Creaking frame? or Creaking BB?

[mattador]

Hi

 

 

 

The bike concerned is a carbon-framed, scott genius.

 

 

 

With every pedal stroke a creaking or clicking sound (not too sure how to describe it best) comes from the frame in general. There is no way to isolate where the sound comes from because the carbon resonates so well. This noise is pretty loud and very irritating

 

 

 

The problem has nothing to do with the suspension triangle. This is for sure because no clicks/creaks are heard when just the suspension is working.

 

 

 

if I put pressure on the BB by squeezing it against the frame with my hand the noise is made.

 

 

 

Is this a BB problem and will a simple lube up of the BB setup fix this? I'm worried that this may be a frame problem but there are no visible cracks in the carbon.

 

 

 

Thanks, Matt

[CaptainDura]

Take the bike to your lbs (or if you can do it yourself even better) for a good cleaning of the bb. sometimes a little dirt can get in there and make the noises. have them clean and grease the thing properly.

It could also be one or both of your bearings in the bb. while its open for the cleaning above inspect the bearings for wear as well.

 

Sometimes your headset can be the problem and often it sounds as if it is your bb.  when standing or climbing in the saddle a fair amount of pressure is exerted on your handlebar with the side to side motion of your body. this can sometimes cause the headset to creak as well and very often sounds like the bb as it coincides with each downstroke. have that cleaned and greased as well.

 

good luck.

 

 

[Nuffy]

I'd say also check the crank/BB interface. If there is a little bit of play there it could also make a noise. If you've done some riding with play in it, it could wear badly and cause constant problems.

 

Check that everything is tight and clean, as CaptainDura says.

 

One of my old bikes made a lot of noise from the BB, and I was told it was the aluminium crank bonding to the BB axle. The noise eventually stopped, but then I couldn't get the crank off. A little thread tape around the axle should fix this, but just check that it stays tight once you ride it again. You can usually see marks on the axle if it has started to bond to the crank.

 

I wouldn't panic about the frame just yet. I think bottom bracket noise is pretty common, and if you check it early and make sure that everything is clean, well greased, and nice and tight, I doubt you'll have major long-term problems.

 

Good luck.

 

[Sean Badenhorst]

Tighten your chainring bolts. 

[TNT1]

 

Tighten your chainring bolts. 

 

Yip... Had the same thing on the Prince once... drove me nuts till I tightened these...

 

[Dirtbreath]

Another possible culprit is the pedal joining the crank. Probably unlikely if you can hear it by pushing the crank but is often the first noise when you are pedaling.

[Velouria]

 

Tighten your chainring bolts. 

 

Why all the good advice now after I spent a week trying to figure this out...

 

[Guest Michelle]

Jason had the same problem & it turned out to be his wheel   I read something about it on the internet, he swopped the wheel, put pressure on the BB, and it didn't make the noise.   You could have sworn it was coming from the frame/BB.  He had the wheel trued, problem solved.

[Johan Bornman]

Most carbon frames have aluminium thread inserts in the BB shell. Combine this with an aluminium BB shell and you have creaks and clicks. Alu on alu is probably the worse combination there is - noisewise as well as for freezing and seizing on itself.

The smallest amount of dirt in those threads cause an irritating click with each pedal stroke. Clean the BB out, liberally smear the threads with Copper compound and refit. Alternatively, use plumbers teflon tape instead of copper compound.

 

Unfortunately it is not a permanent fix. It could come back as early as your next bike wash or dusty ride.

 

 

 

[Wyatt Earp]

When last were the pivot bearings done ?

[mattador]

It turned out to be the BB.

 

 

 

I did the copper compound version of what Mr Bornman suggested and it worked - so all thanks to you

 

 

 

But it DID come back when we were riding in the Drakensburg on holiday this past week and the only thing I could think to do was spray "Whinns No 5" lube on the thing and that worked too.

 

 

 

That is obviously going to stop working again soon so I will be re-doing the BB with the plumbers tape idea tomorrow and I'll hope for a more perminant fix.

 

 

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was so worried that the frame was shot! This carbon technology is still new to me and I am very wary of it.

 

 

[SeanMort]

I have the same problem on my Scott MC-50 [Alu frame]. I've checked the frame and suspension for cracks etc but find nothing that's visible. I'll get the BB checked out when I get it put together again [it's still in a packing box after my move to Cape Town, and the road is my focus for the DC].

[JasonW]

I had the same problem and it turned out to be a broken pivot bolt on the bottom pivot. It also only happended when I put pressure through the pedals.

[Goodbadugly]

 My SUPER irritating creak came from the seatpost. It creaked even when I was standing on the Blur XC. It stopped after I greased the seatpost.

[sPeEdY]

Mine was the headset, the bearings was shot and then replaced. It is much better now but at really hard pedaling the BB makes a click click sound, dunno.