Creaking, have I missed anything?

[irie]

Mine started creaking at the weekend too, damn it!

Now I have the fun task that is the bike equivalent of trying to find a fart in jacuzzi!

With our alloy Rails it was often the battery cover (which carries the battery) moving slightly and creaking. Solved that problem by removing the (relatively heavy) battery locks etc. and carefully seating and bolting the batteries in with 'printed' brackets and Torx bolts.

 

[MeatBike]

It gets better over time though. I can find a creak on my Trek Fuel in 1-2 minutes usually, mostly because there's really very few things for a particular noise. I've got 3 general locations it could be.

1. Lower pivot just above BB
2. Seatpost needs cleaning/clamp
3. back ABP bearing area.

It seems with the Fuel that the other points don't really make a noise... i'd say 85% of the time it's the pivot just above the BB, gets gritty round there, a bit dry on the spacers, quick strip and clean and we're silent again.

With our alloy Rails it was often the battery cover (which carries the battery) moving slightly and creaking. Solved that problem by removing the (relatively heavy) battery locks etc. and carefully seating and bolting the batteries in with 'printed' brackets and Torx bolts.

I normally blame the BB for creaks but there's a motor there now, which being Shimano makes it's own unique noises

On my last full suss I chased a creak all around the bike and it turned out to be saddle rails so I'll start with that first since I spend more time seated on the ebike.

My order of investigation will be:

1. Saddle rails
2. Seatpost / clamp
3. Fork CSU (flip bike over, remove front wheel and twist fork legs)
4. Motor bolts
5. Headset (would normally be easy but it's ICR)
6. Shock Busings
7. Pivot/linkage bolts (there are two behind the seat post where I have no idea how I'll get my torque wrench in)

No battery cover on the Rise but I'll check the fixing bolts under the downtube too.

I can rule out cranks and pedals as I had those off last week when fitting some Burgtec MK4s.

 

[RustyMTB]

Not a creak but on Saturday I had a weird one where the bike switched itself off. After switching it back on again, the controller didn't work. Bit of head scratching later, I sussed out the allen bolt that clamps the controller connector into the Kiox had rattled loose & the connector had worked its way out, presumably causing the system to shut itself down.

So, lessons are bikes can always do something you haven't seen before, bolts are forever making escape attempts & never leave home without a multi tool.

 

[Weeksy]

(there are two behind the seat post where I have no idea how I'll get my torque wrench in)

They're the most ridiculous design ever... because yes, you're right, you cannot

 

[vman]

Hey guys I've done a search hammered chatgpt and googled this and before I inspect one more thing wanted some input as I've never had this type of creak before in all my 20 years of riding mtb.

Things I've done to address the creak first and then I'll mention the symptoms

1. Retorqued all usual stuff, headset preload, stem bolts, handlebar bolts, calipers, motor mount bolts, seat post, linkage bolts, pedal threads, crank arms, etc pretty much everything
2. Regressed all of the above while I was at it, and axles
3. Sprayed silicone absolutely everywhere on moving parts
4. Retensioned spokes
5. And some more I think

I've been chasing a creak for the past 100km on my relatively new Whyte Kado RS which has in total 235km on it.
It happens when pedalling under load and only when under pedal load, it doesn't creak with every pedal rotation but will creak again if I apply more torque. Basically imagine the bottom of a climb you start peddling > creak > silent > get to the top > stop pedalling > creak > coast > start pedalling > creak. Its also very noticeable using extended boost, quarter crank > creak > stop pedalling > coast a meter > extended boost cuts out > creak.

Interestingly it also creaks when I stop pedalling or applying torque. Happens regardless of whether the motor is on or off, seated of standing, I've bounced on the seat stationary and nothing so definitely seems drive train related rather than linkage or motor related.

I think I've narrowed it down to it being the cassette usually at this point having to spend 20 to 40 quid on tools I'd just book it into the LBS but I've decided nah, I'll fix it myself. Whipping cassettes off and dealing with rear hubs has never been something I've spent a lot of time dealing with so any tips would be good.

Anyone else had anything similiar? What was the fix? Chatgpt says whip the cassette off and clean + regrease before refitting but I'd rather some human input here as the new chatgpt update can get pretty blasé with hallucinations

Any help appreciated TIA

I had a similar frustrating experience with a Trek Rail 9.7- it was a creak only under load. After ruling out the motor, drivetrain forks, headset, and shocks ( I swapped parts from other bikes one by one) I was convinced a suspension bearing had failed. I pushed out all the bearing and found one (the lower shock mount) that was super tight (turns our the factory had not bored a clean hole it was a tiny bit oblong - Trek was great and replaced frame under warranty.

 

[OffitThatM8]

Thought I'd chime back in, it appears something I did which I covered in my last reply has fixed the creak, no more annoying noises coming from the bike!

Emarrased to admit I think It's likely I the fact I wasn't torquing the rear axle down enough

 

[Bad-Latitude]

I had a creak I could not figure out. I replaced all pivot bearings. Greased everything. Torqued everything. Was stumped. Then I moved my seat post up about 1/8 of an inch (3 mm for you Europeans haha) because I realized it was bottomed out in the frame and the creak was gone. I wasted so much time and money when in the end it was a 15 second fix. . Good news is my bike was basically all new afterwards haha live and learn.

 

[MeatBike]

I think I've solved my annoying noise. It wasn't the seatpost or saddle so I partially disassembled the headset as much as I could without disconnecting cables and hoses, cleaned the bearings, crown race and steerer and repacked it with grease. Had two rides on it since and no clicking/creaking so hopefully that's it sorted.