Road Cycling - Trek 5200: What is that annoying noise?

Hi there,

I have been riding my Trek 5200 for two months now
and I covered some 1500 km by now. I'm very satisfied
with the bike... except for one thing: when putting some
power on the cranks, there is some sort of squeaking or
dry ticking noise (quite loud). Also, it is not just for once, it
keeps coming back all along the ride. I went to the bike shop
where they had a look at the bracket, however, I can still hear
these very uncomfortable noises. Is there anybody who has an
idea what could be the problem?
Thanks,
Huvi

Take it back to the LBS...?

What pedals/cleats are you riding?

This morning, I noticed a significant grind in what appeared to be the crank or BB. Turned out to be the cleats on the Speedplay Zeros. Little bit of lube and all is well.

55/Rad

As I did already.... Problem is that I can't really
localize the problem area. Maybe other people
encountered similar problems?

I have Look A5.1 with red, teflon-lined cleats...

i had a similar problem.... it was the pedal bearings...they just needed greasing and i was set to go

:) hi there! its simple my friend! first take out the pedals check if you have some friction on it . to be sure grease the spindle. second, check the cranks! are the grooves of it still on good condition?? then, check your bottom bracket, two fingers hold it and try moving it. does it move smoothly?? if you feel like it does have a "sandy" sensation... replace it or if you know how to overhaul it, do it! take out the bottom bracket grease the b.bracket shell and on the thread of the b.bracket roll a teflon. TEFLON= plummers use it to seal pipes to prevent water leaks. re install what you took off and if the noise persists... check your front derailleurs.. worn out or out of tune or not on its proper height? = 1 mm from big chain ring to the front derailleurs is the best set up. chain... check if its worn out. it does make noise when worn. lastly.... stand on the right side of the bike, set your foot on the right pedal with bike slightly tilted to the left ( with a shoe on :D ) and put you weight on it and check if the frame have flex. if it does change your bike.. go get a stronger one!!! :D ====== Blackshadow Hey im a bike mechanic... i should know!

I assumed it was the chain hitting the ramps or pins on the chainrings, it is rather annoying. It did it with my '03 5200 as well as my '04.

Craig

I got a new Specializes Allez Sport recently and there was a serious sounding noise like you described.........turned out to be a loose reflector on the wheel spokes.........can you hear if its from the front opr back of the bike? Try taking off one of the reflectors...you never know!

Niall

My shoes were rubbing the crank arm under stress and that was enough to squeek as loud as it can.

If it's a clamp-on front derailleur it could be the seat tube moving under the clamp. Loosen or remove the derailleur then go for a test ride to see if that helps. If so then you might want to apply a (very) thin film of grease to the inside of the clamp or wrap the seat tube with a thin tape (if there's enough room).

I had a similar noise coming from what I thought was the bottom bracket area. It turned out to be my jersey zipper flopping around. Very strange since it was right below my chin.

If you have the triple chain ring you may need to do some fine tuning on the fr. Took me a while to get mine working without any annoying rubbing throughout a wide range of gears. After I put ~1,500 mi on mine I started getting a creaking noise when I would get out of the saddle. LBS told me to remove stem and drop out the steering tube and lubricate it and reinstall it. I did it and no more creaking noises.

If you think it is from bottom bracket try sitting on bike and putting pressure followed by releasing pressure on the crank (sort of bouncing on crank)with your front brake on. This test should let you know if the noise is from bb.

Other than that, keep takin back to lbs until you are satisfied.

What wheel set do you have? I have a 2004 Trek 2100 that has bontrager select and I had the same thing happening. After suspecting everything but the hub/wheel I finally figured out that it was coming from the front wheel/hub where the spokes connect to the hub.

Trust me.... I promise that if you put some TriFlow on the joints where the spokes connect to the hub it will cure your problem!

Sounds odd, but when you put some power into the cranks there is flexing going on all over the bike, and with weight shift with your extra power the wheels absorb some of that power. I always noticed the creaking/clicking when I stood and pedaled or put some power in while going up a hill.

TriFlow those joints... make sure it soaks in.... trust me.... it WILL work.

I have a 2001 Trek 5200 with 13,000 miles, and have had various ticking noises as well. Cranks, pedals, the usual. But one in particular was difficult to find. After a careful and lengthy process of elimination, the problem turned out to be the front wheel/fork interface. The skewer was not tight enough, and made a loud tick when climbing out of the saddle! Never saw that before. Tighten your skewers and see if it goes away.
Tom

I noticed a "tick" in the same part of my pedal stroke for awhile, and figured out that the right crank was hitting the cap on the top of the front derailleur cable. It only happened in when I was running on the inner chainring. Today, I noticed a slight squeak when I was really cranking up hills. At first I thought it was coming from the BB area, but I think I finally figured out it's coming from either the seat rails or the seat collar.

Try to re-create the sound in a safe area (like a deserted parking lot), where you can bend over and use your ears to localize the noise more. I think a lot of people mistake sounds from the seat area for bottom bracket / crank / chainring / cleat noises, based on previous posts on this topic.

Your Shoe?????????

you'll love this, i had a similar noise. turned out to be my handlebars. pulled them off and cleaned with alcohol and it fixed it.

you'll love this, i had a similar noise. turned out to be my handlebars. pulled them off and cleaned with alcohol and it fixed it.

Do you mean you cleaned the handlebar while drinking alchohol???

Thanks for the help! I will have a look at the possibilities...
Maybe it is also good to say that the noises which I hear
have some sort of 'carbon-like' sound. Difficult to define,
but it's like dry and hollow. It could be the
bracket shell, as blackshadow suggested, although
I think the mechanics at the bike shop had a good
look at it.
H.

Take out your seatpost.

Clean it off.

Grease it.

Reinstall.

(Fixed my problem! Perhaps it will work for you.)

It's a trek? Check the BB

Zombie thread arises from the dead!

necro thread from 2004

+1

By now his BB has exploded. There's no question.

inb4 lock.

Conclusive proof that trek has had a long history of bb problems.