Creaking

[nscrbug]

I've been dealing with an ongoing "creak" for the past few months. Took it in a few weeks ago and the mechanic tore apart my fork and headset (as that is where I could pinpoint where it was coming from). He ended up adding a few of these super thin metal spacers right where the headset meets the headtube. That seems to have solved the "creaking" noise, but now it's been replaced with a slightly less annoying noise - one that sounds like ball bearings crashing into each other. It's definitely not as loud and obnoxious as the creaking was, but I can still hear it and it bugs me. When it gets to the point where I can't tolerate it any longer, I'll have to bring it back in.

[DarcyInOregon]

I had a nasty creak and the LBS solved it as being in the seat post. Last month I had a group training ride on a rural asphalt bike trail after it had rained. The bike accumulated a lot of grit and wet tree needles that clumped together around the brakes. At one point I hit a large bump at speed, my left cleat broke, my foot flew off the pedal, and the sudden abrupt movements caused something inside my seat post to shimmy out of adjustment, making the saddle go up and down like a rocking chair. On my way home after the ride the LBS was still open, I stopped, and he fixed the seat post for me, but I hadn't been home to clean the bike, and some grit got inside the seat post, so on my next ride I got significant creaking noises. It was time for my 1,000 mile maintenance and new tires, so took the bike back, he redid the guts of the seat post and no more creaking. Hope this information is helpful.

[WindingRoad]

I have a strange creaking sound in what sounds like its in the bottom bracket. I replaced it once but it wasn't a high end bracket at all so I'm wondering if its just going bad again. It seems since the weather has been hot its worse??? It's almost a ticking sound? The crank arms are tight so it's not that. Any thoughts?

[Crankin]

My friend had a creak in her new Giant for 2 years. After bringing it to 3 LBS who did nothing, my DH put it on a stand, changed the wheel, and voila, that was it. He also discovered they had put a chain that was the wrong size for her triple on it. The bike originally had a compact, they swapped the components for her, and put the same chain back on... of course, they told her she was crazy. It took Dh about 5 minutes to diagnose this...

[Owlie]

My bike now has a new bottom bracket. It shouldn't have worn out after that long, but the mechanic did say that parts were fairly roughed up. (I'm pretty sure being caught in a torrential downpour while in transport did nothing to help.)

I'm picking her up tomorrow. Yay! (But now I'm just a little bit more convinced that I need a second bike...)

[Roadtrip]

Glad you know what the problem is, but sucks you have to put money in this bike, that could have gone toward your next ride.

Shannon

[Owlie]

Glad you know what the problem is, but sucks you have to put money in this bike, that could have gone toward your next ride.

Shannon

Yeah, really. They cleaned and lubed everything that might have been making noise, and gave me a 5% discount, which was nice of them, but it's still $50 that I could have put toward something else. I'm trying not to pour much money into this bike, but in order to keep riding, I need to put something into it to keep it working for me for the next couple of years. If I don't ride, then it sort of defeats the purpose of putting money toward a new bike.