What's that creaking sound?

[Nathanrtaylor]

...Someone asked me that on a recent group ride as we were climbing a hill.

It sounded like it was coming from my bottom bracket or crank area.

I've read on here and other places that the seatclamp or seatpost can make similar sounds, so when I got home I checked there first. I Removed the bolt from the seat clamp and cleaned everything really well, greased the saddle rails and parts of the seat clamp, and reassembled.

No creaking on the next ride.

It's amazing that a creaking in the saddle area can "throw it's voice" through the tubes so well that you'd swear it was coming from the bottom of the frame.

[Charles M]

:beer:

Congrats on killing it with one try! YOu got lucky.

[Steve in SLO]

It's amazing that a creaking in the saddle area can "throw it's voice" through the tubes so well that you'd swear it was coming from the bottom of the frame.

Great job finding the cause.
The first place I'd check was my knee.

[BumbleBeeDave]

I got my Legend overhauled over the winter and had the same sort of creak. Sounded like it was coming from the BB area. I checked the chinring bolts, crank bolts, BB ring, front derailleur clamp, seatpost collar, dropouts--AAAGH!

Finally took it up to Blue Sky and gave it to Dave there. He gave it back to me a few days later after just putting a smudge of carbon prep on the Deda Blackstick post---creak gone.

So many things to make noise and yes, it is amazing that it never seems to be coming from where the problem REALLY is! :crap:

BBD

[konstantkarma]

It's amazing that a creaking in the saddle area can "throw it's voice" through the tubes so well that you'd swear it was coming from the bottom of the frame.

Yes. The resonance of small creaks is amazing. A titanium frame in particular can magnify the smallest sounds. I cured a recent annoying creak at the seatpost (Thompson) by loosening the seat clamp bolt.

Lesson learned: over-torquing can cause squeaks.

[avalonracing]

Lesson learned: over-torquing can cause squeaks.

Too loose, too tight... We just can't win. :crap:

[SoCalSteve]

True, funny story...

My wife's Merlin (which had older 9 speed Ultegra) was making a clicking sound. Couldnt figure out where it came from....Drove me nuts!

So, I pulled off all the old 9 speed stuff, took the bike completely apart and rebuilt it with Ultegra 10 speed. Lubed up everything, headset, seatpost, the whole 9 yards.

First ride- click-click-click...*****!

You know how Sidi road shoes have a place for 3 hole (Look), 4 hole (Speedplay) and SPD in the middle that can move back and forth...

Yeah, it was the shoe making the clicking noise. A dab of glue and voila, no more clicking noise.

True story.

Just sayin'

Steve

[regularguy412]

True, funny story...

You know how Sidi road shoes have a place for 3 hole (Look), 4 hole (Speedplay) and SPD in the middle that can move back and forth...

Yeah, it was the shoe making the clicking noise. A dab of glue and voila, no more clicking noise.

True story.

Just sayin'

Steve

I wadded up a couple small pieces of adhesive tape and wedged them in the slots on my old pair of Shimano shoes for the very same reason. Pretty amazing.

I also chased a 'saddle' creak for about 2 months. I finally ran it down to a slightly loose chainring bolt that had allowed a very small amount of road grit to get in there. I had re-torqued the bolt but the 'tick' was intermittent (yet always on the same side down-stroke). I took all the bolts out, both chainrings off, cleaned thoroughly and reinstalled with anti-seize. Click fixed. I had even taken part of the saddle apart just to see if that was what it was!


Mike in AR:beer:

[WadePatton]

yeah, congrats on a quick solution.

and i'll add this:

that creaking sound is one of two things: something moving that shouldn't be moving, or something moving w/o the proper lubrication to facilitate the movement.

grand patience to those still hunting one.

cheers.