# giant defy 1 creaking



## Chris1972 (5 Feb 2014)

After hearing a creaking noise on my giant defy what I thought was a bottom bracket problem after full strip down and rebuilt turned out to be the two bolts witch attach the rear derailleur to the frame not tight enough problem solved posting this as there are a few posts online with same problems hope this can help someone


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## Banjo (5 Feb 2014)

Amazing how hardit is to work out where a creak is coming from. On my Scott cleaning and greasing the seat post and inside the seat tube cures it. The creak never sounds like its coming from that area though.


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## DiddlyDodds (8 Feb 2014)

I was 100% i had a creak from the bottombracket, my local LBS said no it will be the hub in the back wheel, and so i changed the wheel , and low and behold it was gone.
As Banjo and Chris say , bikes have a strange way of transferring the sound to different points just to confuse the rider.


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## downfader (8 Feb 2014)

Had an annoying creak for ages on my Kinesis. Did an "M" check, no frame cracks, hubs and BB fine. Pedals fine.. check the bolts - all tight. It was really bugging me on friday riding home so I stopped and did another M check. Still couldnt find anything broken or loose. Rode another 2 miles and suddenly had a brainwave - no good checking the bike if you dont pull the mudguards about too. Turns out the clamp that holds the SKS guards at the top had become a little loose and the vibration/friction is creating the squeaks.


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## John Edmondson (6 Jun 2014)

Chris1972 said:


> After hearing a creaking noise on my giant defy what I thought was a bottom bracket problem after full strip down and rebuilt turned out to be the two bolts witch attach the rear derailleur to the frame not tight enough problem solved posting this as there are a few posts online with same problems hope this can help someone


You my friend are a legend. I just finished stripping greasing my BB to no avail. The creak has been pecking my head in and i was just about start looking for a replacement BB until I read you post. Sorted. Thank You for posting


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## mrbikerboy73 (7 Jun 2014)

Chris1972 said:


> After hearing a creaking noise on my giant defy what I thought was a bottom bracket problem after full strip down and rebuilt turned out to be the two bolts witch attach the rear derailleur to the frame not tight enough problem solved posting this as there are a few posts online with same problems hope this can help someone


This is interesting as I had the 2 screws that attach the deralleur hangar to the frame come loose on my Defy 1 after just 500 miles. No creaking but I discovered it when cleaning it one day.


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## John Edmondson (7 Jun 2014)

mrbikerboy73 said:


> This is interesting as I had the 2 screws that attach the deralleur hangar to the frame come loose on my Defy 1 after just 500 miles. No creaking but I discovered it when cleaning it one day.


In my case it was the the large, singular bolt which attaches the derailleur to the hanger rather than the two tiny bolts attaching the hanger to the frame. This made sense as despite constant adjusting I could never get my shifting sweet... 

Incidentally, the two tiny frame bolts you talk of are really very small with star shaped heads. More like something you'd see on an electrical circuit board than a bike?!


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## maltloaf (11 Jun 2014)

I had a very similar creak which I was convinced was bottom bracket or pedals and it turned out almost the same problem as the op's one. Clack clack clack whilst pedalling along but I couldn't feel anything in any of the bearings. Did my head in for a fortnight, greased everything and even changed the saddle !

My derailleur hanger had come loose from the frame, only by a tiny amount, I could just see it moving when pulling on the crank arms with the bike bolted to my turbo. 5mm Allen key and a big heave and no more clicking.


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## bpsmith (11 Jun 2014)

I have a Defy 1 and have a creak when putting load on the bike. Just looking online for dust cover tool to remove the crank and clean and grease it up and thought I would do a quick search on here first. Cheers for the post, will check out the hanger later. Its a creak when putting power down and mostly on drive side, but you can never tell exactly where its coming from!

Was going to try seatpost and pedals, followed by the crank. Would probably have been a long way down the list before I checked the rear mech hanger.

Chain ring bolts is also something I have read could be the source.


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## Alexis Holwell (11 Jun 2014)

I can't wait to get home tonight to check if this is the source of my creaking. I was convinced it was coming from the front end of my bike (forks, bars etc) but I've greased up everything including the BB, cranks, pedals, cleats, saddle, seat post but that persistant creaking is still there when I'm climbing hills.

I also noticed last week that one of those 2 tiny frame bolts that attach the rear derailleur has gone missing. The other was loose so it's now been tightened. Does anyone know what size these are and where I could get a couple of replacements from?


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## bpsmith (16 Jun 2014)

I investigated a little bit and found my front mech bracket was slightly loose. Crank bolts were solid though. I just replaced my wheels with new tyres and cassette too and now the creaking has gone. Who knows which item was the cause, but I could have sworn it was the crank. Happy days!


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## Stevo999 (22 Jun 2014)

I've just signed up here to say a MASSIVE THANKS to OP Chris1972... I thought I'd google my creaking issue before completely disassembling my bike and found this thread. Turns out one of the derailleur screws was loose and needed replacing ... Quick trip to my lbs and problem solved. It was driving me mental, not anymore! Thanks bro.


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## morrisman (23 Jun 2014)

Checked mine (Defy 2) after today's ride and they were loose as well, seems to have improved the slightly erratic changing/chain noise


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## Dezil (2 Sep 2014)

Chris1972 said:


> After hearing a creaking noise on my giant defy what I thought was a bottom bracket problem after full strip down and rebuilt turned out to be the two bolts witch attach the rear derailleur to the frame not tight enough problem solved posting this as there are a few posts online with same problems hope this can help someone



Hello sorry to be dim but where are the two bolts because I have same issue


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## Alexis Holwell (17 Sep 2014)

Dezil said:


> Hello sorry to be dim but where are the two bolts because I have same issue



They connect the rear derailleur hanger to the frame. The rear derailleur then connects to the hanger. There's 2 tiny little bolts holding the hanger in place. Thanks to this thread I noticed that one of mine had gone and the other was coming loose. 

Anyone know what size these are and where I can get replacements? Don't want to have to buy a new hanger just for the bolts.


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## Mugshot (17 Sep 2014)

Defy 2, checked, loose, tightened. We'll see on this afternoons commute if that sorts the creaking which was definitely, no doubt about it, with absolutely certainty coming from the head set..........which I couldn't sort out. Nice one @Chris1972


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## jefmcg (17 Sep 2014)

I lost the second of those tiny screws (hadn't noticed the creaking over the noise the mudguards made, I guess) in the long grass by the side of the road 184km into a 600km audax. 

Thanks to some clever fettling at a cycle shop, I did get back in the ride, but finished well out of time.


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## tony mould (30 Sep 2014)

jefmcg said:


> I lost the second of those tiny screws (hadn't noticed the creaking over the noise the mudguards made, I guess) in the long grass by the side of the road 184km into a 600km audax.
> 
> Thanks to some clever fettling at a cycle shop, I did get back in the ride, but finished well out of time.


I had one of these tiny screws come out and replaced, and have experienced bouts of creaking too. My LBS said that this was where the noise was coming from, and a tightening worked for a short time but is back when I get out of the saddle and put pressure on the pedals. These screws are not man enough for the job.


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## tony mould (25 Oct 2014)

Just an update on my lost post concerning the Giant Defy creaking noise. I have had my bottom bracket greased and skewers replaced with shimano, which apparently give a tighter fit than the stock Giant ones, these will offset any shortcomings that the tiny screws give. I have had no creaking since.


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## huwsparky (25 Oct 2014)

I have the same problem. I found those 2 little screws loose after my second journey on the bike from new.

I've also got a creaking noise so I guess I'll check those two bad boys first to see if they sort the problem.

They do seem inadequate for the job they are doing I have to say.


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## North (13 Sep 2015)

Stevo999 said:


> I've just signed up here to say a MASSIVE THANKS to OP Chris1972... I thought I'd google my creaking issue before completely disassembling my bike and found this thread. Turns out one of the derailleur screws was loose and needed replacing ... Quick trip to my lbs and problem solved. It was driving me mental, not anymore! Thanks bro.


I had the same issue. Thanks to this forum I checked and found that the 2 dérailleur screws were loose as well. A little loctite blue and I thought the problem was solved. After about 15 minutes of riding the tick returned. A giant rep said that it was important to ensure " the seat post had carbon grease on it that they'd had lots of complaints about noisy frames. Tried this and it seemed to fix it. The next week I had the wheels off my bike for cleaning and reinstalled as normal. Next ride after about 15-20 minutes the tick started again. I remembered my bike mechanic suggested tightening the wheel skewers a little more than I would normally tighten them. I re tightened the rear wheel skewer a little more and it solved the problem. I ink this must have to do with the frame geometry of the disc brake model.
In any event if you still have a noisy frame try tightening the rear wheel skewers. Pretty simple fix if it works for you


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## andytheflyer (14 Sep 2015)

@Alexis Holwell - they are M4, countersunk, just checked mine. You can buy a small quantity (steel or stainless) in the length you need here: http://www.modelfixings.co.uk/ht_metric_countersunks.htm

And mine were loose too!


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## Technaut (30 May 2016)

Hi - just signed up to say I had the same issue on a Giant Deft Advanced 1 (2015).

You would never think such a noise would come from 2 shitty screws.

Thanks to the OP and forum, would have taken a trip to LBS as I couldn't trace it.


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## Tiny01 (30 May 2016)

Thanks to the op think that I caught mine just in time , bikes only 8 weeks old , I released the quick release to enable me to get to the 2x silly little screws & must of got 1/2 dozen turns on the screws to tighten so guess that I was lucky not to lose them though don't think they would actually fall out as they're trapped in by the wheel nut something to keep an eye on for sure I will be checking weekly from now on  







O


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## Sharles (9 Jun 2016)

Hey all sorry to bump an old thread,
I've had the same problem as described (Defy 1), did a bunch of re-greasing and tightening of the things suggested here but to no avail.
I removed the (FSA) cranks last night to grease the spindle and didn't put the wave washer back on, to my surprise the click disappeared. After putting the washer back in place the creak came back. However with some extra tightening I seemed to be able to get the click to remain more or less quiet, the grease on the spindle may have helped too.
I'm wondering if the washer is slightly cracked or something so I'll look at replacing the wave washer in the next few days, but at the moment at least the noise is gone.
Just thought I'd mention it in case it helped anyone else.


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## Garry A (9 Jun 2016)

I was hearing a 'click click's sound when putting weight on my Defy's bars and was sure it was coming from the bit where the stem connects to them. Only stopped after I took the headset apart, cleaned and reassembled it. Bikes are like ventriloquists, they can throw their noises.


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