Can we talk about a weird bottom bracket creak that just won't quit

I had a customer bring in a steel frame gravel bike last week with a persistent creak from the BB area, and after checking the usual suspects like the crank arms and chainring bolts, I found the threads in the shell were just a tiny bit dry. I greased them up, torqued it to spec, and the noise was gone for about 15 miles before it came right back. What's the most stubborn bottom bracket noise you've ever chased down, and what finally fixed it?

2 comments

2 Comments

tylermurray2d ago

Had one that turned out to be a tiny crack in the seatpost binder, sounded exactly like the BB. Swapped the post and it finally shut up.

evan2952d ago

Three years ago I had a creak that drove me nuts, and it was the rear axle. The quick release wasn't clamping the dropouts evenly, so the whole rear triangle would flex and sound like it was coming from the bottom bracket. I took the wheel out, cleaned the dropouts and the axle ends, and made sure it was seated straight before clamping it down hard. The noise vanished and never came back. It's worth checking anything that touches the frame, even if it seems far from the noise.