[hawkinspeter]

I had noticed a creak/noise from my bike, especially when accelerating from stopped. It sounded almost like the chain clunking into position, so I ended up replacing my outer chainring as it was a few years old, but the noise persisted. I was contemplating whether it was pedals, bottom bracket bearing or even rear cassette, but yesterday I discovered the answer.

I was just starting off on a ride and heading uphill on my road – negotiated my way round a van coming downhill and then got off the saddle to accelerate and start warming up. Hit the deck almost outside my front door and luckily got a lightly grazed knee and knuckle out of it, though my handlebars looked very skewed. The van driver did stop and check that I was okay which was nice of him.

So, sometimes a creaky noise isn’t what you think it is.

Topic

[PRSboy]

A noise like a chain clunking

A noise like a chain clunking into position you say?

Hmm, mines started doing that noise.  Will check the crank condition carefully.

[IanMSpencer]

I had this last year, as
I had this last year, as others have said, a known problem.

I am not a strong rider and tend to spin up hills rather than grind. My suspicion is that I used my Giant Defy through winter in some fgrim conditions – but when doesn’t a British rider not ride in those?

As to the point of keeping checking, “bottom bracket creaks” have turned out to be wheel bearings, freehub bearings, cranks, headsets, saddles, dry chains and so on across my riding group, you need to do careful elimination.

The crank was easy enough to spot once of decided to look properly, grasping the crank and applying a lot of sideways force.

This week on a ride the shout of “Mechanical” went up, and a rider said he thought his bottom bracket had gone. I saw a lot of flex in the frame, but no clunking or odd movement. The rest of the group were preparing to remount, but it didn’t make sense, so I looked back along the drive train then grasped the rear wheel which wobbled alarmingly, “Bearings gone” I declared, but then wobbling the wheel, I thought too much movement – broken axle? Looked again and the chain-stay weld on his PlanetX titanium bike, about 9 years old had entirely failed. He walked home.

The lesson is, don’t guess, prove.

[hawkinspeter]

Well, just went for a little

Well, just went for a little ride and I think I can cope with the gearing – it doesn’t seem to make any difference if you always get off and push as soon as there’s an uphill gradient.

Annoyingly, I’ve still got some noises from my drivetrain, so the next step is to replace the chain and cassette which was on my agenda (possibly change the bottom bracket bearing too).

[hawkinspeter]

Unfortunately these ones can
Unfortunately these ones can only be removed by Allen key. They’ve got a nut, but that removes the body from the spindle (with the spindle still attached to the crank). It has occurred to me that I might have been inadvertently tightening rather than loosening the pedals, but I’m all in on new pedals now anyway.

[Seventyone]

Depending on the pedals you
Depending on the pedals you might be able to use a 15mm spanner to get them out? That might work better when you have the Shimano detachable crank situation

[hawkinspeter]

wycombewheeler wrote:

hirsute wrote:

53/39 – they make ’em tough in Bristol.

Looks like I will be checking my cranks regularly from now on !

certainly I’d only be using a 53/39 if I lived somewhere much flatter than Bristol

Me waiting for my new pedals so I can see if I’ve made a mistake with my gearing

[wycombewheeler]

hirsute wrote:

53/39 – they make ’em tough in Bristol.

Looks like I will be checking my cranks regularly from now on !

certainly I’d only be using a 53/39 if I lived somewhere much flatter than Bristol

[hawkinspeter]

mdavidford wrote:

Your comment obviously has a vital couple of watts saving over mine.

It’s not always a race!

Protip: it’s always a race (unless you get overtaken in which case you’re on a recovery ride, you’ve got blisters, tyres are running flat and you’re worried your crank will snap if you give it some welly)

[mdavidford]

Your comment obviously has a

Your comment obviously has a vital couple of watts saving over mine.

[hawkinspeter]

Steve K wrote:

How are you going to work out which pedals are slower?

Obviously, I’ll fit the left from one set and the right from the other set and after a few pedal rotations, I can measure how much one crank has caught up with the other.

[mdavidford]

hawkinspeter wrote:

I’ll just return the slowest pair.

Are you going to be testing them in the wind tunnel?

[Steve K]

How are you going to work out

How are you going to work out which pedals are slower?

[hawkinspeter]

Got my new crankset and

Got my new crankset and fitted it and adjusted my front derailleur for the different height (also changed the settings in the Shimano software, though I think the synchro shifts are in the same place anyway).

Unfortunately, my new pedals are coming from Bikester.co.uk and it looks like they’re being sent from outside the UK, so I’ve now ordered a pair from ProBikeKit.co.uk which should arrive tomorrow. I’ll just return the slowest pair.

[HoarseMann]

hawkinspeter wrote:

I’m now wondering if I should have bought a 105 in replacement

Well, it’s not a wrong choice to favour performance over durability and as you say, you’ll know what to look out for now.

[hawkinspeter]

hirsute wrote:

hirsute wrote:

<gulp>

It seems to be an issue with all their hollow bonded Ultegra and Dura-Ace sets.

[Author]

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