my bike is currently making a loud creaking/clicking noise whenever i pedal hard (or resist the pedals to slow down) which is driving me (and probably everyone i ride with) insane.
i’ve checked as much as i can (cleaned and lubed chain, crank arms are tight, chainring bolts are tight, pedals are tight) which leads me to believe the noise is coming from the bottom bracket. i probably didn’t maintain it very well over the winter and i think the bearings may be fucked, even though it has sealed bearings. does this sound like a likely cause?
anyway, i don’t have a crank puller or BB tool to take it apart with, so i’m not sure if it just needs the threads greased and tightened, or if the bearings are gone (in which case i might as well just buy a new one cos it’s only a $15 miche).
so i was hoping that instead of taking it to a shop, someone in melbourne might have the necessary tools and some time to spare to go over it with me? that way i could learn how to do it myself for next time. i would of course be happy to swing some dollars or beers to anyone who might be able to help me out.
Buy the tools. Then get someone to show you how if you’re not confident. If you use someone else’s tools you wont buy them before the next time you need them anyway. Trust me.
Shimano BB tool? IIRC you can usually get a spanner type, or two sorts of socket-looking types (one uses a 1/2" driver, the other has hex flats like a nut and takes a spanner). Crank pullers are useful and pretty cheap.
I’ve got the tools, including the miche BB tool, a workstand etc and I’d be happy to help you out over a beer. Unfortunately I don’t have the time for another 2 weeks (final push to finish 10 years of university!). But if by 26 November nobody else has come through give me a buzz. (I’m in Fitzroy.)
woah, tools are way cheaper than i expected. will order some soon. still would be nice to have someone show me how as i’m a total noob when it comes to this. may take you up on that offer diddy.
do you think it would be a case of just needing to tighten the bottom bracket, or do you think i should just replace it with a new one? will probably order one at the same time as the tools if that’s the case.
Also - I get my tools from LBS normally. Can feel them and look at them. Ask questions. Chat to the mechanics about which is the better one and how to use it (depending on how friendly the LBS mechanics are). The few extra dollars are usually worth the convenience and support to me.
This probably won’t help, but I had some clunks in my BB which I ignored. Got some new cranks down the line and presto! Clunks gone. Not sure if Sasha gave the BB a tweak while she was fitting them. Moral of the story - might be your cranks.
I had the same problem. Sealed Shimano BB. ended up taking it out, regreasing the threads and putting it back in, and now it’s fine. The drive side cup wasn’t tight enough.
if your bottom bracket shell doesn’t have a drain hole theres a good chance you BB is sitting in water and is a bit fucked…
my coppi roadie has this problem it’s killed one BB and taken a good swipe at another… i’m going to solve the problem with a 6mm drill
if it’s not a water issue it could well be one of the cups is loose… sort it out soon though because the lateral float will shorten the life of the BB
you should totally buy the tools you need for this job, if you go out and get ( or wiggle ) the tools you need to do a job you will soon enough find your self with an awesome work shop set up going on…
when it comes to T handle and ball end allen keys, cable cutters, and non specialized tools a place like supercheap autos will save you a fortune on tools that are every bit as good as bike tool brands…
I just had the same issue yesterday. also a Miche BB been using it for about 2 months. I removed the crankarms, found out that the BB cup wasn’t tight enough. tightened it. put crankarms back. noise gone. at least for today’s riding.
I heard issues about this Miche BB (adjustable BB) gets loose every now and then though…
Yes, they do loosen up over time. I put one in my wife’s bike with some miche cranks and there is a pretty a tight clearance between with the cranks and chainstay on her frame – when it loosens it shifts and starts grinding at the chainstay. Loctite is a solution, though I haven’t got around to trying it yet …
Use a molybdenum anti sieze grease and torque it up to the recommended amount- it is hard getting some of these torques with a normal length socket handle, you’d be suprised just how loose a lot of them are fitted.
the problem seems to have mysteriously fixed itself for now, but i’ve ordered a crank puller and bottom bracket tool off wiggle so if it starts up again i’ll be able to do something about it.
If you are running the Miche cranks then they’re designed to go with the 107mm miche BB axle to get the right chainline. But I think it depends on your frame. My wife rides an Allegro Onya frame which comes off the shelf with, and I guess is built for, a really small BCD crankset – ie a smaller spider. So with the 144 BCD miche cranks the spider is larger and comes closer to the chainstay as the stay angles out from the bottom bracket shell. There is no way, for example, that I’d get 151 BCD cranks on her frame.
no Miche cranks, I use the super mighty with 144BCD. but the ‘grinding’ doesn’t happen all the time. maybe another issue then…
yea sorry p-dub for threadjacking.
I’m gonna jump in here - I’m in the process of restoring a track bike, and it came with 130 BCD Shimano road cranks which come super close to the chainstay. Image below will give you an idea. (It runs extremely close - there is a scratch on the frame where it has made contact.)
So I was going to find some Dura-Ace FC-7500 track cranks like this thinking that because it didn’t have the flange(?) for the inner ring, it would give a bit of clearance. I didn’t even think that the larger spider could potentially make things worse.
So is there a 130BCD track crank without the flange for an inner ring?
