Cannondale Creaking Seatpost - Flash Alu with Lefty

[coi]

Some feedback

1. Old age - nope, I'm not even 40

2. Seat and rails - nope, cleanedn lubed, problem remains

3. All other causes already eliminated (BB, wheels, headset, voices in my head, cluster, hangar, etc)

4. The seat clamp has a small locating pin that fits into the slot at rear of seat tube, removed it and refitted seat clamp. At the same time I cleaned and re-greased (teflon grease) as did I tape over the slot on the seattube below clamp to avoid grime buildup.

 

Quick testride suggests its sorted, will report back after a couple of days.

[quintonb]

I ride a cannondale Road bike and live in durban, lots of oxidisation of aluminium where I live. I put copper slip on every screw, bolt and thread ie. BB cups, headset, stem and seat post, pedals. It's the only thing that I have found works for creaks. It also make the removal of all these parts simple as nothing corrodes and makes removal of threaded parts easy.

[coi]

Rats !!!!! Creak came back after 10km. Next try will be copperslip. :-(

[outoftowner]

I had the same problem on my flash.Could be a number of things, but what I found after cleaning and lube just about everything, is the seat positioning.The rails are either to far forward or back, which means after a while your weight distribution on the saddle, forces it to start creaking.

If you still have issues, best is to just replace the seat clamp. The thread could be worn, which can also lead to strange noises.

[coi]

Thanks outoftowner, that makes sense to me, ill try it.

[North Shore]

I have exactly the same problem on my stumpjumper. Having checked and replaced almost everything (seat clamp, saddle, bb, pivot bearings etc) the creak, more like a horrifying crack, has returned without fail after 10km. Even a light wash seems to make the problem go away temporarily, only to return with a vengeance, which has made isolating the problem difficult.

 

The only solution seems to be heavily (I mean this) greasing the seat post's rails, but a week or two in and the problem resurfaces. I'm running the Thompson elite seat post and Gobi saddle (which I had initially thought to blame but a brand new one didn't solve it).

[coi]

Ok, guys, check the smile on my face :-)

 

Tried all of above and you all for sharing, the fix was a replacement seat clamp and heavy greasing. I bought an aftermarket alu clamp with fine thread stainless allen bolt with a higher torque strength than the original clamp. I may have gained a couple of grams in weight but re-gained the joy of riding my bike !

[Mojoman]

Ok, guys, check the smile on my face :-)

 

Tried all of above and you all for sharing, the fix was a replacement seat clamp and heavy greasing. I bought an aftermarket alu clamp with fine thread stainless allen bolt with a higher torque strength than the original clamp. I may have gained a couple of grams in weight but re-gained the joy of riding my bike !

There is nothing worse than a squeaky, creaky bike especially if you ride on your own for long distances with no MP3 player!

 

Second to that is a squeaky, creaky bike belonging to a friend that is riding with you!

[milky4130]

So it looks like my problem is also resolved, I have the Scott Foil seatpost with carbon rail saddle, took it apart put some carbon paste & Bobs you Uncle. Just completed a 1 hour 30min ride & no creaks thus far.