Creaking bike - any ideas what to do?

[2wheeledathiest]

There are some awful bikes around. A friend of my son recently came round and asked me to fix a loose crank.

They appear to be made of plastic! I tightened it up as best as I could but the axle still had play in it.

Nothing I could do but replace the BB with a better one.

It is always hard to trace creaking problems on aluminium bikes as it acts as a transducer, amplifying the problem.

 

[weepiper]

There are some awful bikes around. A friend of my son recently came round and asked me to fix a loose crank.

They appear to be made of plastic! I tightened it up as best as I could but the axle still had play in it.

Plastic coated mild steel cranks are commonplace on cheap bikes - they don't have to polish the crank to get it to look 'nice'. They're also the worst offenders for loosening off and the crank taper getting rounded as a result.

 

[Sean]

Seems to be sorted now and I take back (at least temporarily) my moan about the shop (as they did all for free and were quite nice with it, in the end). Looks liek a cup on the rear wheel wasn't sitting snugly and was working loose plus they found a hairline fracture in the bottom bracket. Result is new back wheel and various other bits replaced, and bike's now running very smoothly. Woo hoo!

Of course, knowing my luck, i'll crash it tomorrow and blah blah blah...

 

[Cloud]

um bike troubles

 

[weepiper]

Seems to be sorted now and I take back (at least temporarily) my moan about the shop (as they did all for free and were quite nice with it, in the end). Looks liek a cup on the rear wheel wasn't sitting snugly and was working loose plus they found a hairline fracture in the bottom bracket. Result is new back wheel and various other bits replaced, and bike's now running very smoothly. Woo hoo!

Of course, knowing my luck, i'll crash it tomorrow and blah blah blah...

Result! Good for them. Make sure you recommend them to all your mates now won't you

 

[Shofer]

Oh for fuck sake...

OIL IT!

I oil my bicycle twice a week, but Im a courier, you propably need just once. Get some WD40, put into the bottom brucket and then put some teflon oil. If you hear the sound anyway, tighten i and thats it.

 

[Sesquipedalian]

Sorry to be a boring newbie cyclist, but I've been using my bike fairly regularly for about 6 weeks (attacks by feral youth aside) and done about 60 miles a week, but it's started making fairly worrying creaking noises recently. Gets particularly bad as i pedal after about 15-20 minutes and gets progressively worse. It was a brand new bike when i bought it 2 months back.

Any suggestions about what to do. Oil springs to mind, but where and how...

I have a friend who finds bits of bikes all over the place.
He built me a bike from bits and pieces.
The first time i went out riding with him i stupidly decided to experiment with the gears.They slipped all over the place and i nearly got involved in a major road traffic incident/acident.

When i remonstrated with my friend,in a polite fashion, he told me ,
"that it wasn't the tour d'France."
I thought in the first instance, that he was dismissing me in his usual jockular manner.
I have taken it easy since and found i have few problems.
He is a good lad.
Maybe you could take your bike back and get a full refund.
My friend would be happy to build you one at very little cost

 

[gentlegreen]

.

 

[WasGeri]

Oh for fuck sake...

OIL IT!

I oil my bicycle twice a week, but Im a courier, you propably need just once. Get some WD40, put into the bottom brucket and then put some teflon oil. If you hear the sound anyway, tighten i and thats it.

Did you read the whole thread? It didn't need oiling, it needing repairing.

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

Oh for fuck sake...

OIL IT!

I oil my bicycle twice a week, but Im a courier, you propably need just once. Get some WD40, put into the bottom brucket and then put some teflon oil. If you hear the sound anyway, tighten i and thats it.

WD40 contains paraffin. Paraffin is a degreaser and a very powerful one at that. If you spray WD40 into your bottom bracket shell all you're doing is removing all the grease that should be in there. Thats not a very good idea.

 

[on_the_fly]

Sounds to me like cotter pin issues, have you checked these ?

 

[gentlegreen]

Sounds to me like cotter pin issues, have you checked these ?

I'd guess it's a long time since you bought a new bike ?
I'd be amazed if any bikes had cotter pins these days - even cheap ones...

... what cheap bikes do have is under-spec and more or less superfluous rear suspension units - there isn't much that's more excruciating than watching a newbie cyclist bouncing up and down on one of these things - more of a space hopper than transport !

.

 

[gentlegreen]

Pro Bike Enterprise - bought for £120 in August. Please don't tell me I'm a mug http://www.edirectory.co.uk/pf/pages/moreinfoa.asp?pe=BHEFDFGQ_+probike+enterprise+gents&cid=880 - not where i got it from but just for info.
.

Looks quite serviceable - I wish I could manage with a hybrid - but I kept breaking wheels..
I commuted on racers for years, but I'd miss my suspension seatpost and some sort of front suspension - I have a Giant ATB and I soon ordered a suspension seatpost once I replaced the springy knobblies with kevlar-reinforced road tyres. The Specialized hybrid I had before this one had handlebar suspension that was nice and light but had a design flaw so if it ever gets mended I will have to replace that part ....

 

[maomao]

I'd guess it's a long time since you bought a new bike ?
I'd be amazed if any bikes had cotter pins these days - even cheap ones...

I remember cotter pins. 12 years ago when I was working (very briefly) in a bike shop. And that was an old bike. It won't be cotter pins.

 

[Sean]

Oh for fuck sake...

OIL IT!

I oil my bicycle twice a week, but Im a courier, you propably need just once. Get some WD40, put into the bottom brucket and then put some teflon oil. If you hear the sound anyway, tighten i and thats it.

Yes that'll help

 

[weepiper]

Oh for fuck sake...

OIL IT!

I oil my bicycle twice a week, but Im a courier, you propably need just once. Get some WD40, put into the bottom brucket and then put some teflon oil. If you hear the sound anyway, tighten i and thats it.

You ARE a courier aren't you.... courier bikes are notorious amongst mechanics for being crapheaps, and it's no wonder if you all do things like spraying WD40 into your B/Bs.