Crank and BB removal
 

Hi all. I've not been in the forum's for a long time but recently got my bike out again and been getting out for some much needed exercise. My 15 year old Marin Point Reyes is still in great condition but after covering a couple of hundred miles in the last few weeks, I've developed a creak which sounds like it's coming from the left crank or bottom bracket. It clicks/creaks once per revolution when I'm putting quite a bit of pressure on the non drive side. I had a creak just like this not long after buying the bike from new and a mechanic tightened something up back then but I'm not sure what.
I'd like to look into getting the necessary tools to remove the cranks and BB to service and grease up and hopefully eliminate the creak. It's next to impossible to get any help right now with shops providing little to no service.
What do I need guys? Any help would be much appreciated. I'm in the U.K. just West of London
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Thermite,
A number of things can cause a creak, loose crank arm, a loose screw in a pedal cage, or even slightly loose pedals. And it could be a loose bolt on a chain ring that only moves wen the pressure is made on the left arm. The quick way to find the source is a bit of light oil applied to each part in sequence until the noise goes away. Then focus in on that part. HTH, MH

I adjusted the seat angle on one of my road bikes last week...and when I went out and rode it, it had a squeak/creak. At first it sounded like it was coming from the BB area. It was only happening when I'd pedal. But then after more inspection I realized it was coming from the seat clamp. Apparently I didn't re-tighten it enough after the seat adjustment. I put a bit more torque on the seat clamp bolt and that eliminated the noise.

Dan

Thanks. I have checked the bolts where I can including on the chain ring. I think I've ruled out pedals as I've been putting weight on the crank arm itself. I've also ruled out handlbars/headset and saddle/seat post. I'm almost certain it's down at the bracket or crank arm joining the axle. I've ordered one of those all in one 8mm hex and isis drive removal tools and also the 8 pronged tool to remove the BB as well. We'll see how I get on. If anyone has any suggestions or tips on the best way to refit this, grease, thread lock, teflon plumbers tape etc, I'd be willing to try anything.

Thanks Dan. I've tested riding and simulating riding while not touching my seat or seat post so I don't think it's that in this case.

Sounds like you have classic bottom bracket creak. The tru ativ crankset is a self extracting crank. Pretty easy to remove. Check out the Park Tool video for your crank on youtube (apparently I don't have enough post to add a link).

This. Remove and clean (degrease) the bottom bracket and bb shell threads, put a bit of blue locktite on the threads and tighten to spec.

Thanks guys. I've got blue Loctite. Do I only apply that to the bb? No grease required?

Not all Truvative cranks are self-extracting but most are . Mine is not (10+ year old Tourno). I think yours is though. You will know when you remove the hex bolt. Also my bb is not something that is worth taking apart to grease it is not that expensive to buy a new one. I'm by no means a professional or authority on bike repairs but given that the threaded ring on the bb is steel and if the frame is AL I would just grease the threads on the frame when re-installing.

Ok thanks. Well after watching a few YouTube videos and reading up, I assumed I needed one of these extractors so I went and ordered one. I thought Isis drive cranks required one to safely remove the crank arms.

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My guess is the crank bolt is a smidgen loose. Get an 8 mm hex wrench and, if you can tighten the bolt in the middle of the left crank, do so. It takes a lot of torque to get it right.

Thanks. I'll give it a try but I'd like to get everything apart as it's now 15 years old and never had a proper service.
Got large and small torque wrenches on the way too.

Depends on whether you want to do it all over again. If you want to take it all apart anyway, remove everything, regrease and tighten again. And if that doesn't work, remove everything, clean it all, use blue locktite with no grease and tighten.

Thanks. I'll check it all out in a few days when I've got the necessary tools.

Can anyone advise which direction the threads are going to be on these crank arms and bottom brackets each side please?

I cracked the bolt on the non drive side crank last night and it was super tight so I don't think this had become loose and not likely to be causing the creak. This also isn't a self extracting version so I definitely need the extractor tool I bought. I'll move onto the BB later and check everything out.

Ok so I've taken both crank arms off and got the BB out to check and clean up. Bearings feel good. I've cleaned up the shell and all threads and cups and regreased. I noticed that the thread on the drive side cup still had plenty of grease as well as a blue compound mixed in unless the grease itself was blue when they put it on. The non drive side cup thread was pretty dry with barely anything on it. I've grease and reinstalled now. Yet to give it a ride but fingers crossed. I can't make it creak by jumping up and down on anything yet.
One thing I noticed is that there was a ring/washer on the drive side behind the cup but nothing on the the non drive side. Is that normal? Also, the cup doesn't seem to go all the way in before reaching torque limit on the non drive side and I can still see a little bit of exposed thread which is loosely covered by a rubber o-ring. Is this normal due to the width of the shell?


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So it seems I was wrong about it being a crank arm or BB. After a bit more riding and checking it turns out the noise is coming from the rear brake caliper. It would appear that when there's torque going through the rear wheel and/or frame, the disk is brushing one of the pads which seems to be a tiny bit loose in the caliper making a clicking noise when I'm pedaling quite hard. Amazing how these noises can be really misleading.
Going to check the caliper and pads tomorrow. Might be a weak spring.

I can relate. I had a creak. Tightened seat post and rail clamp, and 75% went away, but still there during heavy pressure (climbing, etc). Disassembled and greased BB and replaced crank arms, creak disappeared. Managed to strip crank arm because pedal was slightly loose (I guess) - re-installed old driveside crank arm until new one arrives, and now full creak seems to be back. Hopefully it'll disappear again when new crankset is installed. It's like having a squeaky sneaker - no big deal but annoying.

Hopefully you get that sorted.
Went for a ride today after adjusting the rear caliper since taking out the pads and pushing the pistons back in. No noise when pedaling apart from the wind now. Really pleased it's just the loose brake pad making that noise and not the bb.