Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Creaking Bottom Bracket

Hey guys,

I just have a quick question for you all. I usually lurk in the mountain bike area, but last week my friends bottom bracket started to creak. He has an '05 Specialized p.2. We usually do urban assault, no jumps larger than 4 feet so far. Mostly bunny hopping, balancing, track stands, and stair gaps, with the occaional loading dock thrown in there. I know he weighs in at about 240 so I thought i would ask you guys. He is on his second bike ther first one also had a creaking bottom bracket. The bike is about 6 monthes old. If you guys have an suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Needs a new BB?

Finding creaks is a pain in the rump and not usually the BB. Get him to clean the seat stem or whatever its called and tighten his pedals. I mean really tighten them, they might feel like they are tight, but when you put down some power it shows up. I had the same problem, it was worn out bearings in the pedals themselves. It actually sounded like a click from the BB, but a good lube and they have been trouble free since (well until all the oil drains or gets washed out)

A 240 lb guy riding Urban stuff will go through bottom brackets. Luckily they're not too expensive. Buy the tools and learn to replace them.

One thing that I found out recently by accident is that if you are using clipless pedals and the shoe portion isn't correct, it can actually cause the bottom bracket to loosen! I would tighten it, it would loosen - until I just changed shoes - and now no more problem.

Finding and fixing creaks usually involves changing out stuff until the creak goes away. I've had creaking BB several times. It's usually the bearings in the pedals. I don't even bother to repack bearings in pedals now - I just replace them (platform pedals are so crappy now-a-days that they wear out in 3-4k miles).

I've also had it be the seatpost head - pull it apart, lube the screw and the contact points where the head clamps the seatpost shafts.

I've had one bb that wore out (14K miles).

I've also had it be the rear cassette - one of the cogs had totally cracked and the crack was creaking - until it completely failed (snapped off and flew away) - I managed to make it home on my three speed mountain bike :)

I've had it be the crank arm joints - pull the crank arms and reassmeble with lube and tighten em up properly.

Stems, seatposts, saddle rails, bb, crank arms, pedals, wheels... so many things creak. You just automatically assume it's the BB. Everyone does. Each pedal stroke causes a movement of your entire body, therefor a lot of components are effected with each stroke. This means it can be NUMEROUS things creaking. Start small. Grease things up. Especially your seatpost/saddle rails. If that doesn't fix it... move on down the line.

Half the time I swore left and right that it was my BB but ended up being my saddle.


And if it IS the BB... the hardest part is finding the right BB to put in. Especially if you have an older bike or some wacky frame. The whole thing is a pretty easy ordeal. Get yourself a good book. Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintainece is a good one.

quick checks:

Stand up and pedal. if th creaking goes away, it's in the seat.
Ride no hands. If the creaking goes away, it is in the handle bars
If creaking persists, it is in the BB area.

if creaking is in the bb area, consider that it might be loosening crank bolts - experience has shown this to be a weak sopt for clydes, and I can only imagine that the trials riding that you describe (hopping, track stands, etc.) magnify this effect when compared to spinning smoothly.

Re-tighten to manufacturer's spec, (and no more!) Consider usign blue Loc-tite to keep things where they should be. Also you might want to consider replacing your current bb with something beefier than stock. maybe something free-ride-y if it is compatible, your size and application definitely put you on the high-end of the range for a standard BB / crankset.

A creak in a bike is a hard thing to diagnose at first. Like someone said up above, stand and pedal, if it still creaks then you know you are in the right area. Loose pedals, loose chainwheel bolts, front deraillure being pulled my chain, many things could be the *real* issue. Even spoke tension problems could cause a creak.
If the problem really is the BB he should be able to get it replaced at a bike shop for around 30 bucks.
You said this was his second bike due to a creaking BB? Did he get rid of the other one for that sole reason? I'd hate to think so.

Hey guys thanks for the replys so far. Haven't really had the time to look at his bike but their have been some good ideas. This is his second bike because he was bit by the upgrade bug. The seat is rarely used because we are standing most of the time. We don't use clipless because that would be the death of us, we fall enough without having to unclip. When i get a chance I will try taking the BB area apart and greasing, lubing and reassemble it. Thanks alot guys.

I had a creak that I determined wasn't the seatpost because it creaked when I was standing, but it was the post, anyway.

Also had a nasty creak that turned out to be waterbottle cage bolts.

I dunno the componentry on this bike...is his crank splined? if it isn't that could the culprit....speaking from experieince....my Boulder did the same thing....I gave it to my wife and she doesn't experience it cuz she doesn't have the weight nor the cranking torque that i used to impose on it...

Not sure if this was already posted but teflon tape (like the plummers use) on the BB threads will take that creek out! I just built a bike for my less than clyde wife and thats what the builder recommended.

Good luck

Hi There
I had a similar problem not to long ago where I would hear a constant creaking from the bottom brackett area whenever I was putting power to my pedals, but woiuld go away when I was not pushing so hard. I tightened the crank arms and the problem went away for me so that might be worth looking at as well.

yeah, its never the bb, its almost always chainring bolts, and sometimes it can be other nasty little things like a lose deralleur hanger.

after having cracked my cannondale, I always inspect the frame just in case

I just located a nasty creak that was bugging me.... it was the cable right where it meets the cable stop on the frame by the head tube. If I moved my handle bar a small amount it would creak. (like if I was standing and pedaling up a hill)