Here's a couple of things I'd check.
Have you worn out the cranks so that they're no longer perfectly square?
Are your new square taper cranks designed for the same type of square taper BB as the previous cranks (e.g. ISO vs. JIS)?
Have you checked the bottom bracket cup tightness? (Sometimes removing / reinstalling the cups makes the noises go away, not necessarily for any good reason.)
How many miles do you have on this BB? If you're an uberclyde, and you're not in a low enough gear, you may be putting too much torque on the bottom bracket itself, and it may need replacement.
A new BB's only about $25, and it's pretty easy to swap out, so maybe you need to grab a new BB and head over to your local bike co-op and get this sorted out -
http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/...ons#Washington .
Originally Posted by
CliftonGK1
So I've noticed a consistent problem I get with my cranksets, and I was wondering if this is just a "bad mechanic" issue or if other Clydes are encountering similar issues with a square taper crank.
Cranks: FSA Vero, and Sugino XD700
Bottom Bracket: Shimano UN54
Issue: Click/creak when placing full weight on cranks at horizontal position, then shifting cranks 180 degrees to opposite horizontal, as though there is play at the taper interface. Problem is not loose crank bolts; bolts are at or above torque spec.
I talked to some of the LBS shop geeks who work on clyde rides, and after checking my crankbolts with a torque wrench one of the wrenches suggested that I may have consistently over-torqued my crankbolts and bottomed out the taper so it cannot lock fully any longer. This is a distinct possibility, as I don't own a torque wrench and just sort of Sasquatched the bolts on there when replacing the original cranks, and have re-tightened things since the install. The other possibility is that my size and persistant stand-and-hammer hill assaults just warp the taper interface on the crank, and I've run out of taper to tighten it down on.
Do other big riders using square taper cranks find they're getting loosening issues at the taper interface? Am I just being a bad mechanic and overtightening that bolt, or am I being an overly abusive rider and wrecking that taper interface? Maybe a little bit of both?