Could this be the suspect of my creaking BB?

[BrandonF_]

Hi all,

 

I've had some very annoying and ride abandoning CREAKS howling at me from my BB area for a couple of weeks/months now already,..

 

Following some comments on this subject here at Hub Nation, I've started the process of elimination,..

 

My last effort, and most expensive (to date on this matter), was the replacement of the SRAM Pressfit BB (GXP)

 

All went fantastic!,.and the only freaky creaks came from my knee, hip, back, neck and...(just kidding),..My beaut RM Vertex 999rsl was running so smooth, I kissed her good night before I went to bed,..every night ????

 

...and then. THE CREAK began to Speak ????????????

 

Now I'm without options, BUT for this..

 

The little "Wavey" washer on the Drive side of my crank,..it would mean "metal on metal" after all, on my direct mount system, but would mean the same for a spider fitted to arm..

 

My questions:

 

Do I really need this washer?

 

Does it serve some sort of protection purpose between the bearing seal and direct mount blade?

 

Will it be ok to remove it all together?

 

And could this be the "Part" that's causing this ridiculously annoying creaking sound that just trumpets its way through the down tube, right onto my highly strung amplified low E-string??

 

Thx in advance

[Larry King]

I bet you its not the bb. i have the same wavy washer on by bb and its been perfect for over a year. I have had two creaks, one from the headset and the other from the rear wheel. Tighten up your rear skewer as tight as you can and try again.

[BrandonF_]

I bet you its not the bb. And i say this because I had the same issue. Tighten up your rear skewer on your wheel.

Thx Larry

 

I've checked that already, and added a bit of grease to it as well.

 

Why I'm 100% certain that it came from the bb area, is when I, out of utter frustration, squirted some water on the bb drive side, and the noise instantly went away for at least 5km's up a hill

[lukelockie]

I had direct mount cranks and had a moerse creak. I had the BB stripped, rebuilt, and finally replaced. The creak remained.

 

After a lengthy process of WTFing, that included checking the rear wheel, the seatpost, the headset, etc. etc. I found out that the creak was actually coming from the direct mount spider shifting when force was pushed through it. Tightened the mounting bolts and was A for away.

 

Maybe give that some investigation?

[Mike Bike]

Check the chainring bolts...

[BrandonF_]

I had direct mount cranks and had a moerse creak. I had the BB stripped, rebuilt, and finally replaced. The creak remained.

 

After a lengthy process of WTFing, that included checking the rear wheel, the seatpost, the headset, etc. etc. I found out that the creak was actually coming from the direct mount spider shifting when force was pushed through it. Tightened the mounting bolts and was A for away.

 

Maybe give that some investigation?

Thx Luke, have not done this yet, will definitely give it a try

[Tony datoy]

When my Giant starts creaking I remove the pedals and grease the pedals threaded shaft where they screw into the crank arm with a little copper slip. It seems to work for a few months.

T

[Paulst12]

_{That's a wave washer...do not get ride of it... your crank will not work the same without it.
Check everything else ... the washer is highly unlikely to be the cause of your problem}
 

[BaGearA]

Check that your cassette is busy eating your free hub , i was hopeless with my bb for 2 weeks before finding out it was my cassette scoring my freewheel

[Longbarn Killer]

Thx Larry

 

I've checked that already, and added a bit of grease to it as well.

 

Why I'm 100% certain that it came from the bb area, is when I, out of utter frustration, squirted some water on the bb drive side, and the noise instantly went away for at least 5km's up a hill

Check your saddle and seatpost for cracks and if all bolts are tight enough. The reason the noise went away up the hill is because you were probably standing whilst pedalling.

[Longbarn Killer]

S

[BrandonF_]

Check your saddle and seatpost for cracks and if all bolts are tight enough. The reason the noise went away up the hill is because you were probably standing whilst pedalling.

Thx LB, I will check all bolts, thx for the heads up. I did check tho, at various gear positions, in and out the saddle. Excessive creaking are only noticed when sitting pedalling.

[BrandonF_]

_{That's a wave washer...do not get ride of it... your crank will not work the same without it.}

Check everything else ... the washer is highly unlikely to be the cause of your problem

 

Thx Paul,

 

What is the purpose for this "wave washer" on the drive side?

 

I planned riding without it tomorrow morning, hopefully to eliminate it as a "possible cause", but you got me worried now!

[Martin PJ]

Yes, handle bar on stem, Seatpost, BB, Headset, Pedal threads, Cassette on free hub. Clean and light grease wherever metal touches metal. If that doesn't work, then something is cracked somewhere. Try ride with someone else's wheels on your bike to narrow it down to wheels or frame.

[Garry64]

Do you perhaps hava an extra waterbottle holder mounted on your seatpost?I struggled for a while to find a creak that only appeared when sitting peddaling hard on an uphill. Ended up being the clamps for the extra waterbottle holder on the seatpost - moved them higher a couple of mm's and all is sorted.

[BrandonF_]

Yes, handle bar on stem, Seatpost, BB, Headset, Pedal threads, Cassette on free hub. Clean and light grease wherever metal touches metal. If that doesn't work, then something is cracked somewhere. Try ride with someone else's wheels on your bike to narrow it down to wheels or frame.

Thx Martin,

 

I do however believe, it comes from the bb area,..as, like mentioned before, on my ride Sunday morning, and a horrid creaking noise flared up from this area, I squirted some water from my bottle, onto the drive side of the bb/crank, and no noise for +-10-15mins