Grinding noises in two parts of my drivetrain (2014 Domane)
 

Hello all,

I've put about 500 kilometers on my new Trek Domane thus far, and there are two annoyances in the drivetrain:

1. When I slowly rotate the cranks backwards, I hear grinding or something "gravelly" coming from what seems to be the right side of the bottom bracket
2. Something near the rear derailleur or cassette also makes a bit of a grinding noise

I've ridden in a bit of rain and even on the occasional gravel, but I don't think those noises should be normal on a new bike with 105 and Ultegra components. I keep the chain lubed and then wipe it carefully and it's not making noise, and I'm not experienced enough to be able to tell exactly where the noises are coming from — but I do notice that it doesn't spin totally smoothly, and that's a warning sign to me.

As someone with apparently no clue whatsoever are there any steps I can take to better identify the issues? I've gone to bike shops for my maintenance needs for the last decade and change but I'm eager to learn about maintenance because I've simply never done it before. On the other hand, if this if this is beyond something I could at least diagnose for my own edification (before taking it to a bike shop anyway), I'm also okay hearing that.

Thanks!

The first thing to learn about maintenance is to look at things and how they work together. When you move the chain backward you are rotating the chain and the bottom bracket. By simply disengaging the chain you can see if you still feel grittiness or resistance - therefore whether the BB is involved. The chain is in turn moving the rear cassette. By removing the rear wheel and rotating the cassette you can see if you feel grittiness in the freehub.

Although it's great you want to do more maintenance, at 500 miles I would take it back to the shop for evaluation. They may also be quite willing to help you with a few basic maintenance hints beyond what you already know.

@only 500km , you still have the dealer there to see what your issue is , as part of the service after sale relationship.

I'm not there.

I don't know how to diagnose the "problem" either (via text), but I have a solution: do not turn the crank backwards.

"I've ridden in a bit of rain and even on the occasional gravel..."
That's enough to mess with the press fit bb on a Domane. It's either poor seals or inadequate lubrication of the bearings from the factory. Take the chain completely off the rings and rotate the cranks. If the noise is still happening, it's the bb.

Racking up your post count with obvious statements of "I'm not there?"

no pay no matter the post count, it's not a you tube video..

there is a Trek dealership here. nobody has the money

to buy more than the aluminum Domaines out here

or if they do, they go the 300 mile RT to PDX and buy it from there.