Other Chasing a "creak" noise

[andrewgc]

I have three Treks; Rail 7 G2, EX 8 G5 and the current offering EX 8 G6. Absolutely love my Rail, and it has been flawless for about 150 hours now.
On both my Rail 7 and EX 8 G5, I had the usual creaks and squeaks, however with a little cleaning and lubing of pivots, those were all easily solved.

HOWEVER, with my 3 month old EX 8 G6, I am chasing a squeak/creak noise that I have not been able to cure. I have a very long list of things that I have done, Parts that I have switched over from my other Treks, Parts that I have removed just to eliminate potential reasons for noises. I am almost positive it is coming from the headset area. I have had that apart a few times, cleaned, greased, reassembled, but with no improvement. The lower bearing is just a standard 1.5" 36° x 45° cartridge bearing. It does however have a strange wear mark on the outer race where it contacts the pressed in bearing cup. A local 30year Trek technician looked at it and said it was just fine. He said to just reassemble with grease, and torque the 4nm screw to 7-8nm before tightening the stem pinch bolts and that would quieten it down. Sadly that made no difference. Open to thoughts and questions. Thank you, Andrew Cooksey

 

[Stihldog]

Ooooo…I love a good mystery …but not on my bike.

I have similar bikes to you but shortly after I purchased Rail 9.7 the creaking noise began. It was still under warranty at the time. I insisted that the LBS replace all the suspension bearings with better quality …for a small price of course.

I also purchased some assembly grease since I was going to upgrade a few things. (Reverb dropper, carbon bar, stem, carbon cranks, pedals etc).
I haven’t had a creaking noise since. I also upgraded the usual suspects (seat, brake system, rotors, grips etc) and eventually had my forks and shock serviced.

I haven’t noticed any creaking on the Fuel EXE…yet! It’s really friggen quiet.

 

[andrewgc]

Ooooo…I love a good mystery …but not on my bike.

I have similar bikes to you but shortly after I purchased Rail 9.7 the creaking noise began. It was still under warranty at the time. I insisted that the LBS replace all the suspension bearings with better quality …for a small price of course.

I also purchased some assembly grease since I was going to upgrade a few things. (Reverb dropper, carbon bar, stem, carbon cranks, pedals etc).
I haven’t had a creaking noise since. I also upgraded the usual suspects (seat, brake system, rotors, grips etc) and eventually had my forks and shock serviced.

I haven’t noticed any creaking on the Fuel EXE…yet! It’s really friggen quiet.

Thank you for the reply!!! Since I posted my question, I have determined that the noise IS NOT coming from the head set. I do aplogize for proving WRONG information. The noise is coming from the front SLX disc brake caliper. When apply brake, pad moves against the internal stop within the caliper, and makes the noise. When hit a bump, pad move away from the internal stop. Next time apply the brake, the pad moves to the internal stop and makes the noise. The process repeats over and over.
My bad for not figuring this out sooner, but, the noise sounds like a frame creak, so that delayed me figuring it out. about to post a vid to YT, will post link later. THANKS!!!

 

[Stihldog]

Mystery solved .

Thank goodness it wasn’t a micro crack in the frame.