Annoying creak/squeak - Solved but thought it may help someone ...

[BigSid]

... and amuse others.
Hi All
I have a 1999 GT XCR1000. I had a creak/squeak start part way through a ride. It was in time with my pedalling. If I stopped pedalling the creak stopped. If I pedalled slowly the creak seemed to prolong. It was the same whichever gear I was in. I stopped and tried lifting the rear wheel and turning the pedals but no creak occurred. I spent 20 minutes riding trying everything from jumping up and down on the suspension to hard braking. (I did say I tried everything. ). I eventually discovered the problem. Nothing I could do to fix it until I got home though.

Spoiler: The Solution

My calf was disrupting the wind coming from the side and causing it to blow across the bottom of the seat tube. I plugged the end of the seat tube to fix it.

 

[fossyant]

What you doing with a small cow on your bike ?

 

[BigSid]

Fresh veal for dinner.

 

[ColinJ]

Eh?

Ah... I just searched for a picture of that model of bike - I see what you mean now!

It is strange that the noise was a squeak or creak though... I would have expected more like the sound of a panpipe being blown.

 

[Punkawallah]

My latest creak turned out to be a slightly loose saddle. Like yours, only appeared when I was pedalling.

 

[BigSid]

It is strange that the noise was a squeak or creak though... I would have expected more like the sound of a panpipe being blown.

I think that why it took me so long to track it down. Also seems odd that it was when my calf was level with the seatpost. I would have thought it would have made a noise when my calf was out of the way. I guess that's why the Formula One aero guys get the big bucks.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I read somewhere that a lot of LBS have problems finding creaks and squeaks

then find it is coming from the saddle so if no-one is sitting on it then it doesn;t happen

ever since I read that I have always tried pedalling standing up to try and find them

 

[silva]

Weird bike > weird problem.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Weird bike > weird problem.

anything mechanical/electrical - weird problem!!!

 

[Punkawallah]

I read somewhere that a lot of LBS have problems finding creaks and squeaks

then find it is coming from the saddle so if no-one is sitting on it then it doesn;t happen

ever since I read that I have always tried pedalling standing up to try and find them

From 'aircraft fault sheet':
Pilot Report - "Stick judder at Mach 0.9"
Mechanic Report - "Unable to replicate fault on the ground"

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

From 'aircraft fault sheet':
Pilot Report - "Stick judder at Mach 0.9"
Mechanic Report - "Unable to replicate fault on the ground"

should be "not allowed to replicate on ground although the young kid with the funny hair wanted to try"

 

[presta]

I had a noise that sounded a bit like a dried pea in a plastic cup clicking & rattling occasionally at random intervals. It appeared at the beginning and middle of long rides, but not at the end of long rides, or at all on a short ride.

It turned out to be water lapping against the inside of the caps on my new water bottles. Only the two leaning over on the downtube did it, not the vertical one on the seat tube, which is why the noise didn't appear on short one-bottle rides, or the end of long rides once I was down to the last bottle.

 

[Windle]

I think there should be an on-line database of tracing & curing miscellaneous bicycle creaks and rattles which could be consulted by frustrated cyclists the world over ~ what a resource that would be!

My Giant XTC4 had one years ago, a creak whilst pedalling which I just could not seem to fathom. I had half the bloody bike to bits looking for it until I found it had a shim in the seat tube, as the seatpost was slightly undersize. A bit of grease on the shim solved the problem at last.

 

[presta]

I had a click that occurred on every rotation of the crank, but only occasionally, and never when it was convenient to stop. By the time I was able to look for it, it had always disappeared again. It turned out to be the nipple on the front gear cable brushing the inside of the left crank, but only when the chain was on the large ring, which is why I was never in a position to investigate whilst racing down a big hill.

 

[ColinJ]

I had a click that occurred on every rotation of the crank, but only occasionally, and never when it was convenient to stop. By the time I was able to look for it, it had always disappeared again. It turned out to be the nipple on the front gear cable brushing the inside of the left crank, but only when the chain was on the large ring, which is why I was never in a position to investigate whilst racing down a big hill.

Ha - you beat me to it! I had a similar problem years ago. I am sure that I posted about it?

Ah yes...

I had a really annoying intermittent clicking on my Basso; it took me ages to spot what it was. It turned out that when I had my bike on a particular chainring (I forget which), the end of the gear cable to the front derailleur stuck out just enough to catch my right shoe once per pedal revolution.