Everyone thinks their bike's noise is coming from the bottom bracket. Sometimes they're right, but far more often they're wrong, and the annoying sounds that makes your bike sound like it was assembled by Walmart's most hung-over bike mechanic are coming from somewhere else.
Pedals make noise. So do seat rails. A seat post bottoming out in the frame can drive you nuts. Loose things, obviously, like your rear axle, which will also creak if the dropouts are dirty. Suspension bearings.
But here's something that will test your sanity. Let's say you have a really nice bike. Top-end, etc. But after a couple years it starts creaking and popping like a cheap department store bike, but only when you pedal. You replace or service everything from the bottom bracket to the suspension. You re-tension the spokes. You buy new pedals, and you torque and re-torque every bolt on the bike. You clean everything like you're prepping for heart surgery. New chain; new pedals. But the noise does not go away.
Your friends quit calling you to ride with them because the noise from your bike makes them vomit. And then for the same reason you decide you need a new bike. But it's covid time, and your $6,000 bike now costs $9,500. What to do?
Replace your freehub body. Your cogs have worn divots (photo) in the freehub body, and even though you can't detect any movement, the cogs are moving and making all kinds of racket that you swear is the bottom bracket. Then go ride your quiet bike to the liquor store and buy me a delicious IPA with the money you saved by buying a new freehub body (and a delicious IPA for me) rather than a new bike.
Pedals make noise. So do seat rails. A seat post bottoming out in the frame can drive you nuts. Loose things, obviously, like your rear axle, which will also creak if the dropouts are dirty. Suspension bearings.
But here's something that will test your sanity. Let's say you have a really nice bike. Top-end, etc. But after a couple years it starts creaking and popping like a cheap department store bike, but only when you pedal. You replace or service everything from the bottom bracket to the suspension. You re-tension the spokes. You buy new pedals, and you torque and re-torque every bolt on the bike. You clean everything like you're prepping for heart surgery. New chain; new pedals. But the noise does not go away.
Your friends quit calling you to ride with them because the noise from your bike makes them vomit. And then for the same reason you decide you need a new bike. But it's covid time, and your $6,000 bike now costs $9,500. What to do?
Replace your freehub body. Your cogs have worn divots (photo) in the freehub body, and even though you can't detect any movement, the cogs are moving and making all kinds of racket that you swear is the bottom bracket. Then go ride your quiet bike to the liquor store and buy me a delicious IPA with the money you saved by buying a new freehub body (and a delicious IPA for me) rather than a new bike.
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