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Bottom Bracket Squeak/Creak

Old 11-19-16, 03:56 PM
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Bottom Bracket Squeak/Creak

So my wife bought this road bike 3-4 months ago. I think it was in August. It's a Fuji Finest, mostly 105 components, Oval crank.

Soon after getting it, she started having this weird creaking noise while riding. Took it back to the shop she bought it from and they removed the crank, smeared some grease around it, and reinstalled. The mechanic said that sometimes this happens, bearings can get dry while they're being shipped, etc.

Noise came back.

Then the mechanic put a wavy washer on it, said that it would definitely take care of it.

Noise came back.

Then a different mechanic at the same place noticed some play in a pedal bearing and said that must be it. We replaced the pedals with new Shimano pedals.

Noise came back.

Just to rule out the new pedals being bad, I took the known good pedals off my mountain bike, and put them on her bike.

Noise came back again (that's with 3 different sets of pedals, so I think I can rule them out now)

The last time the noise started was after we had been riding about 20 miles, it just started happening for no apparent reason, and got progressively worse until we got home. It did the exact same thing this morning after about 20 miles of our 30 mile ride.

Thankfully, today I was able to get video of the issue. Anyone ever heard anything like this?
Any ideas?

I'm kind of thinking about just taking it to a different bike shop, and having a mechanic just do whatever they think they need to do to fix it, because the worst part of this is that it's sapping my wife's motivation to ride, and that really sucks.

Any thoughts? Here's the video:

Last edited by FlatFender; 11-19-16 at 04:00 PM. Reason: Spelling
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Old 11-19-16, 03:58 PM
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Mine was in the crank set.
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Old 11-19-16, 07:06 PM
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after viewing the vid, i'd get the bottom bracket out, and take a serious look at the trash shield tube... that noise sounds PLASTIC-like to me... those trash shields are plastic. remove the chain, and note ANY drag as the crank is turned... ANY drag, even minor... and do find another shop, that is NOT crank/spindle creaking, nor is it the pedal bearings!

i love a good mystery... keep us updated!
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Old 11-19-16, 07:21 PM
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I'm with Maddog on this.

If it were bearings, the noise would "move around" rather than happening at the same place in the stroke.

If it were the frame or crankset, it wouldn't happen with no power being put into the crank.

Check the trash guard and bearing RACES for signs of rubbing.
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Old 11-19-16, 07:49 PM
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First thing I thought of was a ring scuffing the ft der cage bottom edge. I will say that these press in bearing BB's do have a lot of noises. From bearing OD fit within the shell, from spindle fit in the bearing ID, from the various spacers and things on the spindle. We've even seen a loose spindle fit in the RH arm. Although if it weren't for the beginning of the vid where no one's on the bike I might guess a saddle source. Andy.
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Old 11-20-16, 01:26 AM
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It sounds like something in the bottom bracket to me. It looks like you've got the version of the frame with the press-fit BB86 bottom bracket. That's too bad---I hate all press-fit bottom brackets. Creaking is just one of their bad reputations. Another is service. I believe the Fuji Finest frame is also available with a threaded bottom bracket shell with a Shimano BB-RS500 bottom bracket. This would probably have been a wiser choice---if it was really available.

You need to remove the chain so you can test the bottom bracket bearings for resistance. Then press out the bottom bracket and inspect it and the shell. If the bottom bracket shell is not "true", then you have a defective frame and you need a new frame that has a true shell. You'll never get press-in bearings to line up properly if the shell is not true. I hope you can return the bike for a full refund if this problem cannot be solved to your wife's satisfaction.

Based on what you've written so far, I don't have much confidence that your local bike shop is staffed with a bike mechanic competent enough to deal with this. The bike needs to be checked by a mechanic with some good frame skills.

Kind regards, RoadLight
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Old 11-27-16, 09:09 PM
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Update: Took it back to the shop I bought it at, they said it wasn't torqued correctly. When I mentioned to the mechanic everything they had done to it, and it still wasn't fixed, he said "Wavy washer? This shouldn't have a wavy washer on it"

He then pulled it back apart, removed the wavy washer, and put the crank back together... without torquing the crank with a torque wrench (which is what he said the problem was when I first walked in). He said if it's still a problem he'll replace the BB and crank under warranty with something like a Praxis? BB that threads in.

Anyways, she rode the bike today, noise came right back, so I guess it's going back to get the crank and BB replaced.
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