Shimano Chainring bolts...

[benb]

It was finally my turn.

I've had rampant issues in the past with SRAM Chainrings coming apart over and over again but I've never seen it happen with Shimano till now, so I wasn't suspecting it.

Shimano 5800 cranks on my All City Space Horse... I bought them in 2016 I think.

Holy cow was this hard to chase down. It totally sounded like it was the front derailleur, but it was only happening on the downstroke of the non-drive side pedal. And only under a certain amount of power. And if I unclipped and pedalled with just my right foot no matter how hard I pulled up it wouldn't do it. It was exactly like a whippy frame causing the BB & front derailleur to deflect to the drive side and rub the cage.

I was literally checking for frame cracks, fraying cable, etc. this was so weird. It was so loud (hollow cranks?). Was totally going to go online and start ordering new chain, cables, housing, adjustable cable stops, etc.. for a full overhaul.

I am semi-annoyed it's a Torx bolt. But I actually had the correct one in on my Crank Bros. emergency tool on that bike.

Finally had a Eureka towards the end of the ride yesterday, pulled over, and immediately found almost all the bolts were loose, one of them loose enough I could have taken it out with my fingers. Dead silent after tightening.

[saab2000]

I had a similar experience with 5800 cranks. It surprised me as well but tightening them eliminated any creak or groan I was experiencing.

I also made sure the threaded surfaces, as well as the other surfaces, had some oil. This will help prevent corrosion in the future. Of course, it also makes it easier to overtighten them so be careful with that.

[prototoast]

One of my bikes was recently making a creaking sound. After checking everything else, I finally got around to checking if the chainring bolts were loose. I went around the crank, tightening each bolt, and when I got to the fifth bolt, I saw it had completely fallen out. Found the problem!