Major creaking!

Per Hoffer:

Quoted message said:

Could it just be that the rear tire dropped out a miniscule amt when
changing skewers?

It could any one of many things.... but you probably already know that...

My strategy is to pick the low-hanging fruit first.
To wit:

1) Check everything to see if anything's loose.

2) Lube wherever it can be lubed.

3) Disassemble, grease, and reassemble: easiest stuff first.

Others will undoubtedly list the many parts that could be suspect.

But to the beginning of it all, I'd append checking for a frame or crank crack.
Twice now I've wasted day-after-day trying to find/fix a creak only to find out
the frame had cracked. First one was on my Ellsworth: a faulty weld where the
shock connects to the frame. Second one was on my Seven Duo: drive-side
dropout - discovered only when it finally separated.

Only one (thankfully!) crank failure - but I could have avoided that by finding
the crack that was there (and making a funny noise...) long enough for part of
the broken-off surface tb weathered/corroded.
--
PeteCresswell

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 19:24:18 -0800, "(PeteCresswell)" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

[snip]

But to the beginning of it all, I'd append checking for a frame or crank crack.
Twice now I've wasted day-after-day trying to find/fix a creak only to find out
the frame had cracked. First one was on my Ellsworth: a faulty weld where the
shock connects to the frame. Second one was on my Seven Duo: drive-side
dropout - discovered only when it finally separated.

I'll second that. It's worth cleaning up all the niggly little
re-entrant joints on the frame and giving them a damn good eyeballing.

I had a mystery creak on my previous bike. I gave up and handed it
over to the LBS for diagnosis. They called to say they'd found the
source of the creak. "Great!" I said. "Not so great" they replied
"your frame's cracked". They clean up all bikes they service so the
crack, which was at the seat tube / bottom bracket, was no longer
obscured by a thin film of oil & dust. Cue a frantic hunt for the
warranty card, but that's another story.