Crank and pedals
- Thread starter baron von greenback
- Start date
baron von greenback
Retro Guru
I have a look at that mate what tool do you need for taking it off to slot in the holes round the outside
You need a specific 6 pin tool for the Royce BB. Also fits hope as I've got one and used it on both successfully.
Do the Royce cranks have lock rings too? These seemed to be optional extras (I don't have them myself) but suspect they would provide additional support and may help with the creaking.
Before you go crazy, you could try and alternate set of pedals, just to rule them out. Ditto with the cranks. The creak could be the BB in the frame, the cranks on the BB axle.
In some cases it's nothing up front and the creak is somewhere else entirely just transferred via the frame so it sounds like it's coming from a place it's not. I've had that before.
Personally I wouldn't grease the axle, it is a lubricant and may allow the cranks to go further than they are designed to, flaring the square taper and will only require more force to seat and will just get worse. A locking or grip compound would be better, though I've not had to resort to it.
Do the Royce cranks have lock rings too? These seemed to be optional extras (I don't have them myself) but suspect they would provide additional support and may help with the creaking.
Before you go crazy, you could try and alternate set of pedals, just to rule them out. Ditto with the cranks. The creak could be the BB in the frame, the cranks on the BB axle.
In some cases it's nothing up front and the creak is somewhere else entirely just transferred via the frame so it sounds like it's coming from a place it's not. I've had that before.
Personally I wouldn't grease the axle, it is a lubricant and may allow the cranks to go further than they are designed to, flaring the square taper and will only require more force to seat and will just get worse. A locking or grip compound would be better, though I've not had to resort to it.
Uncle Grumpy
Old School Hero
I had a creaking crank once. Only when pedalling and did it both in and out of the saddle.
Pulled the crank and BB, meticulously cleaned and greased the BB threads. Reinstalled it. Still there.
Pulled the pedals, meticulously cleaned and greased the threads. Reinstalled them. Still there. Tried new pedals. Still there.
Pulled the chainrings, meticulously cleaned them and the interfaces on the cranks and greased the bolts. Reinstalled them. Still there.
Pulled the seat and seat post, despite the noise being there when out of the saddle. Meticulously cleaned and greased the post and inside the seat tube, tried a different saddle. Still there.
Pulled the rear shock and cycled through the travel without the shock in place. Nope, not the pivots.
Cleaned and greased the shock mounts. Noise still there.
There was a removable brace across the seat stays. I had mounted a P-clip to one of the bolts to neaten the rear brake hose. Removed the P clip, removed, cleaned, greased and reinstalled the brace. Still there.
Tightened the rear QR skewer, noise stopped...
...only to be replaced by the noise of sobbing over the fact that I just rebuilt half the damn bike for the sake of a 5 second fix.
Pulled the crank and BB, meticulously cleaned and greased the BB threads. Reinstalled it. Still there.
Pulled the pedals, meticulously cleaned and greased the threads. Reinstalled them. Still there. Tried new pedals. Still there.
Pulled the chainrings, meticulously cleaned them and the interfaces on the cranks and greased the bolts. Reinstalled them. Still there.
Pulled the seat and seat post, despite the noise being there when out of the saddle. Meticulously cleaned and greased the post and inside the seat tube, tried a different saddle. Still there.
Pulled the rear shock and cycled through the travel without the shock in place. Nope, not the pivots.
Cleaned and greased the shock mounts. Noise still there.
There was a removable brace across the seat stays. I had mounted a P-clip to one of the bolts to neaten the rear brake hose. Removed the P clip, removed, cleaned, greased and reinstalled the brace. Still there.
Tightened the rear QR skewer, noise stopped...
...only to be replaced by the noise of sobbing over the fact that I just rebuilt half the damn bike for the sake of a 5 second fix.
Frankenorange
Orange 🍊 Fan
I have had a creak that i couldn't find. Tightened this and that and no change. Got a rear puncture one day and after having the wheel out and putting it back in the creak had gone. So, as above, the rear quick release was the source. Just needed tightening a bit.
On another bike i couldn't find a creak that developed. I was convinced it was down around the BB so went through all the chainring bolts, had the pedals and BB apart and so on. It would always creak on the downstroke of the left pedal, but sometimes it was a bit random. The latter got me thinking it was a crack but i couldn't find one.
On a ride i stopped to have a feed or something and while standing there i moved the bike and heard the creak. After a quick experiment i found that it was the upper cup of the headset creaking in the headtube. Dry shop assembly was the cause of this.
I would have put money on it being down at the BB though. Not sure if the brain moves the sound to where it thinks it should be, or what, but sometimes the creaks really aren't where you think they are.
On another bike i couldn't find a creak that developed. I was convinced it was down around the BB so went through all the chainring bolts, had the pedals and BB apart and so on. It would always creak on the downstroke of the left pedal, but sometimes it was a bit random. The latter got me thinking it was a crack but i couldn't find one.
On a ride i stopped to have a feed or something and while standing there i moved the bike and heard the creak. After a quick experiment i found that it was the upper cup of the headset creaking in the headtube. Dry shop assembly was the cause of this.
I would have put money on it being down at the BB though. Not sure if the brain moves the sound to where it thinks it should be, or what, but sometimes the creaks really aren't where you think they are.
I had a bike that creaked once and like other people I just couldn't work out what it was. I swapped out pedals, bottom brackets, cranks, seat posts and stems and it would still make the same creaking noises. In the end it turned out to be the seat post. I put plenty of grease on it (particularly at the bottom end) and that fixed it completely.
michael franks
Retrobike Rider
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Some years ago I had a creaky bike and it turned out to be the saddle. Put another saddle on and the creak was gone. Put creaky one on another bike and it creaked. GT85 spray onto saddle rails where they joined the saddle solved the problem!
bikeworkshop
Old School Grand Master
Shimano square tapers are v supplied with grease already applied inside the taper - but the controversy is that you don't usually want to lubricate components that aren't meant to move against each other.
Grease makes a large difference to the torque required to get the correct joint interface.
So you might need to ask the manufacturer whether they intended assembly dry or greased - this makes a big difference to the correct torque to tighten it up to.
And Ti is a "sticky" material - this might require a different Torque to steel!
The lubricant can silence a creak, or might enable the parts to fit together better, but in turn it might hide a developing problem, or indeed cause the tapers to slide on further than designed - although you shouldn't flare it with the correctly applied torque.
In turn an older chainset might well have a "print" of a previous axle, with fractionally raised lip inside the taper, wear or stretch from use or assembly during its long life
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bikeworkshop
Old School Grand Master
It's usually my fellow ageing riders!
Creak creak
"are we nearly at the top yet?"
creak creak
