Strange noise

trek climber

As I was on on my Sunday spin yesterday afternoon, I noticed a strange noise coming from what sounded like my pedals. I noticed it a couple of times and it always happened when I was climbing and I had to get out of the saddle to keep up speed. The sound was like a cracking sound and it repeated as long as I was out of the saddle. When I wasn't, it stopped
Is this a sign of wear in the bottom bracket or is it a problem with the cranks or is it just my imagination !
Have never heard this before or at least never noticed it - any suggestions would be appreciated.

Limestone1

I've had something like that from the pedals - next time you stand adjust your feet to apply the pressure in a different spot and see if the noise goes or changes. A bit of grease around spring loaded part should sort it.

psycholist

could be your headset... make sure your cranks are on tight... headsets and bottom brackets are uasually sealed ... so if the sounds annoying you enough you might want to get them changed

unionman

Same thing at the moment with my bike. Do you use SPDs? My theory (as I still haven't figured it out) is that the pedals need adjustment, they are too tight.

The other possibility (and I'm hoping I'm wrong) is that it is the bottom bracket. But right now pedals are the more likely culprit.

TinyExplosions

Had the exact same thing, same symptoms, and tightening my headset sorted it. loosen the bolts on the stem, and tighten the top headset cap. Now I've no noise!

trek climber

unionman wrote: »

Same thing at the moment with my bike. Do you use SPDs? My theory (as I still haven't figured it out) is that the pedals need adjustment, they are too tight.

The other possibility (and I'm hoping I'm wrong) is that it is the bottom bracket. But right now pedals are the more likely culprit.

I have a pair of standard of Look pedals which I have a long time. I put them on the bike about two years so I think it is unlikely that they are too tight. How do you know if it is the bottom bracket that is causing the problem.
As Tiny suggested, I will try tightening the headset but again how tight should it be and can it be damaged by over-tightening.

unionman

...here's a man who does and to check the bottom bracket

TinyExplosions

trek climber wrote: »

I have a pair of standard of Look pedals which I have a long time. I put them on the bike about two years so I think it is unlikely that they are too tight. How do you know if it is the bottom bracket that is causing the problem.
As Tiny suggested, I will try tightening the headset but again how tight should it be and can it be damaged by over-tightening.

It should be tight enough. In my case, I could rotate the spacers underneath the stem (not easily, but I could), and now I can't

Gavin

trek climber wrote: »

I have a pair of standard of Look pedals which I have a long time. I put them on the bike about two years so I think it is unlikely that they are too tight. How do you know if it is the bottom bracket that is causing the problem.
As Tiny suggested, I will try tightening the headset but again how tight should it be and can it be damaged by over-tightening.

When trying to eliminate annoying noises, I spray what I think is the offending area in teflon lube. If the noise goes, I know I need to regrease something in the area, or oil it properly.

beans

Same here - creaking from the BB area, but oddly enough if I get caught in the rain the creaking stops, OR if i spin very perfect circles it'll stop also.

I'm going to disassemble the cranks and re-grease everything as a first step. The rain-thing is a puzzle to me though

Gavin

beans wrote: »

Same here - creaking from the BB area, but oddly enough if I get caught in the rain the creaking stops, OR if i spin very perfect circles it'll stop also.

I'm going to disassemble the cranks and re-grease everything as a first step. The rain-thing is a puzzle to me though

Water is a lubricant!

beans

Verb wrote: »

Water is a lubricant!

Ha! Suppose it is

omri

I had same problem in my MTB and now in my road bike. Most likely it's BB. What you want to try is to sit on saddle, put one leg on pedal, pull brake and push. If there's noise that means BB might get loose or it's worn out. The other way to check it would be holdind each crank in vertical position and try to move it (but not in direction of its normal spin). That was visible in my MTB. Tightening might do and I hope it will do with my bike now.

omri

This is the advice I got from Alex - bicycletutor.com:

This problem can often be fixed by simply removing your pedals and greasing the threads before re-installing. Give it a try and let me know how if that works.

I don't know what kind of grease I'm suppose to use ? Not the one I use for chain ? Any ideas ?

trek climber

omri wrote: »

This is the advice I got from Alex - bicycletutor.com:

This problem can often be fixed by simply removing your pedals and greasing the threads before re-installing. Give it a try and let me know how if that works.

Thanks for that - will try that this evening

Thomas_S_Hunterson

omri wrote: »

I don't know what kind of grease I'm suppose to use ? Not the one I use for chain ?

No, probably best to get a tube of lithium grease (about €2 from your LBS). Any good thick grease really.

Hermy

I've read that copper grease is good for this purpose.

beans

what kind of grease I'm suppose to use

Lithium grease tends to be used, cheaply available from bike shops and motor-factors everywhere It's white, and greasy.