Bottom bracket clicking/creaking. How much to fix?

I would take it to a good bike shop to have them look at
it....might not be a big thing, but it could be. A good
wrench should be able to throw it into a work stand and
evaluate fairly quickly. Greater possibility of it being
serious if you have not had it worked on since it was
new...could be bottom bracket...could be loose chainring
bolts...could be the bottom bracket shell... might be solved
with a little lock-tite or a few turns of a wrench. It's
better to find out now than when to wait and chance losing
the bottom bracket or crank or frame....That silly old
thing...a stitch in time saves nine.....

Hope it's nothing serious! Cheers! ie

"Mark Mitchell" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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I noticed approx 100mi ago that I'd get a click from my BB
as the left crank passed through the 11-10 o'clock
position. I didn't think too much of it as I thought that
the sound was actually my shoelaces hitting the frame.
(Most of my riding is done in very quiet conditions)

I was wrong, it's gotten a bit worse. Now it's more like a
2-3 clicks close together, or a very small creak.

The bike is a late 90's Trek 6000. (don't remember the
exact year I

bought

Quoted message said:

it)

My questions. This is probably the BB, right?

I don't have the tools (or knowledge) to replace it
myself, how cheaply

can

Quoted message said:

I hope to get away with at LBS? (I only have one in
reasonable driving distance)

Assuming it is a BB, how long can I let this go before I
do expensive damage?

Thanks, Mark

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Mark Mitchell said:

I noticed approx 100mi ago that I'd get a click from my BB
as the left crank passed through the 11-10 o'clock
position.

...

Quoted message said:

I was wrong, it's gotten a bit worse. Now it's more like a
2-3 clicks close together, or a very small creak.

The bike is a late 90's Trek 6000. (

Aluminum frame? If so, it may just need the BB pulled out,
threads greased, and reinstalled. Cheap. The cranks have to
come off first, and that's a good opportunity for an
experienced shop mechanic to inspect the components for
cracks or other problems.

It could be anything from loose chainring bolts to a cracked
frame, though. If you are overdue for a tune-up, now would
be a good time to get one. A decent LBS will be likely to
include the bottom bracket removal/replacement in the deal
if you make sure to ask for it.

Chalo Colina

Mark Mitchell said:

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I noticed approx 100mi ago that I'd get a click from my BB
as the left crank passed through the 11-10 o'clock
position. I didn't think too much of it as I thought that
the sound was actually my shoelaces hitting the frame.
(Most of my riding is done in very quiet conditions)

I was wrong, it's gotten a bit worse. Now it's more like a
2-3 clicks close together, or a very small creak.

Another possibility to consider is the pedal. I had a
similar sound at about the same point in crank rotation.
Eventually, I tightened the left pedal to the crank arm.
Click went away.

- Dave

I'll second the pedal possibility. I had the same thing
happen on two sets of pedals before I went out and bought
some high end pedals. Give the pedals a wiggle to see if
there is any play in the bearings.

--

Paul Ricklefs

"Dave Pushee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mark Mitchell said:

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Hash: SHA1

I noticed approx 100mi ago that I'd get a click from my BB as the left
crank passed through the 11-10 o'clock position. I didn't think too

much

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of it as I thought that the sound was actually my shoelaces hitting the
frame. (Most of my riding is done in very quiet conditions)

I was wrong, it's gotten a bit worse. Now it's more like a 2-3 clicks
close together, or a very small creak.

Another possibility to consider is the pedal. I had a similar sound at
about the same point in crank rotation. Eventually, I tightened the
left pedal to the crank arm. Click went away.

- Dave

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Hash: SHA1

Chalo said:

Mark Mitchell said:

I noticed approx 100mi ago that I'd get a click from my
BB as the left crank passed through the 11-10 o'clock
position.

...

Quoted message said:

I was wrong, it's gotten a bit worse. Now it's more like
a 2-3 clicks close together, or a very small creak.

The bike is a late 90's Trek 6000. (

Aluminum frame? If so, it may just need the BB pulled out,
threads greased, and reinstalled. Cheap. The cranks have
to come off first, and that's a good opportunity for an
experienced shop mechanic to inspect the components for
cracks or other problems.

It could be anything from loose chainring bolts to a
cracked frame, though. If you are overdue for a tune-up,
now would be a good time to get one. A decent LBS will be
likely to include the bottom bracket removal/replacement
in the deal if you make sure to ask for it.

I must admit that I've neglected this bike. I've put (at a
guess) 2000 miles on this bike and never done any work other
than patching tubes, replaced brake blocks and tires.

I broke the chain and cleaned the bike up today. Two of
the four chainring bolts were somewhat loose. Also there
is a kind of shield thing between the smallest chainring
and the frame. When I cleaned, I found a small rock wedged
between this and the chainstay. Don't know if that could
have cause my noise.

Mark

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On 2004-07-09, Dave Pushee <[email hidden]-

not.net said:

Mark Mitchell said:

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I noticed approx 100mi ago that I'd get a click from my
BB as the left crank passed through the 11-10 o'clock
position. I didn't think too much of it as I thought that
the sound was actually my shoelaces hitting the frame.
(Most of my riding is done in very quiet conditions)

I was wrong, it's gotten a bit worse. Now it's more like
a 2-3 clicks close together, or a very small creak.

Another possibility to consider is the pedal. I had a
similar sound at about the same point in crank rotation.
Eventually, I tightened the left pedal to the crank arm.
Click went away.

- Dave

On your advice I checked that, tight.

Mark

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Sat, 10 Jul 2004 01:40:50 GMT,
<[email hidden]>, Mark Mitchell

Quoted message said:

Two of the four chainring bolts were somewhat loose.

"creak"

Quoted message said:

Also there is a kind of shield thing between the smallest
chainring and the frame. When I cleaned, I found a small
rock wedged between this and the chainstay.

"click"

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