Creaking from the crank area

[Holdsworth]

Over my past few day's commuting I have been exepiecing an annoying click whilst pedalling along. It happens' every time the left-hand crank goes "over the top", it is audible nearly all of the time but it is especially noticeable when I am pedalling harder, like up a hill for instance.

I have had a look on Sheldon Brown's page on creaks etc. below:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/creaks.html#bottom

The things that it looks like it might be is the bottom bracket cups or retaining rings being loose and clicking when they change position. I assume this is something that the LBS should look at as I don't have the required tools to tighten it up myself. The thing is I need to wait to Friday as Ithe LBS is shut tomorrow and I am commuting on the bike on Thursday, Friday is my only free day other than the weekend. I am not sure whether to continue riding it in for one more day as I don't want to damage the bike.

Is there anything else that this could be other than the BB? I have made sure that the seat post clamp is tight and the same with the saddle clamp (the cause of a creak on my last bike). I have also made sure that my stem is secure and the faceplate is holding the bars tightly.

 

[gbb]

One desperately easy thing to overlook is the FD cable end. Just make sure its not sticking out and being struck by the crank as it passes. Happened to me...

 

[Holdsworth]

It isn't the cable, I have just checked and it is nicely tucked away to keep it from hitting my leg. I have actually managed to make the creak occur when pressing down on the left pedal when sat still! I really think it might be something to do with the BB/crank/pedal.

 

[cycleruk]

first thing to check is the pedals.I had this same sort of noise and thought it was the bottom bracket, after checking and replacing the pedals that soon sorted the problem.Some pedals need a spanner and some need a Allen key so that would be the simplest place to start, after that you would need special tools for the bb tightening.

 

[martint235]

And crank bolts! Don't forget crank bolts. I'd never even considered them and spent months (and a new bottom bracket) looking for the clicking noise until the nice Aperitif of this parish suggested tightening the crank bolts up.

 

[Holdsworth]

The pedals on the bike are Shimano M520 SPDs and were fitted when new a few months ago. I fitted them to the cranks using the spanner supplied with the bike and turned until they were as tight as I could get them, the thread were lubricated with lithium grease before screwing in. I will try and check the tightness of the fitting tomorrow.

Other than that I'll have to wait until Friday to take the bike to the LBS to be checked over.

 

[martint235]

The pedals on the bike are Shimano M520 SPDs and were fitted when new a few months ago. I fitted them to the cranks using the spanner supplied with the bike and turned until they were as tight as I could get them, the thread were lubricated with lithium grease before screwing in. I will try and check the tightness of the fitting tomorrow.

Other than that I'll have to wait until Friday to take the bike to the LBS to be checked over.

The crank bolts are the 4 or 5 bolts on the actual chainset rather than the pedal axle bolts. You just need to tighten them up with an allen key or one of those star shaped jobbies but be careful not to overtighten.

 

[cyberknight]

My bike has developed a creak lately as well and i am danged if i can work it out, seems to be better now i have tightend up the cransk as tight as they will go but there is a definite creak on every pedal stroke that gets louder the harder i pedal, stops when not pedaling.

Checked the seat tightness,crank tightness, chainring bolt tightness and even tried taking the seat post out to see if that made a difference.

In the last 6 months the bike has had a new BB,headset,large chainring,spd pedals,seat .

All was fine till about a month ago and i am completely stumped as to what it could be.I even tried pulling the BB side to side and it seemed solid although i could see flex in the frame as i did it on an aluminum frame.

 

[Holdsworth]

I took it to the LBS on the other side of town that I generally hold in poor regard due to a number of bad experiences with their version of customer service. Luckily the nice, older bloke was in and he had look over the bike and tightened up the pedals and crank bolts that were slightly loose. Now everything has quietened down, no more creak, and he didn't charge a penny for it

Lesson learned; never trust a free spanner that came with the bike to get pedals on tight!

 

[martint235]

My bike has developed a creak lately as well and i am danged if i can work it out, seems to be better now i have tightend up the cransk as tight as they will go but there is a definite creak on every pedal stroke that gets louder the harder i pedal, stops when not pedaling.

Checked the seat tightness,crank tightness, chainring bolt tightness and even tried taking the seat post out to see if that made a difference.

In the last 6 months the bike has had a new BB,headset,large chainring,spd pedals,seat .

All was fine till about a month ago and i am completely stumped as to what it could be.I even tried pulling the BB side to side and it seemed solid although i could see flex in the frame as i did it on an aluminum frame.

Have you tried a tiny bit of grease on the seatpost? Just underneath where the clamp sits.

What kind of saddle is it? if it's a Brooks, put some proofide on all the points where the frame meets the leather, that fixed one of my creaks.

 

[cyberknight]

Have you tried a tiny bit of grease on the seatpost? Just underneath where the clamp sits.

What kind of saddle is it? if it's a Brooks, put some proofide on all the points where the frame meets the leather, that fixed one of my creaks.

It is a boardman fizik clone, i have tried greasing the seat post and even tried riding without the seat post and the bike still creaks.Tightening the crank bolt helps but something is still creaking.

 

[ohnovino]

Over the past month I had a noise just like Holdsworth's: a double-click as the left pedal went over the top. I only replaced the BB quite recently so I was convinced I'd left something loose (presumably the left crank), but after re-tightening everything the noise didn't go away.

Then a couple of weeks ago I was riding along, looked down and saw my seat-tube bottle cage had snapped. I took the cage off ... no more clicking!

It looks like a hairline crack had developed, and there must be enough flex in my frame that the crack was rubbing as my weight shifted from side to side, before eventually it gave way completely.

Just goes to show that clicks and creaks can come from anywhere.

 

[martint235]

It is a boardman fizik clone, i have tried greasing the seat post and even tried riding without the seat post and the bike still creaks.Tightening the crank bolt helps but something is still creaking.

How many crank bolts do you have? Could be worth taking them all out, greasing them a little (tiny bit) and putting them back in again.

Also a problem I had recently, check how close the jockey wheel on your derailleur is to the cassette, it may be too close. You can move it out with the screw on the back of the derailleur (not the limiter screws)

 

[cyberknight]

Did a rebuild today.

Took cranks off and lossened BB, cleaned the threads of any gunk and retightend, reinstalled the cranks and looks the the creak is gone (atm)

 

[mattsccm]

My occasional creak got worse and became a pain. Last night I whipped the cranks off to have a look. A rattle from the chain set as I slung in on the bench explained a lot. The chain ring bolts were loose. Never in 30 plus years have I come across that one.

Creak gone.