Bicycle Mechanics - Creaky bottom bracket? Loctite? Plumbers tape?

Gotta aluminum/carbon Litespeed Hyperion with Ultegra cranks and a 105 bottom bracket with about 500 miles on it that creaks like crazy.

So I take out the bottom bracket cartridge and cup, clean them up. Double wrap both the bottom bracket cartridge and bottom bracket cup with plumbers tape. Then I put a buttload of Phil Woods waterproof grease into the inside of the cup (this surface mates with the cartridge when assembled). I also put a little bit of grease on the outside of the plumbers tape. Next assemble it and tighten everything down good and snug. Test ride her and still got a creak. The bike is brand new with only 500 miles on it. Never crashed, and it has been taken care of. So what gives?

I found somewhere that I could use loctite in place of grease for the inside of the cup (part that mates with the cartridge) Has anybody ever done this? Does this actually work? Anybody else got any tricks?

Do you know if the bb shell has been tapped and faced? Newly cut aluminum threads still tend to be fairly rough which can allow for some movement. A faced shell lets the cups' surfaces mate flush to it, eliminating another possible source of movement (nothing creaks unless its moving). And just because there's no paint on the shell face, doesn't mean its been faced, check for a flat, machined surface. I typically also use a little mild locktite on the fixed side as well, just to keep everything secure.

are you 5 trillion % sure....i had the same problem...but it was clicking and clunking....turned out to be my freewheel...6 hours of pain and experimenting down the drain.....mmm...i love bikes

If you did all that it should have at least stopped for a while. It may be coming from somewhere else. We had a bike that the owner was sure the BB was creaking turned out to be the wheel. seatposts, seatclamps, stems, pedals. They can all sound like a BB creak.

Chapter 2: The headset.

So I am out riding today, while standing in a steep climb I lean over the handle bars and think it is comming from the head set. Take her apart and regrease her, and no luck. Still gotta creak.

Could it be the press fit aluminum part inside the steer tube of the fork? The steer tube is carbon. The headset assembly had very little grease on it. Could a head set bearing against a Carbon steer tube make it creak? I would not think so based on my engineering backround.

Gonna remove the pedals and drive side cranks next. Maybe it is the chain rings or the pedal bearings?

Sometimes the headset shims will creak against one another, the stem/handlebar interface as well. Did you grease the heck out of the splines in the crank/BB? Check those chainring bolts as well.

You have got the worst bike problem ever, mysterious creak :( I spend more time making less money on the dreaded mysterious creak than anything else. Usually the problem is on a 65cm frame with a 150mm stem and a tri-seat-post (I am five-ten)

I destroyed a 2 week old bb by not having my chainring bolts tight. The lbs is keeping it on display as a reminder to others. $50 gone because I forget to retighten after changing the rings.

Yow, how do loose chainring bolts ruin a BB?

Chapter 3: Cranks and pedals...

I dissasemble the cranks, chain rings. I remove crank arms from bike, and pedals from crank arms. Lube enerything up with Phil Wood Water Proof Grease, and spray triflow in the pedals bearings. Still got a creek.

But...... As I am tooling around the neighborhood thinking self, it HAS to be the head set? So I start taking very abrupt sharp turns in an S like fashion while going about 3 mph. FOUND IT!!!! Now I got it to creak like crazy when doing this. I even did this with my feet dangling in the air so I could eliminate any possibiltiy of it being the BB.

The fork is carbon fiber with a carbon fiber steer tube. The aluminum piece that the stem cap bolt screws into was loose (this piece is inside the carbon steer tube). I tightened it down. Still a creek. Thought about removing that aluminum piece and greasing it up and and putting it back together. Is this a good idea? The first time I took apart the head set I did not remove this part. If I am correct, this part threads into the fork crown and gives the carbon steer tube support. So based on that assumption that would be aluminum on aluminum... which makes ideal conditions for a creak??

Any ideas? Am I right? Should I do this? I would have already tried, but it is late and I must catch some zzzz's tonight. Any help is much appreciated.

Yow, how do loose chainring bolts ruin a BB?

I had 2 bolts next to each other loosen, or never get tightened (by me). I have the chain ring on the outside of the crank and when I cranked hard the force caused the crainring to move sideways. This caused extra presure on the b/b and all that torquing cracked the threads and broke the sealed cartridge. Riding s/s didn't help either as I always have to crank hard on the hills.

WOW, that's some pedal effort! Still, I woulda guessed that the other chainring bolts would've just given way, and the chainring would have just fallen loose. I never would've imagined that the "weakest link" would be the BB threads.

Ok thread driffting back to its start.... and cha ching... we have an answer!!!

After dissasembling the head set two times, the bottom bracket two times and lubing up the seat post a few times I finally got to the bottom of the anoying squeek.

I removed the front wheel, applied a little Phil Woods water proof grease on both sides of each fork drop out, put the wheel back into the fork and TA DA!! Cha ching! Now I can sprint and climb hills in peace! No more creak!!! Woo hoo! Not only that but I have given the bike a good 500 mile overhaul in the process. :)