creaking bottom bracket

my bottom bracket won't stop creaking when i put weight on it (pedaling hard or standing on the pedals), and has always been this way with this frame. the shell inside is a bit rusted but i've cleaned it out as much as i can and smeared grease on the shell threads. it's tightened up as much as i can manage. it fixes the creak for about a day, but then it comes back. it seems to get better in damp weather.

any suggestions?

thanks

Could be the pedals/cranks?

Just swap it for a cartridge bb?

it is a cartridge BB. i've tried two in it already. i've ruled out pedals and cranks.

i've tried two in it already.

Would suggest to me that it's not the bb then.

You say you've ruled out cranks and pedals, did you try a different chainset? If not, try removing chainring and cleaning/greasing mating faces. Tried different pedals? Did you clean/grease pedal threads as you were changing them?

Failing that, give the frame a good check over for cracks then move to the rear wheel, is it geared or fixed?

i've tried different pedals, different chain rings, different cranks. the creaking happens when i put my weight on either side. it's geared.

Try a different rear wheel. Or try removing your cassette and cleaning/greasing the outside of the freebie body/inside of the cassette. Check all the bearings are in good nick, especially if they are sealed bearings.

knees ?

Squeaky shoes

Seat post

Someone standing behind you making creaking noises

UTFS in future. You're not the 1st forumenger to make weird noises.

http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/149464/

Tighten it up to the correct tourque.. 50 N/m or something like that.

i did the tourque wrench thing and that stopped it creaking and make the chain line spot on too..

does anyone know anything about chasing a bb shell? is it something i can do myself? how much would the LBS charge for it?

@danielsayceadams you need a chasing tool which is expensive, this is a cheap one.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/x-tools-pro-bottom-bracket-facing-tapping-set/rp-prod55943

On the one above the blackish ring bits above the brush on the left connect with the top parts and then make something looking like this.

And then some of this happens.

Depends on your bike shop but £15-25 I guess. It's worth getting a shop to do as mistakes can be very costly, you end up stuck with an expensive tool you likely won't want to touch again and a frame with a buggered bb shell.

@Clockwise that's a very informative response, thanks very much. definitely not worth me forking out for the tool for the one off, and as you say, liable to bodging so probably not worth it. the frame's definitely not worth the money. do most LBS do it?

If it's a cartridge BB generally you don't need to face the frame.

Most shops will do it but I'd only trust certain shops with the job. Perhaps not the chain shops, perhaps the long standing repair shops that have consistent, well known staff.

Edit - duh, you said chased. I see.

Probably a question that's best directed towards a LBS.

Daniel
I had an ongoing problem with this. I literally ruined (mostly by zealous overtorqueing) all sorts of unrelated bits of my bike after letting myself be convinced (by helpful thread responses much like here^) that it wasn't the BB, which it actually was.

I finally fixed it using 'anti - shake' on the BB cup threads. I think it's a kind of mild thread glue. I used it as directed in a stripe across the thread, along with grease on the rest of the threads, which seemed nuts but has fixed it.

Good luck!

Oh, one small question: it's not a titanium square-taper BB spindle is it? You can get microwelds building up on those.

However my bet is the cups are groaning around in the BB threads.

@Skülly i don't think it's titanium, though i'm not sure. it looks like this: http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/product-images-large/campagnolo-ac-s-bottom-bracket-20413.jpg

i think a proper clean out of the threads would make a difference. this is what they look like:

@Skülly i don't think it's titanium, though i'm not sure. it looks like this: http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/product-images-large/campagnolo-ac-s-bottom-bracket-20413.jpg

i think a proper clean out of the threads would make a difference. this is what they look like:

1 Attachment

No, not titanium.

The threads don't look too bad.

You can clean them out with something like a large needle, to make sure there's no crap in there.

My money's still on it being something else though: as you mentioned upthread, you've tried two others already.

Sound travels around steel frames and is focussed around the BB.

Worth checking all sorts of other interfaces, yes.

I was on a ride with a mate a while back, he said there was this creaking going on he said he'd investigated, and it was driving him nuts. Only happened when out of the saddle. I'd been having a listen riding alongside, trying to work out where it was coming from. Seemed like it was up front somewhere.

During a stop on our ride, I undid his front wheel QR, changed the level of grip turning the back of it, closed the QR lever, and fixed it in a jiffy.

Was quite funny really /csb

Did something similar to a mates bike that would never stay in gear when he got out of the saddle. Doing everyones heads in until i flipped the bike and stuck his rear cable back in the bb guide.

Still dropped him mind .

it's so hard to tell when you're riding. i guess i'll keep fiddling. thanks for the help everyone.