[Closed] Diagnose my creaky piece of shit bike!!!

Stem bolts?

sorry yep - done that - regreased them!

Erm Push fit BB not quite in right? Not sure what BB standard a Bronson uses.

nope - its a thread BB - ive got a DUB sram one, and although its 9 months old, it still spins smooth and no notchiness and Ive that out and regreased the threads and torqued back up

Knees?

The Bronson is definitely not a shit bike.

Strange - but new wheelsets can make such a strange noise. When it's the wheelsets it's normal and will go away after 2 weeks of biking...

should have been more clear - the wheelset is older than the frame - wheelset was a brand new build dt swiss 240s in September 2018 - so 6 months old

Running out of options but maybe fork steerer csu.

Try leaning it while stationary and applying pressure to different parts of the bike, it'll help isolate where the creak is. Maybe

FWIW my money would be on the pivots.

Take headset apart and clean the bearings and frame up. Grease the outside of the bearings and put it back together. Could be the outside of the bearing rubbing in the frame. I have had this and it drove me mad for ages with the creak, headset was running smooth as well so I ruled it out at first. Turns out it was that all along.

When I’ve experienced similar sounds under similar conditions it ended up coming from the front end. Both times stripping the headset and stem / fork & stem / bar interfaces and cleaning thoroughly / re-greasing worked. A Renthal duo stem I think was the main culprit.

Fork CSU can give some horrible creaks that seems to resonate through the bike. I've also had a rear hub axle create a very annoying and hard to locate creak. If you're going to swap the fork maybe worth also trying different wheels.

Have you checked the bars and stem? A little grip paste on the surfaces can help stop creaks and movement

Dave, if you look on the mtbr forum I’m sure a few people were having issues with the lower shock mount creaking.

My guess is on pivot bearings, especially as it's doing it on the flat when leant over.

Could be CSU but should be possible to diagnose with a front brake on test?

My bike did the same until i replaced the pivot bearings and then it was silent. They span fine, I think they were just dry.

maybe a creaky rider - are your knees fine?

spray areas of the bike (one at a time) with bike spray then see f it goes away.

Last time I had a bad creak/crack/click noise it FINALY turned out to be the freehub pawls not engaging properly. After cleaning and greasing the badly sealed superstar hub the noise went away. Of course the frustrating thing about this sort of thing is it could be anything....but at least its another thing to try.

some good thoughts thanks

so to answer some of the above -

csu Im starting to wonder it could be that resonating through the bike - but im borrowing a set so I can soon rule that out or not

for bike being stationary I have tried and tried and tried to replicate it and it just wont make a sound at all, nothing, cranking it sideways, bouncing it, stamping hard on the pedals stationary doesn't recreate it, so to summise, its silent stationary

Ive had the pivots out, upper ones fine, and lower ones aren't the smoothest (like new) but still spin ok, regularly regreased using the grease port and purging it out which works as i see the old coming out... done this from new with grease gun etc

jsync - i was one of them guys on mtbr - i did have that problem from new , but that was a loud crack noise stationary, since fine since then, its not the same noise, that was a horrific one off crack noise

ndthornton - yep ive had the freehub off, its not got pawls as its a dt swiss so has a ratchet, but checked and all good

my stem is a renthal apex (the gold black one) ive regreased the stem bolts, but not done the stem face bolts, so I guess as a precaution I will try that also - though im doubtful its that tbh

My guess is on pivot bearings, especially as it’s doing it on the flat when leant over.

Hi Mate
I'd go with the above too. As you know SC bearings are free so nothing to loose. Even using the grease port one of mine (Nomad) wasn't greased up properly when I swapped them the other day. If they are the same bearings as the V2 Bronson, I've got the tools if you want to do it yourself? Its easy enough to do, worst bit is cleaning all the old grease up

hey bud - nice one - ill get some bearings ordered then, nowt to lose - it is weird that its louder/more creaks and clicks when its leaned over either side, at first I thought I thought it was just on steep climbs like upto charity - but since ive realised I can do it as long as im on the bike on the pedals on any flat ground with hardly any movement on the pedals but going from side to side....weird one, as I cannot for the life of me reproduce it when it stationary - even when im trying to throw it left to right...annoying as ****!

cheers for offer of tools to bud, I think they will be same bearings, but will let you know 🙂

front wheel out. bile upside down. stand on the bars and wrenvj the forks about.
CSU TEST from someone on here years ago. sorted me out!

yep I think that was probably me who started that thread 😉 haha!

I cannot replicate it that way by doing that, but my mates kindly lending me some forks to just test rather than sending the whole fork in first, its a quick sure fire way to see if its them

my stem is a renthal apex (the gold black one) ive regreased the stem bolts, but not done the stem face bolts, so I guess as a precaution I will try that also – though im doubtful its that tbh

Not just the stem bolts, bar/stem stem/steerer interfaces given a good clean so no trapped grit. Same with headset races / interface.

May be different for you, but happened twice for me giving a clicky sort of sound and this sorted it. Pressuring the bars side to side when cranking up a steep hill was when the sound was most noticeable.

Good luck!

chainring bolts ?  or driect mount chainring creakyness?

thanks razorrazoo - I have done the stem bolts, but will clean and take of stem face - everything below that has had a full on clean and grease (full headset etc)

howsyourdad1 - yep as further up, 3 chainring bolts for a eagle chainring, nice and tight, and greased ( Ive had this happen before where one was loose, and it creaked like mad! but not that sadly this time 🙁

If all the above fails I’d check headset again. I’ve had a few creaks(bb type) and been driven nuts. Turned out on occasion it was bearings flexing in cups in frame. Light grease on bearing surface and cup solved the click/creak.

I've narrowed a creak down to the rivets in a Sunrace cassette on my current bike.

cheers plus one - I have given the headset a thorough clean and shit loads of grease just last night - still there - but will be going over everything again soon I think!

got annoying creaky with my 5010 like your's. So it was the bearing/axle - so when you said:

pivots all cleaned, greased and torqued back up

Did you grease the axle and applied loctite to the end bit? That was the culprit in my case.

How does the cabling work? One of my bikes creaks a lot when it's been wet & muddy, or newly washed. Turns out to be where the outers slots into the cable stops at the top of the downtube, bit of oil in any of the stops can quieten things down.

Well, I have had exactly the same issue on my Transition Suppressor. I have not gone to the trouble you have of sorting it out, but (a) you will find it one day, so keep the faith and (b) you definitely don't have a rubbish bike.

Mine makes a click click sound, which to me sounded like it came from the BB. I spoke to the LBS store who had a quick look; they thought it may be the frame pivot bolts (the bike shop co-owner used to have a Transition).

Let me know if/when you solve the issue OP.

The bearings can also creak in their seats

Gilles - yep regreased the axle... Don't bother with loctite... I've had lots of SC's so got the routine down to a tea... With these axles they are 20nm on the newest ones so you don't have to keep adjusting them like that of the older versions... Once these are tightened they stay in place...

Hardtailonly - full internal routing is great no rattle or nothing I really can't see it being that tbh its the same now as when I had it and it was quiet then

Gribble - will do... I'm pretty good at tracking down creaks and clicks as I love my bike to be silent.. I cannot stand creaks and clicks so always get there in the end... But this has got me stumped as the usual suspects even the lesser ones are proving to be no use at the mo... But will stick at it.. I've got a set of forks to try to rule that out which is a big one... And if my wheel true doesn't work i ll hopefully be able to borrow a 650b wheel just to test it round the back to rule that out

And gribble it's probably a click click click creak creak creak type noise on mine

wheel spokes?

Wife's bike did something similar, wheels just needed a re-tension.

Baldie - that's the current step sending in shop for a wheel true as it' is out of true and does make a weird twangy type noise occasionally so fingers crossed its that... Which I guess could make sense when I'm away the bike side to side it creates more creaks and clicks

Seatpost lubed in frame?

its not but id struggle see it being that given its out of the saddle - but again worth a check so will add it to the list 🙂

Have you tried taking the chain off and recreating it?
Could discount the chain, mech & chainring that way.. though it could still be the BB.

not a bad idea that cokie - mentally noted - least it will remove them as a definite (tho ive tried a new chain and chainring, but still be interesting to see if it does make a noise with out it all on) but mech it would obviously remove for definite which is a great idea

im getting a new bb so I will soon be able to rule that out too

I had this a couple of years ago, turned out to be the pedal.

One of mine was a bit of grit in the seat tube (creaked/cracked on and off the saddle).

When I got my Spark, there was a creaking/cracking noise until i poured water on the lower shock mountings.

When I took it apart to look, it was assembled with a ridiculous amount of thread lock and it had leaked into the pivots! Scraped it off and re lubed it and silence since 🙂

Op, if you hold one end of the bar and lean the bike over about 45 degrees... Then put pressure on a pedal (pedal at 6 o'clock obvs), trying to "bend" the crank arm towards the floor..... can you recreate the noise?

You haven’t had much luck with this frame have you Dave?? Have you checked the bearings on the back of the shock? I traced that knocking on mine to that. Removed them, greased and now blissfully silent!

Have you asked PandS to see if they’ve had any issues?

John - I had exactly the same brand new on this.. Loads of loctite caused it seize and creak terribly..tis a similar noise to thst but constant and does it about 5 times for every one of the pivot bolt did... But I traced that on the same day I got the bike..

Poopscoop - I will try it on sunday and report back see if can try as you suggest

Chris - yep noisiest bike I've owned by far as soon as one things fixed another noise comes 😂... But Yeh tried all the obvious things and same with pivot bolts too... The fox dpx2 doesn't have a lower bearing mount its just a standard Bush so it's not that this time... Not asked them bud tbh I'm usually spot on at getting to the cause but even this has me stumped so far... As its a prettyoud constant creak which is worrying

I've managed get a set of forks off my mate Rick at slickandside suspension (thanks Rick!)... I've got a new bb to fit and I've just had wheel trued and tensioned so a good few things new to check individually at weekend

Creaking. Check the stem top cap isn't rubbing the top of the steerer. Mine was (had a recessed bolt as it was a Garmin top cap mount). That made a creaking noise.

Click click click noise on same bike was the brake pads rattling in the caliper, had to prise the spring clip open some to tighten.

lose cleats ?

Nope checked and ridden with clips and trainers... Still there

I've had much the same noises as the op in the past, took me ages to track down and the problem turned out to be a whole load of cracked eyelets on my rear rim. Worth a look.

Are you running a hope headset on this pal ?

Had a good inspection of the wheel and it seems OK

Yep hope headset on it with no cups bearings just go straight into frame

It was a guess as I had the same issue .I'm aware it's a fully integrated headset so bearings sit in the frame but I would grease mine and it would cure it for a while then come back .
It was the lower bearing that caused me the issue and apparently the stainless steal headset can make a noise in the cups .
Santa Cruz came back to the distributer and advised that in poor climates they recommend using the enduro black oxide coated bearing with no grease between the surface.mines been silent since touch wood .

Interesting.... Worth a shot if all else fails.. Have you got a link or code to the one I'd need bud? I greased the hell out of bearings thinking that would be enough

It's ok because when I commented, I cursed myself...

Spark started creaking yesterday, but it was full of dried mud, so maybe just needs a clean (I hope!).

Check the mech hanger is tight.

Righty.... Non the wiser

I've tried absolutely everything that's known to man.. Its basically had a full on strip down today

The last few things to try were

New bb.. New forks on... And rear wheel trued

NON of the above worked... Noise still there

I can also rule out drivetrain... Well chain Chainring and mech as it still did it with chain off

So last two steps I can think of is its something internal on my rear wheel

Or the lower link is buggered with the new style santa cruz bearings and spacers in it... It sounds exactly like a pivot creak... But it's constant... Everytime i lean the bike over either way and pedal it whilst being aboard it creaks and clicks continuously...

I can't produce the noise stationary though so it's something flexing or similar as the cranks are pressured

I've got a similar problem with a NS Snabb full suspension I built up last year. Oddly enough it's as quiet as a mouse when setting off and gets progressively clickier as I get into the ride and start using more force on the pedals and giving the bike some stick.

Makes the same creak when seated, stood or feet off the pedals and I've tried everything.

One thing I haven't done is take it for a quick spin with the seat post and saddle removed.

By a process of elimination it shouldn't be the saddle or post but I'm also at a loss. Maybe you could try that as well, although it is a bit of a pain with a dropper.

I once had creaky pivot blts on a SC Superlight. Were done up correctly and all snug but creaked like a git. Found that one in the end by squirting water from my backpack over every joint and contact point individually as I rode. It quietened for a few minutes when I wet the pivot, and located the problem.

I've not taken the whole post out but I moved it up quite a bit got rid of all grit and took off and cleaned the seat lamp and surrounding area.

Same noise

I'm pretty certain it's a pivot issue for mine...

Hopefully try the different wheel tomorrow night and then I'll get onto the lower pivot

Having owned a fair few VPp bikes my money would be on either of the upper pivot axles.
If you hold the bike stationary and from the side put your foot on the center of the crank and push the bike sideways, then go to the other side of the bike and do the same thing it'll reproduce the noise.
While you are doing this put your hand on the upper link and you'll be able to feel where the click is coming from.
Once you know were it's clicking it's easy enough to sort.

What grease is on seat tube and on the clamp? My Anthem has similar creak if I use carbon paste, but with grease it’s fine. I do have to remove the seatpost collar every few months, clean it thoroughly (and the post, and tube internal, and frame around the clamp) and it stays silent again.

Also found some clamps with low torque creak a bit, even out of saddle

Ssstu - that's the annoying thing no matter how or where I pull push at the upper area of link or rear triangle or even rear wheel.. I cannot for the life of me get it make a sound... So frustrating.. Yet jump on bike hardly pedal with any pressure lean sideways and there it is ever my single time

Every bit feasible of the bike has been greased... More than I've ever done before on any build

And still the noise remains... Identical... So it's something I've ntmot got access too either rear wheel internals or inside the lower link or even upper... But It sounds like it's further down to me

Just muc off grease around there not to much at all... Just cleaned it moreso as I said before it's out of the saddle so just to make sure I cleaned it of any grit etc too and still identical creak

Frustrating I'm sure.
Just passing on what I've found with 6 different VPP bikes.
All noise came from the upper link.
Just try really side loading it from the BB without he crank in.
Hope you get it sorted. Nothing worse.

I’ve had two bikes over the years that just creaked no matter what 🙁 2001 Santa Cruz super light and a more recent Vitus zenium pro road bike. Both got sold on !! Sometimes you get a creaker 🙁

cheers SSstu - tis mega frustrating this one - yep every single creak ive had off a vpp (similar amount to you has been the links of some description, other than one that took me ages to figure was 1 semi loose chainring bolt on my eagle chainset last year)

the only thing ive read with the newer SC bikes is they use a radial bearings now, with a sleeve inbetween, there has been posts on MTBR forum of people saying they bearings have seized against the spacers inside, which of course creates a creak, im hoping I can try or buy a lower link just to see

i will try have a good wiggle of everything laters tonight in the way you suggest, but this time im pretty sure it is the lower link

Santa Cruz

over the years that just creaked no matter what

Interesting! Really like the Bronson. But it's well over my budget.
I'am not toooo sensitive about creaking - but would think a SC would creak less than other bikes...

Wrong so.

Is the chainring direct mount Raceface? I’m sure you’ve done this if so, but just remembered twice I had a creak from that interface. Cured by a clean, grease and doing up as tight as poss.

You seem to have checked almost everything, so I'll put something left field in here - crack in frame?

Well tonight I tried a new front and rear wheel with a different cassette in..
Noise still there

I've also got a spare shock I put in just to check

Noise still there

It has to be something going on inside upper or lower pivots... Just has to be I have tried absolutely everything imaginable

Got some new bearings and the sleeves for them to fit hopefully tomorrow if they turn up... Then that will be the last thing I can think of

As above next step will be going all around the frame for cracks if this fails

It still sounds like creaky pivots and the sound hasn't changed one bit since all this rebuilding

I'll report back after the links are sorted and installed back in the frame

Pray for silence for me 🙏🏻

Razorazzoo - it's a sram Eagle but greased the hell out of fitment wise with the ring and bolts and they are torqued up correctly

Some years ago I had some creaking cracking nois s.

Turned out to be grit in the cable stops on an ally frame.

Maybe remove and clean cables and put a dab of grease Where the stops are.

You could just try squirting a bit of oil into those areas and see if that makes any difference.

Mary - tried that the other day... Slid a little bit of grease where cables all go into frame all internal routing

And then on top of that I sprayed it with protect and shine.. Quite a bit.. Still the same

Fingers crossed pal .keep us posted

Update.....

Well I've found out what it is...nothign at all to do with the frame

It's my truvativ descendant carbon cranks... The left side with the axle attached..

Pretty much pure luck as I felt a vibration thro my trainers when testing it round the back... Thought it was odd so had a look for cracks on it or pedal insert but all seemed fine.. So I gave a good pull on the nds crank arm and bammmmm instant click/creak!!! Joy!!

Take them out the frame and can produce it by hand too so 100% the cranks

Yeeeeeowww! Only had them new July 18 so will be hopefully warranting them asap

Thanks for all the tips and advice and ideas hopefully this thread will prove useful in future reference as about all bases are covered on here

ah the relief!