Just a mechanical or skulduggery?
cornerblock
Posts: 3,228
Out for a ride this morning and the creak from the crankset, which I'd first became aware of last week, seemed to be even more noticeable. So noticeable as to be quite annoying. Oh well I thought to myself 'just crack on and sort it out later on when you get home'.
Then I hit the first climb of the day and try to drop into the small chainring and 'damn!' I drop the chain off the inner ring. So off I get, bend down to put the chain back on when I'm shocked to see that there are only two chainring bolts! Three of them are missing from the Rotor 3D, nothing there just holes! Obviously I'm then aware how wobbly the whole chain set is and decide to take no chances in going any further and turn around and head back home, taking it nice and steady.
My question. Is it possible or feasible for three bolts to work themselves loose and fall out? Or I wonder, is that something highly unlikely and it might be something far more sinister? The other worrying thing is that the only two remaining bolts were loose as well! Now I have been working at a different place last week and have been leaving the bike in the basement. Nice and secure from theft but pretty quiet down there.
My better half was immediately of the opinion that something dodgy was afoot and no way would all three just fall out. She does watch a lot of Midsomer Murders though! So it's left me wondering has somebody been trying to steal the crankset and been disturbed in completing the job or is it just bad luck? Despite my wife's vivid imagination I'm pretty sure I've not upset anybody that much! :-)
Then I hit the first climb of the day and try to drop into the small chainring and 'damn!' I drop the chain off the inner ring. So off I get, bend down to put the chain back on when I'm shocked to see that there are only two chainring bolts! Three of them are missing from the Rotor 3D, nothing there just holes! Obviously I'm then aware how wobbly the whole chain set is and decide to take no chances in going any further and turn around and head back home, taking it nice and steady.
My question. Is it possible or feasible for three bolts to work themselves loose and fall out? Or I wonder, is that something highly unlikely and it might be something far more sinister? The other worrying thing is that the only two remaining bolts were loose as well! Now I have been working at a different place last week and have been leaving the bike in the basement. Nice and secure from theft but pretty quiet down there.
My better half was immediately of the opinion that something dodgy was afoot and no way would all three just fall out. She does watch a lot of Midsomer Murders though! So it's left me wondering has somebody been trying to steal the crankset and been disturbed in completing the job or is it just bad luck? Despite my wife's vivid imagination I'm pretty sure I've not upset anybody that much! :-)
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If you’ve never touched the crankset bolts then yup, they could have come loose.
Shows the value of glancing over bits every couple of weeks.Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
You're right there. It's usually a quick tyres, brakes, skewers check and away I go with me. I shall definitely be a bit more thorough in the future.0
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Cool - now don’t go all weird and communter and cycle club member and test every nut and bolt every time you go out for for a ride but once a month grab a glass of wine and 20 Bensons and just have 15 minutes looking over the bike with a Ritchey tourque key in your hand.
Do it a couple of times then you’ll find that you’re on top of everything.Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
I like the sound of the wine but I'll give the snouts a miss!0
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Definitely possible to lose bolts. I've done that in the past. If you don't maintain the bike properly you won't notice a loose nut and if one goes - the others will follow sooner rather than later.0
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Thanks cougie, I suspected as much. I'm sure it'll put my wife's mind at rest. Or will it?! Hmmm? :shock:0
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i think what's happened is the rotor bolts which are made of cheese were overtightened and failed, i've been warned by two different bike shops to go easy on those bolts. I had all of mine come loose at the same time.Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.0 -
Maybe she hates you and was just trying to deflect suspicion.I don't do smileys.
There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda
London Calling on Facebook
Parktools0 -
has your mrs taken out a life insurance policy on you recently?
Might want to check your brakes...“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring”
Desmond Tutu0 -
I would buy some replacement (Uberbike do good ones) chainring bolts and use a bit of blue loctite on them if I were you. I learnt that years ago after a similar incident (lost two but all of them had worked loose).
PP0 -
I went through a phase a few years ago where I was going through chainring bolts on my fixie like they were some kind of consumable! I’m a pretty cackhanded mechanic and couldn’t seem to get them all properly tight without them coming loose again. Think I got my LBS to sort it in the end.
As others have said - yes, they can just work loose by themselves (which would make them a particularly good thing to sabotage on someone’s bike without raising suspicon!)0 -
I'd just drink wine, smoke Bensons and do them up occasionally.
Sometimes you can just over think this stuff.Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
Unless the bike is firmly secured and a thief was desperate for your Rotor cranks, i'd say its the bolts working loose. If a thief wanted your Rotor cranks, they'd take the bike and dismantle it at leisure away from the risk of being disturbed. Stick a little bit of lactate on them in future.I ride a bike. Doesn't make me green or a tree hugger. I drive a car too.0
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I think crank bolts should have Loctite on, just highlighting this one because the autocorrect made me smile.philthy3 wrote:Stick a little bit of lactate on them in future.0 -
Veronese68 wrote:
I think crank bolts should have Loctite on, just highlighting this one because the autocorrect made me smile.philthy3 wrote:Stick a little bit of lactate on them in future. Yes I think lactate is used where the spokes meet the rim. 0 -
While on the subject of chainsets and creaking. My winter bike was creaking like a b!tch yesterday. I have been riding it in the wet a lot and though the bottom bracket was just on its way out . So before I ride today, off comes the chainset, removed the crappy Shimano B.B. that was on there and replaced it with a much better Hope one which was spare for the TT bike. While all the bike is in bits, I greased and clean up every contact point as per usual. Give the chainring bolts a check tighten. All good there. Then reassemble. Sorted.
I then go out on about 30 minutes later and it’s STILL creaking like a b!tch! WTF? I decide to ride on and sort it later. About 20km into the ride, in the wind with lots of puddles and rain, it stops creaking. I get out the saddle, not a peep. Silence. It suddenly just cured itself. No idea how or why. All the way home the only squeak is from occasionally from the pedal but Inknow about that being Speedplay n all. I’m dumbfounded. Can’t find anything that could have been causing it other than the BB. But since the new one fitted is a brand new Hope one it couldn’t be that too. Not from new. Spooky.0 -
Is it not the saddle squeaking then ?0
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cougie wrote:Is it not the saddle squeaking then ?
No, was there when out the saddle, in fact yesterday it was worse than when seated. It would go from the tell tale click once per rotation to a very loud creak when out of the saddle and applying more power. But now just silence. Everything points to BB bearings. But when you fit a brand new one - and not exactly cheap type either and it still creaks.....0 -
No frame damage around the bb?Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
Veronese68 wrote:
I think crank bolts should have Loctite on, just highlighting this one because the autocorrect made me smile.philthy3 wrote:Stick a little bit of lactate on them in future.
Apple has many things to answer for. :x I ride a bike. Doesn't make me green or a tree hugger. I drive a car too.0
