Creaking sound when hot out – any ideas?

[peterw_diy]

+1 on Harry’s point about watching the Loctite formula numbers. Threads I’ve read on BB30 mention specific blends.

Ideally somebody here would chime in with experience. A few years back I gambled on Internet advice for a certain Loctite formula as a solution to a headset wobbling in an ovalized head tube. I bought a tiny bottle online and the folks at Bikes at Vienna fixed everything nicely (as Harry would likely predict, they didn’t have any on hand). Yes, I’ll need at least a hair dryer if I ever want to remove the current headset, and that’s better for my steel head tube than your aluminum BB shell.

[Dickie]

BB30’s are notoriously creaky and generally a pretty horrible design but due to cost savings and availability many of us are stuck with them. The good news is they are relatively easy to service on your own. I have a Cannondale Cross Bike and I overhaul the BB probably twice a year. I would guess every 2500 miles or so. There is little to prevent crap getting into the mechanism so riding in bad weather contributes to the problem. I rode this week in the rain and to no surprise my BB sounded like a wooden bed in a brothel this morning. Time to overhaul again….

[jnva]

@mstone 84151 wrote:

Remember that, like most things these days, canondale is just a nameplate trading on nostalgia. The company that made the brand by building bikes a couple hundred miles north of here is gone, the people who made the bikes are gone, and the company that bought the name now slaps it on the output of third party factories. Not a story unique to the bike industry.

Serious question – what bike company doesn’t do this? What company would you recommend?

[mstone]

@jnva 84161 wrote:

Serious question – what bike company doesn’t do this? What company would you recommend?

Many companies don’t do that; this isn’t about where the bikes are made, it’s about what label goes on the bike. I’d rather give my money to a company that has built its reputation on outsourced bikes than one that bought the label of a company that built its reputation building bikes in-house. I think there’s something basically dishonest in using a historic brand to prey on consumers who think the brand means something that it no longer does. With that in mind, I’m much happier with a company trying to make its way under its own name rather than buying someone else’s as a shortcut. See volagi for a current example, or giant for someone who did it a while back. (As contrasted with the modern “schwinn”, for example, which has nothing at all to do with the chicago company that many people remember–and is owned by the same multinational as canondale.)

[rpiretti]

First, 70 degrees is not hot!! I agree with most on the BB being the issues. It’s most likely the cups not being tight. This same issue and instances you describe happen to me a couple of times a year. Spokes out in Vienna overhauled mine recently but did a teflon tape around the threads (I’m guessing) to help prevent creaks and water from getting inside the bb just a bit more. Other thing is pedals, just remove them and regrease. If it’s truly the drivetrain I’d be willing to put money down that one of these tasks will be the fix.

[DismalScientist]

Are you sure it’s not your knees?:rolleyes:

[dkel]

@Dickie 84156 wrote:

I have a Cannondale Cross Bike and I overhaul the BB probably twice a year. I would guess every 2500 miles or so. I rode this week in the rain and to no surprise my BB sounded like a wooden bed in a brothel this morning. Time to overhaul again….

If I ride my Cannondale over to where your Cannondale is, would you be willing to demonstrate to me how I can service my own BB30, as you are doing yours? I’d like to be able to do that job myself, rather than taking it into the LBS, and there’s nothing like being shown how to do it by someone who knows what they’re doing.

[KLizotte]

@Dickie 84156 wrote:

BB30’s are notoriously creaky and generally a pretty horrible design but due to cost savings and availability many of us are stuck with them. The good news is they are relatively easy to service on your own. I have a Cannondale Cross Bike and I overhaul the BB probably twice a year. I would guess every 2500 miles or so. There is little to prevent crap getting into the mechanism so riding in bad weather contributes to the problem. I rode this week in the rain and to no surprise my BB sounded like a wooden bed in a brothel this morning. Time to overhaul again….

Aughh. I hate doing bike maintenace; I don’t have a workshop area where I live for it. I wish bike components were less high maintenance. I recall very fondly my steel touring Belgium-made bike that I had for 20+ years that never creaked or groaned (had an old fashioned square spindle) despite a complete lack of maintenance.

[KLizotte]

@DismalScientist 84171 wrote:

Are you sure it’s not your knees?:rolleyes:

Ha! No knee problems yet. Hand problems yes.

[KLizotte]

@peterw_diy 84155 wrote:

+1 on Harry’s point about watching the Loctite formula numbers. Threads I’ve read on BB30 mention specific blends.

Yes, I encountered the “which Loctite number do I use” debate online as well; it is enough to make your head spin, esp since advice from Canondale seems dodgy.

I don’t know if the mechanic used Loctite or not (I didn’t know to ask at the time); I think he just repacked the bearings (it was only a 20 minute job) and I could ride it immediately (I believe you have to let Loctite cure overnight). Right now it is quiet and I’m hoping it will remain silent till at least winter. If it gets noisy again, I’ll just ask for new bearings/re-build.

At this point, I’m more annoyed about how creaky the bike has been since the day I bought it. For my next bike, I hope to be able to try out a different brand but I’m limited to manufacturers that produce tiny bikes since I’m only 5’2″.

[Dickie]

@dkel 84173 wrote:

If I ride my Cannondale over to where your Cannondale is, would you be willing to demonstrate to me how I can service my own BB30, as you are doing yours? I’d like to be able to do that job myself, rather than taking it into the LBS, and there’s nothing like being shown how to do it by someone who knows what they’re doing.

Certainly, I will probably be dealing with it in the next week… I’ll PM you with a head’s up.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Dickie 84197 wrote:

Certainly, I will probably be dealing with it in the next week… I’ll PM you with a head’s up.

I’ll just add here that there’s a difference between overhauling the BB bearings and cleaning the BB/crank interface. 9 times out of 10, all a PF30 or BB30 system needs is some cleaning.

[KLizotte]

@Harry Meatmotor 84269 wrote:

I’ll just add here that there’s a difference between overhauling the BB bearings and cleaning the BB/crank interface. 9 times out of 10, all a PF30 or BB30 system needs is some cleaning.

Newbie question: what is the difference between a) overhauling, b) repacking and c) simple cleaning of BB bearings? I presume (a) entails new bearings, (b) entails popping out and cleaning in solvent then regreasing, and (c) is a simple wipe down. But I may be very, very wrong….

I think my BB was simply cleaned by the LBS mechanic and now it is super quiet – no more creaks! Perhaps the moral of the story is to start simple and work up from there.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@KLizotte 84272 wrote:

Newbie question: what is the difference between a) overhauling, b) repacking and c) simple cleaning of BB bearings? I presume (a) entails new bearings, (b) entails popping out and cleaning in solvent then regreasing, and (c) is a simple wipe down. But I may be very, very wrong….

I think my BB was simply cleaned by the LBS mechanic and now it is super quiet – no more creaks! Perhaps the moral of the story is to start simple and work up from there.

depending on the BB system, OSBB, PF30, BB30, BB86 / PF86 or whatever, they all kinda work the same. There’s a pair of large sealed cartridge bearings that are held into the frame through an interference fit. Some systems have differing amounts of interference (the amount of force needed to press the bearings into the shell varies). The cranks have an integrated spindle that passes through plastic bushings that contact the inner race of the cartridge bearings. cleaning the spindle, the interface between the spindle and the non-drive crank arm, and the plastic bushings then applying some decent grease to all the bearing surfaces and re-installing everything is usually enough to quiet most systems. Sometimes there are thrust washers that can get chewed up and need to be replaced before a BB will quiet down, too. Sometimes you’ll need to press the bearings out of the shell and clean the shell to get things to quiet down. Sometimes the crank spindle will get worn and never sit flush within the bushings, or the bushings between the bearing inner race and crank spindle will become worn or even crack – there’s no way to fix either of these situations without replacing parts. Also, good quality grease goes a long way in today’s modern BB systems. I’m partial to high quality automotive grease like Mobil One full synthetic or Redline CV Joint grease.

now, overhauling is a bit different than just cleaning all the load bearing surfaces. Truly overhauling a sealed cartridge bearing system is generally not needed unless the grease inside the bearings is dirty. if there’s a grumbly/rumbly noise coming from the BB when you spin the crank arms, you probably need to overhaul or replace the bearings. and in that case, replacing the bearings is simpler than cleaning and repacking them. In fact, to pull the seals on a cartridge bearing typically ruins the seal (unless you’re really careful), so unless the bearings are designed to be overhauled, i.e. like Chris King bearings, then it’s smarter to just replace them.

[KLizotte]

Thanks! That helps a lot!

[Author]

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