Squeek/creak on downstroke

"Travis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

There is a noise coming from my bike, sounds like from the crank, every
time I pedal down with my left foot. There is a much quieter squeek on
the right foot. (My right foot is the stronger one by the way, and no
matter how hard I stomp on the right it doesn't make the loud noise).

Is this likely to mean my crankset is fsked or does it just need a bit
of lubrication? I only had it serviced a few weeks ago and they
supposedly lubricated the crank at the time.

Travis

Check your pedal and grease the threads if they are not already (remember
that LH pedal has LH thread). I once had a creak that I was sure was in the
BB and it ended up being fixed once I took out the seatpost and greased it
up a bit. I would still give the pedal a try first though.

Gags

[PHP][/PHP]

Travis said:

There is a noise coming from my bike, sounds like from the crank, every
time I pedal down with my left foot. There is a much quieter squeek on
the right foot. (My right foot is the stronger one by the way, and no
matter how hard I stomp on the right it doesn't make the loud noise).

Is this likely to mean my crankset is fsked or does it just need a bit
of lubrication? I only had it serviced a few weeks ago and they
supposedly lubricated the crank at the time.

Travis

[PHP][/PHP]

aah the pure unbridled joy of squeak diagnosis ..... could
it be loose crank .....
could it be the bottom bracket ... ....could it be the pedal .. ... ..
could it be the seat pole ... ... .... could it be the bars /stem
..... ......could it be a loose spoke ... ...could it be a squeaky cleat
could it be your seat shimmying on the rails

I'd be surprised if the "squeak" came from a bottom bracket thats recently been repacked and greased. On that basis, try the following:

1. check crank arms nice and tight. If loose - tighten - you'll need to remove dust covers etc - easy job.
   
2. sure its not squeaky cleats? - try some lube
   
3. sure its not squeaky pedals? - remove them, grease threads and put them back on, service the pedals - more lube
   
4. make sure its not the seat post - does it make the noise when you are standing?
   
5. check that seat is firmly attached at rails - this is a sneaky squeak
   
6. check other suspect areas - headset, handle bars moving in stem, bolts holding chainrings,
   

if despite all this you still have problem, you might need more "professional" help re the bottom bracket.

The creak does not necessarily mean that the BB is cactus. It may just not be seated properly. If it is rooted - its a reas cheap part - around $50-70 for an ultegra bottom bracket

Travis said:

Is this likely to mean my crankset is fsked or does it just need a bit
of lubrication? I only had it serviced a few weeks ago and they
supposedly lubricated the crank at the time.

Noises on bikes are a right bugger to track down. It's something moving
that shouldn't be, or something rubbing that shouldn't be. But the
vibrations can travel through the tubes and make it sound like your
headset is failing when it's your rear axle that's playing up.

Anyway, have a good close look at all the the critical bits for little
crack (frame, forks, bars, etc). Then pull, lube, and reattach anything
you can. You can also isolate things by trying to force the creak -
something that only happens when you're seated is probably seat or post.
Try pedalling with one leg at a time, standing on the chainstays, and
jiggling various bits.

It's unlikely to be a damaged crank unless it's ever been attached too
loosely. One reasonably common glitch is some grime in the BB threads
moving. If the BB was pulled and reinstalled some grit might have worked
its way in.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
If you call blowing things up experiments, there were a lot of
chemistry experiments. -- Neal Stephenson

Does it also happen when you're walking to the toilet?

With everything there is a 'common state' in which it finds itself after a period of time. With bicycles which accumilate any decent sort of milage, there will develop a squeak somewhere.
The effort to remove these squeaks have kept may cyclists up all night, have caused long established bike shop relationships to be destroyed & in some cases forced a premature sale of a much loved & highly valued mount.

Marx SS said:

The effort to remove these squeaks have kept may cyclists up all night, have caused long established bike shop relationships to be destroyed & in some cases forced a premature sale of a much loved & highly valued mount.

maybe they repacked it with a kitten ?? and maybe something on the left hand side is hitting the kitten forcing it to squeak.

[DISCLAIMER] This post was made in jest and was intended to force a response from the cat lovers[/DISCLAIMER]

On 2006-06-12, MikeyOz (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Marx SS said:

The effort to remove these squeaks have kept may cyclists up all night,
have caused long established bike shop relationships to be destroyed &
in some cases forced a premature sale of a much loved & highly valued
mount.

maybe they repacked it with a kitten ?? and maybe something on the left
hand side is hitting the kitten forcing it to squeak.

This post was made in jest and was intended to force a
response from the cat lovers

For that, you have to crosspost to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes, IIRC.

I'm sure everyone has a canary under their cat's *ah-HEM*, car's
accelarator, don't they?

--
TimC
Computer screens simply ooze buckets of yang.
To balance this, place some women around the corners of the room.
-- Kaz Cooke, Dumb Feng Shui

TimC said:

I'm sure everyone has a canary under their cat's *ah-HEM*, car's
accelarator, don't they?

Only after someone says "doesn't that squeak drive you nuts"?

My current car doesn't, but I had one that did it in the wet. Never
bothered me enough to try fixing.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it
flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
- Matt Groening

Marx SS said:

Does it also happen when you're walking to the toilet?

With everything there is a 'common state' in which it finds itself after a period of time. With bicycles which accumilate any decent sort of milage, there will develop a squeak somewhere.
The effort to remove these squeaks have kept may cyclists up all night, have caused long established bike shop relationships to be destroyed & in some cases forced a premature sale of a much loved & highly valued mount.

ha! we spent 90min last night trying to pinpoint the origin of a nasty pinging creak my partners aluminum track bike has developed - happens on each forceful pedal stroke. We determined where it wasn't, and that it happens cos the frame is flexing on each stroke, and is eminating in the middle section of the downtube. No visible signs of cracks, damage etc (we went over it with a microscope!) so I reckon the tubing is ever so marginally out of true, and the frame is flexing more than it would normally cos of this, causing the noise.

Travis said:

There is a noise coming from my bike, sounds like from the crank, every
time I pedal down with my left foot. There is a much quieter squeek on
the right foot. (My right foot is the stronger one by the way, and no
matter how hard I stomp on the right it doesn't make the loud noise).

Is this likely to mean my crankset is fsked or does it just need a bit
of lubrication? I only had it serviced a few weeks ago and they
supposedly lubricated the crank at the time.

Travis

My irritating creak in the drivetrain turned out to be the headset. Got
the LBS to look at it specifically at last service and told them they
could replace it if need be. They just lubed it up real nice and the
sqeak was gone. All concerned were happy. Until the next ride in the
rain. Now it's back, good as new...

Travis said:

There is a noise coming from my bike, sounds like from the crank, every
time I pedal down with my left foot. There is a much quieter squeek on
the right foot. (My right foot is the stronger one by the way, and no
matter how hard I stomp on the right it doesn't make the loud noise).

Is this likely to mean my crankset is fsked or does it just need a bit
of lubrication? I only had it serviced a few weeks ago and they
supposedly lubricated the crank at the time.

Travis

Hi,

Whenever I get a creaking or squeaking from one side as you have described,
the answer has been to treat the pedals/cleats with plenty of chain lube,
or some other thick oil. That works with my SPDs, anyway.

Cheers,

Vince

blah said:

My irritating creak in the drivetrain turned out to be the headset. Got
the LBS to look at it specifically at last service and told them they
could replace it if need be. They just lubed it up real nice and the
sqeak was gone. All concerned were happy. Until the next ride in the
rain. Now it's back, good as new...

I have had some squeaking and groaning on my bike as well... was a little worried... being CF... I was waiting for it to break apart on me, anyway was overdue for a good clean... so cleaned it up, real good.

all squeaks gone..... and squealing breaks as well..... amazing what a good clean will do.

TimC said:

For that, you have to crosspost to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes, IIRC.

I'm sure everyone has a canary under their cat's *ah-HEM*, car's
accelarator, don't they?

Or even alt.bicycles.crank.cotter.pins. My townies cranks eminate a curious squeak now & again, but that's due to rather old components. No kitties involved. 😉

MikeyOz said:

blah said:

My irritating creak in the drivetrain turned out to be the headset.
Got
the LBS to look at it specifically at last service and told them they
could replace it if need be. They just lubed it up real nice and the
sqeak was gone. All concerned were happy. Until the next ride in the
rain. Now it's back, good as new...

I have had some squeaking and groaning on my bike as well... was a
little worried... being CF... I was waiting for it to break apart on
me, anyway was overdue for a good clean... so cleaned it up, real
good.

all squeaks gone..... and squealing breaks as well..... amazing what a
good clean will do.

I get that problem too. It's normally my knees or lower spine creaking.
A hot bath always fixes it 🙂

Karen

Travis said:

There is a noise coming from my bike, sounds like from the crank, every
time I pedal down with my left foot. There is a much quieter squeek on
the right foot. (My right foot is the stronger one by the way, and no
matter how hard I stomp on the right it doesn't make the loud noise).

Is this likely to mean my crankset is fsked or does it just need a bit
of lubrication? I only had it serviced a few weeks ago and they
supposedly lubricated the crank at the time.

Travis

Another source of creak/squeak is the pedal/cleat.
Every few weeks I spray my (Look) cleats with
Armorall. Basically, it puts a thin layer of
wax on the cleat. This eliminates squeak, the
cleats rotate more freely and clicking in is a
bit easier.

Other than that, creaks for me in the past have
come from:
- insufficiently tightened pedals
- worn out head set
- insufficiently tightened saddle clamp
- worn/maladjusted/dry bottom bracket (most
commonly with the non-sealed variety).
- Fscking alloy handlebars/stem, dammit.

DeF.

--
e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au
To reply, you'll have to remove your finger.

DeF said:

Travis said:

There is a noise coming from my bike, sounds like from the crank, every
time I pedal down with my left foot. There is a much quieter squeek on
the right foot. (My right foot is the stronger one by the way, and no
matter how hard I stomp on the right it doesn't make the loud noise).

Is this likely to mean my crankset is fsked or does it just need a bit
of lubrication? I only had it serviced a few weeks ago and they
supposedly lubricated the crank at the time.

Travis

Another source of creak/squeak is the pedal/cleat.
Every few weeks I spray my (Look) cleats with
Armorall. Basically, it puts a thin layer of
wax on the cleat. This eliminates squeak, the
cleats rotate more freely and clicking in is a
bit easier.

<snip>

Candle wax works well also. Light the candle to soften the wax. Put it
out and smear it on the pedal.

Tam