benefit of some GT85 where they are held to the frame and exit the outers. I've also tried holding cables away from the frame when riding. Nothing seems to help.

I'm pretty much resolved to it being headset or BB related and hence a trip to the LBS beckons but wanted to make sure I'd exhausted all avenues first.

dj58

Remove the chain from the inner ring and spin the cranks listen/feel for any roughness/noises and check for play buy pushing/pulling the crank arms.

Clean and re-grease the headset easy enough to do at home.

Padeye

Does it have giant wheels?

I had this on my old defy and it turned out to be one or two spokes had lost tension. Once i'd tightened them up it was sorted.

grenw

Thanks both. There's no play in the cranks - first thing I checked. Will listen for any roughness.

It does have the original Giant wheels on it. I know they're not the best but seem solid enough. Will check the tension on the spokes.

dee4life2005

First think I'd check would be that you have the quick release skewers tight enough.
Also check to see if there is any play in the hubs by trying to move the wheel side-to-side vertically when mounted on the bike. Could just be that the bearings are worn and need to be replaced, or are just needing re-greased ... depends if they are cartridge bearings or shimano cup-cone type jobbies.

kajjal

Could also be the pedals need stripping down and regreasing.

keef66

Kajjal wrote:

Could also be the pedals need stripping down and regreasing.

"It happens whether I sit or stand and whether I pedal or not."

Or possibly not...

mlgt

Well I had something similar and it turned out to be the bearings on my rear hub. It was making a horrible sound and I swore it was the BB or indexing. I cleaned both up and the sound still came back. Give that a go , have a look at the hub body.

grenw

Tried a few of the simpler fixes and still the same yesterday.

Spokes seem fine, QRs/dropouts are fine. No play in the pedals or BB. Don't think it's a BB thing as on a smooth road I can pedal away and not a sound.

I think it's down to either the hubs or headset. There seems to be a bit more noise when the bike is rocking on an climb which could be either.

Alex99

GrenW wrote:

Tried a few of the simpler fixes and still the same yesterday.

Spokes seem fine, QRs/dropouts are fine. No play in the pedals or BB. Don't think it's a BB thing as on a smooth road I can pedal away and not a sound.

I think it's down to either the hubs or headset. There seems to be a bit more noise when the bike is rocking on an climb which could be either.

I sometimes get a creak from mine coming from the gear cable stops near the head tube. It can be surprisingly loud and usually triggered by rough road or cilmbing. A little spray of teflon lube aimed at where the cable outer goes into the stops sorts it out.

Also cable related, if you have old style STIs with the side exit cable, the cables can knock together over rough surfaces. I put a small cable tie around the point where the cables meet, just nipped up a bit, not tight.

Alex99

Alex99 wrote:

GrenW wrote:

Tried a few of the simpler fixes and still the same yesterday.

Spokes seem fine, QRs/dropouts are fine. No play in the pedals or BB. Don't think it's a BB thing as on a smooth road I can pedal away and not a sound.

I think it's down to either the hubs or headset. There seems to be a bit more noise when the bike is rocking on an climb which could be either.

I sometimes get a creak from mine coming from the gear cable stops near the head tube. It can be surprisingly loud and usually triggered by rough road or cilmbing. A little spray of teflon lube aimed at where the cable outer goes into the stops sorts it out.

Also cable related, if you have old style STIs with the side exit cable, the cables can knock together over rough surfaces. I put a small cable tie around the point where the cables meet, just nipped up a bit, not tight.

OK, you can ignore the last one if your bike is 2015

grenw

Alex99 wrote:

I sometimes get a creak from mine coming from the gear cable stops near the head tube. It can be surprisingly loud and usually triggered by rough road or cilmbing. A little spray of teflon lube aimed at where the cable outer goes into the stops sorts it out.

I did try that at first. Maybe I'll give it another go and be a bit more thorough this time. Had exactly the same problem when turning the bars on my Canyon mtb although that had internal cabling. Sounded just like a headset in need of tlc.