Bottom bracket creak

jude2001

Hi there,

I have a praxis zayante chainset with a praxis m30 bottom bracket on a 2017 specialized allez sprint. I have a creak that has developed, it happens when applying power to the pedals but only happens on the down stoke of the pedal stroke but is much louder on the drive side than the non drive side. I have changed the pedals, tightened and greased the chainring bolts and added grease to the contact areas of the bottom bracket (it is definitely not the seat post or handlebars). My question is, could it only be that I should add loctite to the bottom bracket contact points to the frame or could it be the bearings.

Thanks, Jude

Matthewfalle

Hey, Jude

All ok with cleats and skewers etc?

Vino'sGhost

If it’s not your cleats skewers or chainring bolts do the following.

Remove the cranks you will need a long handled 8mm key.

Carefully retain the seals and wavy washer.

Inspect the bearings visually looking for obvious signs of rust etc and also by rotating with your finger. They should feel smooth and rotate with minimal pressure. It’s normal for them to have slight resistance from the seals so don’t expect a totally free moving experience.

If notchy or seized they’re knackered and need to be replaced. If not then wipe clean and reassemble.

Use the opportunity to clean your cranks thoroughly

If you need to replace you will need an m30 tool.

Clean the B.B. shell and threads before assembly.

Lightly grease the threads

Reassemble: hey presto no more creak

taon24

Is it the seat post/ saddle. Does it still happen out of the saddle?
Any loosened or notching in the headset? Can also cause creaks.

sungod

my bike developed a creak last year that i'd have bet serious money on being from the bb, also louder on driveside downstroke etc.

after swapping/greasing bb bearings twice and much puzzlement, i found it was the freehub bearings, but no way did it seem like the noise came from there

sound can resonate through the frame, and while riding it's really hard to be sure about the source

zefs

Also worth checking the spokes.

hambini

Assuming that this creaking is definitely coming from the bottom bracket -

Praxis M30 has a fixed bearing on the non drive side which is 28mm ID and a floating bearing on the drive side which is 30mm ID. If you've got creaking, you've got movement somewhere in the train. This could be with the bearings or the sleeve itself.

Based on probability, I would check the non drive side bearing first. If you pull it out, I'd highly recommend you change the bearing. There are a lot of people on here who advocate tapping the bearing out, regreasing and putting it back. If you do that there is a large chance you will brinnell the bearing. If you find there is any fretting or movement in it axially, you could do with replacing it with a new bearing and some medium strength retaining compound.

The reason why you hear the creak on the downstroke is the fixed bearing is shuttling axially from one end of the raceway across to the other. This is a disadvantage with fixed-floating systems like M30 and SRAM GXP.

Hope that helps
Hambini

jude2001

Thanks guys,

I will look into everything that has been said. I will probably end up buying one of your bottom brackets Hambini out of pure frustration .

Kind Regards, Jude