cracking sound from the crank

ryan753

I have a roadbike and recently there are some like clicking and cracking sounds coming from the crank arm/crank set every time i ride on it(every cycle). It happens when its on the high gear or accelerating. Anyone know how to solve this?

darkhairedlord

bottom bracket needs:
greasing
tightening
replacing

or,
Crank arms could be loose
Frame could be cracked
Pedals could be loose
Could be a loose chain ring bolt

Has it been in the rain?

ryan753

darkhairedlord wrote:

bottom bracket needs:
greasing
tightening
replacing

or,
Crank arms could be loose
Frame could be cracked
Pedals could be loose
Could be a loose chain ring bolt

Has it been in the rain?

Yes it has been in the rain.
I have checked the crank arms and pedals so there shouldnt be any problem with these two

darkhairedlord

what is the bike/drivetrain?

Ben6899

For me, cracking is the classic knackered BB bearing sound.

haydenm

Is it BB30?

thefd

I have this also on my new CAADX. It is BB30 - was thinking of having a look at the BB because I have removed, checked and put the pedal back on (which is new) and the noise is still there.

Alex99

Two bikes, both HTII, various LH cranks. Both nearly always have a crack/creak sound from the power stroke of the LH crank, particularly when out of the saddle. With a new BB, removed and reinstalled LH crank, it will stop for a bit and then come back. I've come to the conclusion that HTII creaks.

Ben6899

Alex99 wrote:

Two bikes, both HTII, various LH cranks. Both nearly always have a crack/creak sound from the power stroke of the LH crank, particularly when out of the saddle. With a new BB, removed and reinstalled LH crank, it will stop for a bit and then come back. I've come to the conclusion that HTII creaks.

HTII is largely silent, in my experience. I'd check your BB shell tolerances and tidiness of the threads.

Alex99

Ben6899 wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Two bikes, both HTII, various LH cranks. Both nearly always have a crack/creak sound from the power stroke of the LH crank, particularly when out of the saddle. With a new BB, removed and reinstalled LH crank, it will stop for a bit and then come back. I've come to the conclusion that HTII creaks.

HTII is largely silent, in my experience. I'd check your BB shell tolerances and tidiness of the threads.

On both bikes the cups screw in all the way by hand and the axle goes in without a fight. So I'm not sure there is a serious thread or alignment issue. Ho hum

dee4life2005

It's likely not your problem, but if it's an Ultegra 6800 crank, check that there isn't a crack in the crank arm - no, seriously!

There's been a few reports of crank arm failure (Ultegra 6800 in particular) - I've been unlucky and had it happen to me. Had been getting and annoying click/creak noise for about a month until I eventually noticed the crank and a gaping hole in my crank arm. You really don't want a crank arm failure, so best to rule that out.

dee4life2005

i.e., this is the thread of which I speak.
viewtopic.php?t=13064693

darkhairedlord

Loose cleat on your shoe

Alex99

dee4life2005 wrote:

It's likely not your problem, but if it's an Ultegra 6800 crank, check that there isn't a crack in the crank arm - no, seriously!

There's been a few reports of crank arm failure (Ultegra 6800 in particular) - I've been unlucky and had it happen to me. Had been getting and annoying click/creak noise for about a month until I eventually noticed the crank and a gaping hole in my crank arm. You really don't want a crank arm failure, so best to rule that out.

Yes, I saw that. I'm not on 6800 cranks

Alex99

darkhairedlord wrote:

Loose cleat on your shoe

Could be. I'll check it. It's happened over two pair of shoes if it is that. Maybe it's my left ankle.

jlloyd

Is it definately comming from the crank? can you isolate the sound?

Creaks and cracks can come from anywhere and 'feel' like they are comming through your BB.

keef66

Alex99 wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Two bikes, both HTII, various LH cranks. Both nearly always have a crack/creak sound from the power stroke of the LH crank, particularly when out of the saddle. With a new BB, removed and reinstalled LH crank, it will stop for a bit and then come back. I've come to the conclusion that HTII creaks.

HTII is largely silent, in my experience. I'd check your BB shell tolerances and tidiness of the threads.

On both bikes the cups screw in all the way by hand and the axle goes in without a fight. So I'm not sure there is a serious thread or alignment issue. Ho hum

If the cups genuinely do screw all the way in by hand that might be the problem. Next reinstall try a bit of PTFE tape or some very mild thread lock see if that cures your creak.

Only time I had a tiny click from a screw-in 105 HT2 BB after 4 years I just replaced it with an Ultegra which has now been silent for 6. And I can't feel any roughness when turning the old one by hand so I've kept it as a spare.
The press-fit HT2 on the summer bike is still silent after 4 years

Alex99

keef66 wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Ben6899 wrote:

Alex99 wrote:

Two bikes, both HTII, various LH cranks. Both nearly always have a crack/creak sound from the power stroke of the LH crank, particularly when out of the saddle. With a new BB, removed and reinstalled LH crank, it will stop for a bit and then come back. I've come to the conclusion that HTII creaks.

HTII is largely silent, in my experience. I'd check your BB shell tolerances and tidiness of the threads.

On both bikes the cups screw in all the way by hand and the axle goes in without a fight. So I'm not sure there is a serious thread or alignment issue. Ho hum

If the cups genuinely do screw all the way in by hand that might be the problem. Next reinstall try a bit of PTFE tape or some very mild thread lock see if that cures your creak.

Only time I had a tiny click from a screw-in 105 HT2 BB after 4 years I just replaced it with an Ultegra which has now been silent for 6. And I can't feel any roughness when turning the old one by hand so I've kept it as a spare.
The press-fit HT2 on the summer bike is still silent after 4 years

OK, worth a shot. Thanks

Alex99

JLloyd wrote:

Is it definitely comming from the crank? can you isolate the sound?

Creaks and cracks can come from anywhere and 'feel' like they are comming through your BB.

Same issue with different wheels, so I think I can rule out the rear wheel as the source. Also, it's definitely a left hand side only creak. Thing is, I've had this on two bikes, several BBs, more than one LH crank arm on each bike, more than one pair of shoes, two pairs of pedals and several pairs of cleats. Same left side creak. Makes me wonder if I'm doing something in the installation as the only common factor seems to be me.

slowbike

My click that happens on pretty much every powered rotation is most likely down to the pedal spindle - that's what it was last time - I'd replaced the BB, checked the cleats etc etc - eventually took the pedal to bits, cleaned & regreased - but if you've swapped pedals then unless it's both pedals - it's not that ...

svetty

Cracking Cheese Grommit!

cyberknight

check your crank axle , i heard a crack from my BB area and the next day the left hand crank arm sheared off .

jameses

Alex99 wrote:

On both bikes the cups screw in all the way by hand

That's your problem - you need to tighten them up properly. Had exactly this issue recently, creaking on the non-drive side when working hard. Needed to change my chain, so took the opportunity to remove the cranks and take a look at the BB. Although it was fairly firm in place, I managed maybe another 1/8th turn on either side. No creaks since.

I think part of the problem is using an old size BB tool with the adaptor on the newer size cups, it's harder to get the combination to sit right so you can actually tighten up the BB as much as needed.