Originally Posted by
dnuzzomueller
No I have not used loctite on either bike, in fact I haven't done anything other then clean the BB shell and removed the lock rings to clean their grooves. Other then that no grease during installation, no loctite, nuthin.
A funny note is that the last time I installed bearings on my Redline was because I was using an old set of BB30 bearings that must have gotten crap into the cartridge, one of the bearings was quite rough when I turned it (After removing the crank of course) and the other side was practically frozen. The bearings had not caused ANY sounds at all, they had just gotten stiff. While installing the new set of bearing I ended up pushing one in at a slight angle and sort of shaved the BB shell a little on accident, I corrected this an installed the bearings correctly and wondered if maybe I would pay for that mistake later.
Long and the short of it was, no. things are still dead quiet even when I botched the installation a bit.
My feeling is that creaking is caused by a bad BB shell. So if you machine it to a crappy tolerance then you get issues.
Here's the thing. Trek spec'ed...not sure if 2012 Madones are this way...a 'slip fit' aka drop in for bearings. If you use the analogy of a headset...most headsets use a slip fit/drop in cartridge bearings and sustain much higher axial loads than a BB...then there is no problem with even slip fit bearings IF...there is adequate preload which pressurizes inner races against balls against outer races firmly bedding them.
The reason why Specialized spec's both loctite and a press is because this makes BB's typically quieter if the installer isn't as vigilant about dialing in preload. Provided bearings are in good shape...clicking BB30 bearings are no different than riding around with your headset loose...it will rattle and knock over bumps as the bearings loose their seat and balls lose their preload to inner and outer races. A bearing is like a rattle or a tambourine without preload.