Bottom Bracket Noise

[AlanFD]

Okay, Shimano bottom brackets 2 , in one week, FSA Gossamer Crankset 1 year old, Shimano Ultegra new chain, Shimano Ultegra pedals, 3 months, new cleats 1 week old and its not the seat post, because standing in the pedals the noise remains constant.

The bike is a FELT F75, 1 year old. The problem is an annoying creaking noise coming from the mainly left side of the bottom bracket area when under pressure. The noise does not start immediately, but makes an appearance after about 6 to 10 miles. My local LBS is just as puzzled, and the owner of the store was out on a ride with us today, so he got to hear it first hand.

I think this all started a little time back, I was cycling with the group when all of a sudden I heard this load crack, but not all the time, and never thought nothing much of it, there was no other noise associated with it, but on subsequent rides the load crack became more frequent. It then dissappeared, and then the creaking started.

After a ride earlier this week I took the bike in to the LBS while it was still making the noise. They narrowed it down to the BB area. The mechanic, while the bike was stationary applied pressure on the left crank arm and it creaked. He eliminated the noise coming from the pedal, by standing on the crank arm and applying the same pressure to get the same result. They replaced the bottom bracket again and serviced all the associated area, clean, lubricate, etc.

I cannot see evidence of any crack in the BB housing or adjacent area. Has anyone had the same problem?

 

[Xsmoker]

Does the LOUD crack happen while pedaling or when the crank first rotates?

I ask because the crack might not be related to the creak. The crack might be a faulty free hub (failing to engage properly), at least, that's what my crack was. The creak could be eliminated by using teflon tape when assembling the BB. Just my 2 ¢

 

[xxamr_corpxx]

Have you tried changing your pedals or cranks? Often it's hard to distinguish where exactly the noise is coming from.

 

[gclark8]

Alan,

If you run an all Shimano Drive Train it should be OK.

However I did have a noisy one here on Saturday, the client may decide to install a square drive BB and Crankset.

 

[Albert 50]

Check for cracks at the rear dropout. You need to remove the wheel & maybe [if your bike has one] the derailleur claw. Twas my problem, similar story, particularly putting side pressure to the pedal

 

[AlanFD]

Also as a last resort I've sent the problem through to FELT to see what they can advise. I'm thinking seriously of replacing FSA with all Shimano, I have read some horror stories about the FSA Gossamer crankset. I have checked the bike completely, but I'm not sure if it is a hairline crack that only starts when the bike is "warmed" up how to check it out. It certainly is more on the left side of the BB area.

Thanks to you all, I appreciate your input.

 

[AlanFD]

Check for cracks at the rear dropout. You need to remove the wheel & maybe [if your bike has one] the derailleur claw. Twas my problem, similar story, particularly putting side pressure to the pedal

I found the source of the noise. It was a small 3mm screw on the rear wheel dropout was loose, and the one on the right was also slightly loose, but since I have had it tightened up, sheer bliss and silence.

I done a 63 mile ride this weekend and not a peep. I'll put this one down to experience.

I hope this info is of some help to other BB noise suffers.

 

[Steezlo]

I found the source of the noise. It was a small 3mm screw on the rear wheel dropout was loose, and the one on the right was also slightly loose, but since I have had it tightened up, sheer bliss and silence.

I done a 63 mile ride this weekend and not a peep. I'll put this one down to experience.

I hope this info is of some help to other BB noise suffers.

I definitely need to check this part of the bike on mine, it has a "creaking" noise during the down stroke under a load. I'll check this out and see if this is my issue as well.

 

[artemidorus]

The first rule of "BB" noise is that it is usually not the BB. That has been my experience, in any case.

 

[Peter@vecchios]

I found the source of the noise. It was a small 3mm screw on the rear wheel dropout was loose, and the one on the right was also slightly loose, but since I have had it tightened up, sheer bliss and silence.

I done a 63 mile ride this weekend and not a peep. I'll put this one down to experience.

I hope this info is of some help to other BB noise suffers.

Shows that most 'BB noise' is not the BB.

 

[PeterF]

I found the source of the noise. It was a small 3mm screw on the rear wheel dropout was loose, and the one on the right was also slightly loose, but since I have had it tightened up, sheer bliss and silence.

I done a 63 mile ride this weekend and not a peep. I'll put this one down to experience.

I hope this info is of some help to other BB noise suffers.

Where these the screws for you derailleur hanger? I am curently experiencing a click when I stand and pedal my CAAD8 (Record 10, square taper BB). I had this problem last year, and tried everything from swapping pedals, removing/cleaning/greasing chainring and crank bolts etc. It didn't go away until I removed the bb and scraped off the loctite blue I used originally and re-lubed with an anti-seize grease from Park. It was dead silent all winter, but the click just came back. I may still have some loctite on the bb threads, so I may try and remove the bb again, but I would like to avoid this if at all possible. I should check my derailleur screws. It almost feels like the click might be coming from the rear (no cracks that I can see), but a thin-waled aluminum frame is essentially an echo-chamber so it really could be from anywhere. It's more of a click than a creak though, this time.

 

[dhk2]

I found the source of the noise. It was a small 3mm screw on the rear wheel dropout was loose, and the one on the right was also slightly loose, but since I have had it tightened up, sheer bliss and silence.

I done a 63 mile ride this weekend and not a peep. I'll put this one down to experience.

I hope this info is of some help to other BB noise suffers.

It is great to find and fix a noise. I had a similar "tick" which occurred once per pedal rev under fairly heavy load which turned out to be corrosion under the head of one of the rear dropout screws. Spent hours looking for the source over a period of months. The static testing you described was the way I finally found my ticking noise. Pushed hard alternately on the pedals to flex the frame while touching various parts of the bike. When I touched the offending rear dropout, the tick could be felt clearly.

Fix was to remove the paint and screw, clean it up and reinstall with plenty of grease. Now, I just check and re-grease each screw once a year...it only takes five minutes. Suppose a steel screw with aluminum dropouts is never a great combination, particularly when "sealed" with paint.

 

[Peter@vecchios]

It is great to find and fix a noise. I had a similar "tick" which occurred once per pedal rev under fairly heavy load which turned out to be corrosion under the head of one of the rear dropout screws. Spent hours looking for the source over a period of months. The static testing you described was the way I finally found my ticking noise. Pushed hard alternately on the pedals to flex the frame while touching various parts of the bike. When I touched the offending rear dropout, the tick could be felt clearly.

Fix was to remove the paint and screw, clean it up and reinstall with plenty of grease. Now, I just check and re-grease each screw once a year...it only takes five minutes. Suppose a steel screw with aluminum dropouts is never a great combination, particularly when "sealed" with paint.

Once had a 'click', could not find it but only heard it on cold days. Took the bike apart, back together, rode on a warmish day, noise gone-Hooray BUT cool day, noise back.....


It was a zipper clicking on the jacket I used on cool/cold days...

 

[bigpedaler]

Had my own click going, mainly when I would mash hard or stand on the pedals. Knew it wasn't the BB, but maybe the chainring bolts...? Checked, tight as a drum. Pedals? Nope, solid.

It was the derailleur hanger, the frame attachment bolt was loose! No more clicks or cracks for me!

 

[PeterF]

Had my own click going, mainly when I would mash hard or stand on the pedals. Knew it wasn't the BB, but maybe the chainring bolts...? Checked, tight as a drum. Pedals? Nope, solid.

It was the derailleur hanger, the frame attachment bolt was loose! No more clicks or cracks for me!

Mine weren't super tight, so I greased and tightened last night. Still clicking. If this makes any sense, the click isn't there when I'm really mashing (like going up a hill in a too-big gear from a dead stop while standing), but it's there when i'm standing along the flats and swinging the bike side to side. It appears to be two clicks per revolution. My bike is scheduled for a bit of work anyway (stripping everything and regreasing) after a hard winter, so maybe just cleaning all the threads and putting some fresh grease will do the trick (including stem bolts, cages, derailleurs, brake bolts etc).

 

[garage sale GT]

I had a click in an spd cleat a few times. I put loctite on the screws. Just a thought for anyone reading this thread.

 

[PeterF]

My click turned out to be the bb. I removed it tonight and found the threads to be pretty dry, so I must have gone a little light on the anti-seize last time. Plus there was a little bit of residual loctite blue from a previous installation which is like didn't help matters. Regardless, I removed the bb, cleaned all the threads thoroughly, added a generous amount of anti-seize compound/lube, took the bike for a spin. Dead silent... Thank goodness, a noisy bb is like slow death..

The whole task took about 20 minutes. If I have to do this annually, i can live with that.