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Creaky Cranks
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
Hey, probably a fairly basic question but any help would be appreciated.
I noticed today that as I was riding, especially when putting more pressure on the pedals, the cranks seemed to be making a creaking noise that was gradually getting worse.
Do they just need tightening with an abnormally large sized allen key that doesn't exist in Dad's toolbox? Or is there something completely different that could be wrong.
Might not even be anything, but its good to know how to stop these things and hopefully have nothing fall off...
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in my experience, creaky cranks are usually more relevant to your bottom bracket, if your cranks are nice and tight as they should be, often the bottom bracket area may need a bit of a lube, or possibly the the axle inside can be slightly bent or warped.., have you had some big drops on excessive force on the pedals lately? ..these are a couple of problems ive had at times. I would recommend checking it out though, cause i left the creaking once for a long time, and ended up near fusing the axle to the bottom bracket which required getting machined out ($$$)! hope this helps..
In my experience creaks aren't usually from what you think they are. In that area I'd check for:
- loose crank bolts,
- cranks with obvious play on the BB Axle,
- Loose or worn pedals,
- Loose chainrings or chainring bolts,
- Loose BB shell.
Failing anything obvious I'd take it all to pieces, give it a good clean and grease and fit it all back together snug and see how that goes.
I once thought I had creaking cranks that after much pulling out of hair turned out to be a creaking saddle!
Ta,
Matt.
Lighting in the garage isn't too good now its dark, but I'll have a proper look at it all in the morning and hopefully I'll get it sorted before I head out to Akuna Bay.
Haven't had any big hits or anything like that that I can think of, not into too much of that, but I'm working on it.
And yes it is a road ride tomorrow, it's my roadie friends payback for a lap of Manly Dam.
I had that one before and although it seemed to be the cranks it was actually the seat post. Before messing with the cranks, just remove your seat post, apply some grease (only if non carbon) and go for a short ride.
I can't belive how many riders have mechanical hearing disabilities.
If you hear a clanging sound around your knees its time to tuck your loose nuts back in
and by the way I had a creak in my bottom bracket once, I pumped in the silicon lube and it went away which has me puzzled because having pulled a few apart in my time all thats down there there is two supposedly sealed bearings, go figure
Greg