tightened up the chainring bolts...they were a little lose, but nothing serious.

just checked pedals. both are in tight as hell. i suppose i'll take it to the LBS tomorrow and see what they have to say about it. i'd rather mess it with myself, but it'll cost me more to buy a crank puller than it will to have them deal with it. especially since once i get the cranks off, i still have to figure out what the hells wrong with it.

anyone know what kind of BB this has?

had the same problem with truvativs creaky creaky pop pop sold the cranks and bb to a guy that weighs about 75# less and he says they are really stiff and he loves em

That's just wrong. You DO want to grease the spindle flats. It means the crank seats right down more easily, and then acts as anti-sieze. You should always do it.

If it's from the past 10 years, odds are it is a sealed cartridge style BB, in which case it is either the crank/spindle interface, the cranks themselves, or the bb itself (if all your information is accurate). You can't rebuild the BB, so if it is that, just junk it and buy a new one.

I would definitely yank the cranks and grease the spindle. Probably even pull the BB and regrease those threads.

once you pull cranks, how difficult is it to pull a BB? you need any type of fancy ****? ive tried to look it up on park a couple times, but since i dont know what style of BB it is, it's hard to figure out what i've gotta do. all the different terms (isis, etc) confuse me and my complete lack of knowledge.
it's a stock khs/mercier BB.

def not a clydsdale. 160ish.

Well, it's not fancy, but it is specialized. Usually costs about the same amount as a crank-puller. You need a BB tool to fit into the splines of the BB cups (not the spindle splines). Look at the cup of the bb, and you can see what the tool will have to look like to get it off. Then, when you finally have the right tool, put it on the BB after the cranks are on, and with the handle up, turn it towards the front of the bike. Do on both sides, and your BB is free.

I was having same problem also, sounds like, and am in the 200+ pounds range. I kept having to tighten the chainring bolts, but the problem would come back. Finally I got blue loctite and an actual chainring bolt tool rather than a wide slot screwdriver, and only very rarely have to tighten them anymore. I figure alternating hauling all my weight on the cranks when skidding and accelerating was enough to loosen the bolts over time.

Really?

Brand new Pista Concepts come with Sugino 75 which are loose bearing.

just took it to LBS. couldn't work on it today, but said they think it's possibly the BB not being tight enough or something like that. wont be able to check it out till next week, but said there's definitely something wrong.

just looked up BB...apparently it's simply 'cartridge'. i'm assuming that means sealed cartridge? i'm looking at nashbar right now, trying to find a replacement.... which of these would work for it?

For a Mercier Kilo TT, yes. Of course some high-end bikes have nice cup-and-cone BB's.

Depends on the cranks. If they are splined, what spline pattern (octalink, Isis (most likely), power spline)? What is the length of the spindle? Those are the main things to take into account.

haha. see, this is why i can't figure this **** out on my own. every time i think ive know something, all i really know is that i now have 8 more questions to answer.

cranks are truvative touro.
site claims 'square/power spline'.

It's either one or the other. If you've got the cranks off, take a look. If the spindle is square, it's a square taper. Otherwise, it's a power spline BB (if you trust the spec sheet) and a replacement will have the same spline pattern and spindle length, as well as a 68mm shell. Here is one with a 113mm spindle.

do i want 113mm? everything i've read seems to point in the 107/108/109 range. wouldnt 113 be too long?

MEASURE THE EXISTING ONE. All your problems are now solved, eat a cookie.

that's what i said a page ago :):)

well, for the record, it's also what i assumed from the beginning. ;)
but thank you for being right (for now anyway).
i was hoping the 'just tighten the pedals' guy was right, since that would have been a much easier fix, but oh well.

aeroplane,
thanks for your help.

I had the same problem a month ago. Just came down to me needing to grease up the BB (stock IRO cranks). Now if I could figure out why my bike makes a "shhhhook shhhhook shhhhhhook" sound when I'm pedaling..

is your chain too tight? that could be it. is it well lubed? otherwise it's probably just standard chain noise.

its also if your drive train is worn out, i have just been there/done that

i just fixed this, sometimes the cranks sit on the spindle a bit screwy (also if your spindle is in the wrong way this happens too, i wouldnt worry about this unless you put the bike together yourself though) - due to bad design or misplacement - you should def pick up a crank puller though. also i wouldnt tighten down your crankbolts too much - should only be 30lbs of torque i think on yer bb/crank. if you happen to pick up a crankpuller you might aswell clean everything up 100% denatured alcohol etc etc and check over whatever else everyone has said, sometimes its the littlest thing.

same problem
 

i have a 2006 specialized langster that i am having a problem with a popping when i am putting a lot of pressure on the pedals...i thought maybe it was the chain...maybe a stiff link or something but i just had the chain replaced and i still have the same problem....what should i try next? i have the stock sugino crank on it. any help would be appreciated...thanks

mine has started to do it worse since i posted this. can't get the bike in till thursday though.

i'm pretty damn sure it's just the BB needing to be tightened. go to your LBS. they should be able to fix it pretty quickly/easily/cheaply.

Girl, and you completely misunderstood me :)
I meant the bearings in the pedal, not where the pedals thread into the cranks. If that was loose, you'd know it in a hurry.

i'm sorry ma'am.