Bicycle Mechanics - Creak - Creak ---- from the Bottom Bracket?

so for the past couple of weeks, i have been hearing creaks from around my cranks/pedals.
i did the obvious things and tightened my chain rings, cranks, and pedals, but the noise persists.
the creaks are most persistant when i am climbing and putting a high amount of torque on the
cranks. i even swapped out the pedals to eliminate them from the equation, but with no success.
my next thought is to pull the cranks and have at the BB. before i do this, i thought that i would
check with those more knowledgable and see if i was missing an obvious culprit.

bike setup: aluminum frame equipped with 105 hollowtech cranks (triple), 105 BB & FD,
with an ultegra RD.

thanks in advance,
-m

I thought I had a creak in the BB/Crank/Pedal area but it turned out that my seat/seatpost was creaking. Lightly grease the surfaces between the seat clamp and seat rails to see it that's it.

so for the past couple of weeks, i have been hearing creaks from around my cranks/pedals.
i did the obvious things and tightened my chain rings, cranks, and pedals, but the noise persists.
the creaks are most persistant when i am climbing and putting a high amount of torque on the
cranks. i even swapped out the pedals to eliminate them from the equation, but with no success.
my next thought is to pull the cranks and have at the BB. before i do this, i thought that i would
check with those more knowledgable and see if i was missing an obvious culprit.

bike setup: aluminum frame equipped with 105 hollowtech cranks (triple), 105 BB & FD,
with an ultegra RD.

thanks in advance,
-m

Are you absoultely sure its the BB? A noise can be very difficult to trace. For example I had a similar problem but it was the saddle rails creaking when I pushed down hard on one side. It may also be worth checking your handlebars

If you are sure its the BB I found this on the Park Tools site which may help

"It can sometimes happen a bottom bracket can creak where the lockring or cups meet the bearing body. To prevent this, apply a thread locking compound such as Loctite #242 to the inside area of removable ring, where it meets the body. This will help prevent any creaking in the future. With plastic rings, do not apply any thread locking compound."


Here is the link

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQcartdg.shtml

I had a creak I thought was the BB, turned out a problem with the QR skewer.

i'm sure that it isn't the saddle since i can hear the creak when i climb
out of the saddle. i'll give my skewers a look, but my ears tend to pinpoint
the creak down towards the crank area.
-m

so for the past couple of weeks, i have been hearing creaks from around my cranks/pedals.
i did the obvious things and tightened my chain rings, cranks, and pedals, but the noise persists.
the creaks are most persistant when i am climbing and putting a high amount of torque on the
cranks. i even swapped out the pedals to eliminate them from the equation, but with no success.
my next thought is to pull the cranks and have at the BB. before i do this, i thought that i would
check with those more knowledgable and see if i was missing an obvious culprit.

bike setup: aluminum frame equipped with 105 hollowtech cranks (triple), 105 BB & FD,
with an ultegra RD.

thanks in advance,
-m

I had a similar problem with my Kuwahara hybrid about a year ago. I thought at first it was the pedals but swapping them made no difference. I took out the bottom bracket and greased the threads (they were completely dry) and put it back in. This cured the problem though it is starting to recur a bit now. Maybe a thread lock compound like Loctite may be better I dont know. I seem to remember reading that alu frames are prone to this problem.

...I took out the bottom bracket and greased the threads (they were completely dry) and put it back in. This cured the problem though it is starting to recur a bit now. Maybe a thread lock compound like Loctite may be better I dont know...

If you do use Loctite make sure it's the type that can be disassembled with hand tools or you may never get it apart when you need to. My preference is to apply teflon pipe thread tape to the BB cup threads. It's inexpensive and can be purchased in any hardware store.

If you do use Loctite make sure it's the type that can be disassembled with hand tools or you may never get it apart when you need to. My preference is to apply teflon pipe thread tape to the BB cup threads. It's inexpensive and can be purchased in any hardware store.


Good tip,as Loctite, or any other form of threadlock will melt plastic parts. I found out the hard way, when Pump carrying brackets disintegrated by contamination from the threadlock put on the retaing bolts.

yeah its a good idea to rebuild your bearing components(hubs, bb, headset, and to a lesser extent pedals) every now and then especially on mtbs. if you let them get bone dry youll get metal flaking and some other nasty damage. i would check out your headset and hubs too if your bb was dry.