Pedals were removed, threads were cleaned and re-greased before today’s ride. I checked all chainring bolts. A couple of them I was able to snug up about 1/8 turn (or less). All the chainring bolts on the 30 tooth chainring were all tight. When in the 30 tooth ring standing to climb it is moderately creaky. I rode 69 miles today and the sound persists.

i have not removed the bottom bracket yet, but plan to this afternoon to check the bearings, remove regrease or replace if needed. I’m tempted to purchase a Hope or Phil Wood outboard bearing Shimano 24mm bottom bracket as an upgrade if it is apparent that the 6600 bottom bracket is toast.

Good suggestion. I checked that. I removed my Ultegra 6500 12-23 9 speed cassette this morning. I had some rust on the rivets from the rain ride earlier in the week. I cleaned the titanium freehub body on my Dura Ace 7700 freehub and it was a bit dirty with a few silvery metal bits visible in the old grease but the splines weren’t chewed. I buttered on some Finish Line creamy Teflon grease (light coating) onto the splines then re-installed the 6500 cassette. I torqued the lockring to 29 ft/pounds. It is very secure - I would say low likelihood of the noise originating from this source.

I’m using DT-Swiss (Giant branded) ratcheting skewers which originally clicked when I failed to tighten them up enough. AFAIK they are now plenty snug though I suppose there is still a very slight chance that some clicking could be resulting from their use.

Mine has a little over 12,000 on it. It has been ridden in heavy rain several times a year for the past several years. When I spin the cranks I feel no play, and so far I have not felt any gravelly feelings in the bearings. When I disassemble I wonder if I will encounter moisture in the threads. I guess I’ll know here shortly.

One more quick update: I just removed the 6600 bottom bracket and the bearings feel perfect. No play at all, nice gooey resistance that feels like they did when the bottom bracket was brand new. I’m merely going to clean out the old grease (which was in surprisingly great condition), regrease and reassemble.

Now I’m really wondering about the Dura Ace PD-R9000 pedals. When I greased the threads on them this morning I did not feel any play but what I did feel was that they spun a little too freely like they need more grease and maybe a minor tightening of the cones. Can anyone help with the rebuild procedure for these Shimano pedals. I seem to remember that a 20 mm and 14 mm cone wrenches were involved...

Well, I have yet another update. I no longer believe that the creaking is emanating from the drivetrain. When I sit to climb there is no noise. It is only when I stand to climb on moderate to steep hills that I start to hear the clicking & creaking. My. I can hear the noise coming from the fork area (I think). My DT Swiss ratcheting front skewer is very tight. This leaves the headset. Tomorrow I plan to remove the fork, check for moisture and reassemble with a light coating of fresh grease. I rode in the rain several times recently. I’ve never really encountered creaking coming from the headset area but I suppose it does happen.

My temporary obsession with sorting out my crank and crank bearings led to me accidentally cramming out my Shimano Hollowtech ll pinch bolts. My Harbor Freight 1/4 torque wrench is so unpleasant to work with, that I became impatient and my 5 mm Allen bit wasn’t fully seated in the pinch bolts leading to them cramming out. Now I’m going to need to buy replacement bolts, arghh!