Creaking with a Trek 5200

wowkster said:

I have a 2002 Trek 5200 and have had off and on problems with creaking comming from the bottom bracket. I grease the drivetrain and it stops for 200 miles or so then it comes back. Do Carbon frames just creak? I had an aluminum Cervelo and never had any creaking. Thanks to anyone who can help.

First make sure that it is really coming from the Bottom Bracket.
Check for security of the threaded section of the bottom bracket "shell" within the OCLV.... as there have been issues at that location in the past.
You can also try wrapping the male theads of the Bottom Bracket with teflon tape used in plumbing and available at most hardware stores or home centers.
I have used a combination of teflon tape and anti-sieze compond to resolve that problem with my OCLV Trek.

wowkster said:

I have a 2002 Trek 5200 and have had off and on problems with creaking comming from the bottom bracket. I grease the drivetrain and it stops for 200 miles or so then it comes back. Do Carbon frames just creak? I had an aluminum Cervelo and never had any creaking. Thanks to anyone who can help.

It's got a threaded aluminum sleeve in the BB shell,so it's not about CF frames.

What exactly do you mean by "grease the drivetrain"?

http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/techctr/maintenance/crank_noises.html

Thanks for the replies. The local bike shop did what daveornee suggested lubing where the bottom bracket meets the frame including adding teflon tape. This was done at least 4 times. Thanks for any further suggestions.

Matt

Carbon by itself is not noisy, but carbon frames tend to amplify any sounds made by the other components. I ride a carbon Trek Y-Foil, which has a large carbon frame section that really resonates. You should hear the normally loud Rolf/DT freehub on a Foil frame - sounds like a machine gun.

When I first put the bike together, I had a creaking sound from the BB - turned out it was the crank arms just a bit loose. A couple of successive tightenings eliminated that.

If greasing the BB bearings makes your creaking go away for a while, it may be time to think about replacing the BB - they aren't that expensive.