creaking crank

[Kocsis]

I have a new bike, with less than 100 mi. It's a custom bike with Campy Record components. I seem to notice that when I pedal hard, I hear a creak around the pedals and crank. Any suggestions as to source or cause? It's not the derailleur adjustment...

 

[jlance83]

The bottom bracket or something in the bottom bracket must be loose.

Or the bolts on the chainrings might need some more grease. They dont put much on in the factory. And that causes a creaking noise if theres isnt enough grease or if they are a bit loose.

 

[capwater]

New stuff needs to be tightened up.

Check:
bottom bracket
crank bolts
chainring bolts
pedals
cleats

 

[PeterF]

New stuff needs to be tightened up.

Check:
bottom bracket
crank bolts
chainring bolts
pedals
cleats

I have the same cranks and when this occured I removed the chainring bolts, and re-greased them. Be carefull tightening them though. The alloy bolts can snap.

 

[Rich B]

Thanks for posting the question. I did seventy miles on my new Chorus groupset this weekend and had exactly the same problem. It had almost driven me mad by the time I got home. I'll try the above.

 

[dm69]

campy stuff has a rep for doing that kind of thing, my advice go shimano, go f.s.a, don't worry about it, try and unscrew and rescrew everything in the cranks/bbDont get me wrong campy record is sweet stuff but there cranks scare me a little as well as there shifting setup (my fingers prefer shimano). Second opinion on campy, I believe everything except for the frame and forks should be aluminium or titanium you need stiffness where you need it and you need give where you need it .

 

[Fox Farm]

I have a new bike, with less than 100 mi. It's a custom bike with Campy Record components. I seem to notice that when I pedal hard, I hear a creak around the pedals and crank. Any suggestions as to source or cause? It's not the derailleur adjustment...

Some months ago, some one else asked about this. I responded by explaining how to use some teflon pipe thread paste on the outside of the sealed bearing housings on the bottom bracket prior to installation. Check in archives or email the guys at Branford Bikes and they will explain it in detail too. I have not had any creaks, pops, or pings after following their directions. I also put some Phil on the bottom bracket axel spindle taper prior to installing the crank and crank arms. The point made about putting some on the threads of the bolt that holds the arms onto the axel is also correct. If you still have problems after all of this, it could be coming from pedals, cleats or stem/headset.

 

[litespeedguy]

I had this issue several months ago - Chorus BB - Record is designed the same - tried everything - what finally worked was a remedy my mechanic discovered and shared - you remove the BB ( i.e. the sealed bearing) and you'll see 2 press fit cups on each side - slide the cups off & smear a thin layer of Loctite 660 ( it's an epoxy resin that sells for roughly $30 a tube) on each bearing surface where those cups use to be - now slide the cups back on reassemble everything and don't ride for 24 hours - the resin needs curing time.

The problem with Teflon cream is that it wears off - in the future if you ever need to remove those cups you may need to hit them slightly to break the Loctite seal but it's not a big deal.

And the reason you hear a creaking sound stems from movement between the bearing and the cups when you're torqueing the spindles.

But this remedy should be a last resort when everything else fails & you still hear the creak - for example, the creak may go away when you tighten the cranks.