Creaking bike, loud.

[Neil Mc]

Hi Hubbers, 

thought I would post this as I have spent a lot of time trying to solve the issue. i have a trek superfly (carbon) softail, and it has been creaking, and not just creaking but creaking so loud that people comment during races lol Anyway last year April the bike was making a hug creaking noise during the emperors challenge, I sent it in and the noise lessened for a few months then started again, just to give you some detail the creak is as follows: sounds as loud as a cell phone ringtone (pretty loud), and Creaks during the full pedal stroke, no matter which pedal you are applying pressure too, its not as bad when not pedaling hard, however it can still be heard, the noise is there when I am sitting or standing, the noise can not be replicated by merely bouncing on the suspension, and there is no noises when pressing one pedal towards the frame and then doing the same to the other side. I serviced the bottom bearings as i assumed this was the problem, noise was there next ride, I sent it in to cycle east LBS (who I must recommend as being awesome) and they replaced the bottom bearings, the noise was gone for a couple of rides and returned, the LBS stripped and re-lubed, and I tried again and still creaked, they stripped and lubed again, and added spacers to the pedals, the bike was still creaking, I decided to take it into my own hands, I removed cassette and cleaned, I removed freehub and serviced the cartridge bearings and lubed the pawls, i serviced the rear hub cartridge bearings, I removed and lubed the drop-outs and lubed the derailleur hanger, I also serviced the cartridge bearings on the rear chainstay (if thats what it's called), and went for a ride, and the bike creaked after 15km's, next I removed the rear triangle / chainstay, and serviced the bearings, I removed the suspension pivot and serviced all the cartridge bearings, including the shock mounting holes. I then removed my XX crank and replaced with an XO crank, and swapped the pedals for other pedals, I also re-lubed pedals, crank and crank arms, chainring bolts, cleats and the holes where the screw fasteners into, I also cleaned and lubed the seat-post and clamp. NB this noise is not the noise of spokes pinging, so I did not lube those. Anyway long story short, I go for a ride and after 20km's it starts creaking again :-( so before the bike goes into Trek to sort it out, I thought I would try one last thing, and yes its madness but I am losing it by now!!! I turn the bike upside down and remove both wheels, I then empty around 2 cups of cooking oil into hole next to the BB, I believe this is a drainage hole, I move the frame around trying to ensure the oil gets into all areas of the frame, yep I know its not good for the bearings etc, but I'd had enough, anyway it dripped out from the head, and from the crank sides, I emptied the oil back out and let it drip from the drainage hole till it stopped.

Long story short the bike was silent when I went for a ride, felt like a completely different bike, I did a 50km run and no noise at all. yes I did not fix the problem but I did provide a solution to stop the noise, if you have a creaking Trek, you'll know what i'm talking about... i'm not saying you should follow suit, but if your desperate then perhaps its an option to try, NB do not leave wheels on the bike as the brake pads will be buggered if you get oil on them!!! NB you will need to wipe the bike down with some tissue or something absorbent once finished...

[HowardSteele]

Well done ..lets hope its sorted ...i swear bikes creak just to tease their owners.

[Formallyknownas]

A softtail? Doubt it.

[ichnusa]

Press fit BB?

[Mamil]

If that bike creaks anytime soon i reckon we might need to send the men in white coats over to your place cos it might just push you over the edge!

[Boerklong]

Buy my frame. It creaks less

[MphatiPyga]

I did a 50km run and no noise at all.

 

Yup I see what you did there, if your bike creaks go for a run ???? And a 50om run would be a trek for me

[David Marshall]

Some of the Superflys - I think 2010 and 2011 - had BB bearings fitting into carbon cups in the frame.  These cups "expanded" over time and caused all sorts of noises.  Trek brought out oversized bearings  and eventually replaced the frames for original purchasers.  I have had the BB shell of a frame rebuilt successfully.

 

Whatever the cause I doubt that the oil will be a permanent solution.

[Rock-Hopper]

Hi Hubbers, 

thought I would post this as I have spent a lot of time trying to solve the issue. i have a trek superfly (carbon) softail, and it has been creaking, and not just creaking but creaking so loud that people comment during races lol Anyway last year April the bike was making a hug creaking noise during the emperors challenge, I sent it in and the noise lessened for a few months then started again, just to give you some detail the creak is as follows: sounds as loud as a cell phone ringtone (pretty loud), and Creaks during the full pedal stroke, no matter which pedal you are applying pressure too, its not as bad when not pedaling hard, however it can still be heard, the noise is there when I am sitting or standing, the noise can not be replicated by merely bouncing on the suspension, and there is no noises when pressing one pedal towards the frame and then doing the same to the other side. I serviced the bottom bearings as i assumed this was the problem, noise was there next ride, I sent it in to cycle east LBS (who I must recommend as being awesome) and they replaced the bottom bearings, the noise was gone for a couple of rides and returned, the LBS stripped and re-lubed, and I tried again and still creaked, they stripped and lubed again, and added spacers to the pedals, the bike was still creaking, I decided to take it into my own hands, I removed cassette and cleaned, I removed freehub and serviced the cartridge bearings and lubed the pawls, i serviced the rear hub cartridge bearings, I removed and lubed the drop-outs and lubed the derailleur hanger, I also serviced the cartridge bearings on the rear chainstay (if thats what it's called), and went for a ride, and the bike creaked after 15km's, next I removed the rear triangle / chainstay, and serviced the bearings, I removed the suspension pivot and serviced all the cartridge bearings, including the shock mounting holes. I then removed my XX crank and replaced with an XO crank, and swapped the pedals for other pedals, I also re-lubed pedals, crank and crank arms, chainring bolts, cleats and the holes where the screw fasteners into, I also cleaned and lubed the seat-post and clamp. NB this noise is not the noise of spokes pinging, so I did not lube those. Anyway long story short, I go for a ride and after 20km's it starts creaking again :-( so before the bike goes into Trek to sort it out, I thought I would try one last thing, and yes its madness but I am losing it by now!!! I turn the bike upside down and remove both wheels, I then empty around 2 cups of cooking oil into hole next to the BB, I believe this is a drainage hole, I move the frame around trying to ensure the oil gets into all areas of the frame, yep I know its not good for the bearings etc, but I'd had enough, anyway it dripped out from the head, and from the crank sides, I emptied the oil back out and let it drip from the drainage hole till it stopped.

Long story short the bike was silent when I went for a ride, felt like a completely different bike, I did a 50km run and no noise at all. yes I did not fix the problem but I did provide a solution to stop the noise, if you have a creaking Trek, you'll know what i'm talking about... i'm not saying you should follow suit, but if your desperate then perhaps its an option to try, NB do not leave wheels on the bike as the brake pads will be buggered if you get oil on them!!! NB you will need to wipe the bike down with some tissue or something absorbent once finished...

Hi Neil,

Just posted on the same topic, I like totally relate to your frustration. Don't know too much about carbon frames but found a hair-line crack on an old bike I had 5yrs ago that creaked on the alu seat post housing. I'm sure you've checked your frame for cracks. I'm tempted to try your "cooking oil" quick-fix solution to stop drawing attention to myself.    

[Neil Mc]

Yep press fit BB, The BB fits direct into the frame, they recognised the problem with frames wearing and new frames get a shim. yes their is an oversize bearing 0.1 bigger, the LBS tried to fit it but the frame was not worn and forcing it in was not an option.. the frame does not have a crack, well at least not one that creaks when you push on the BB and frame flexes..

 

softail doubt it?

Its the Trek superfly pro 100 sl...Full suspension 9.8kg's :-)

 

Yep, the oil is not permanent, but i'll take anything I can get!!! 

[Dazshell]

I would agree with the thoughts that this is BB bearing related.  My experience with my Merida Scultura with pressfit BB30 was similar except instead of a creaking sound, I had a CRACKING sound.  Sounded like gun shots and as if the bike was about to explode and the noise always seemed to come from somewhere else!  We tried everything, lubing seatpost, stem, pedals, blah, blah.  Eventually put in a third set of good quality bearings and problem solved.

 

Good luck.

 

Edited typo.

[i24]

My approach to unidentified noises coming from a bicycle is to ignore them until they either go away, or they get worse and the problem becomes obvious. If nothing breaks or stops working and you still can't tell where the noise is coming from then it probably is not too important. Just ride it for another week or two then check it again.   

 

If the oil made the noise go away, it implies some defect in the structure of the frame. Maybe near the bottom bracket. The trouble is now, if you find what is broken and you want to get the frame fixed, the repairer is going to have to "dry up" all of the oil that has soaked into the carbon in the repair zone, before he can glue it or paint it. That won't make you popular.

[BaGearA]

Wheels mfg or praxxis self pressing bb cups

 

Get these . They are quite pricey but creaking due to the bottom bracket disappear. Once it is in it stay in forever so you also wont be scrapping off carbon everytime the bearings need replacing.

[Neil Mc]

Thanks Dazshell, more expensive BB's may be an option I should explore.

 

@i24 I agree with regards to letting it get louder to pin point the noise, similarly process of elimination can also speed things up, ie change wheels out and noise goes then you know to review the parts of the wheel etc, hence why I swapped the crank out. nothing seemed to hit on the problem, ie washing out the BB's and re-greasing should have resulted in the creak staying away for at least a few rides, however half a day and it was back, my own opinion is that the noise and feeling in the feet is that the BB is moving a micron within the frame, causing the noise, but again the BB's been replaced twice and re-greased another two times, with very little improvement :-( the oil was a last ditch resort to try and deduce if this was frame / head / BB / Crack / crank etc, I basically removed the issue as being related to spokes, or hub bearings, or free-hub, or derailleur, or jockey wheels etc etc, it's not a great scenario but it does help me narrow down the problem, I may just be getting some internal cable rub, which the oil sorted, it could be an internal crack and oil in the crack would prob not be good at all, but i'm fairly confident in the frame and that its in perfect condition. Will see what the future holds :-) will it creak again, if so I will try and use the oil and lube only the BB area, if this works then it rely does imply that the bearings are moving.. we live and learn...Hopefully it was just something inside that needed a tiny spot of lube and the noise is gone for some time!!! 

[Neil Mc]

Thanks BaGearA ill check them out, I also saw some enduro BB which fits into a Press fit BB, not sure if it would work on my BB, which is BB95 I think.

[Neil Mc]

Thks BAGearA that looks like a nice threaded BB, removes the play that independent bearings have, looks like they only do BB30 and spez, but ill contact them to see what they have :-) 

I never had a days problem with Shimano external BB's !!! But that's unfair, it could still be something other than the BB :-/