I have a 2018 Specialized S-Works Venge Vias which came with ceramic speed bearings in the BB. I purchased the frame, then purchased SRAM Red 22 WiFly Etap groupset (SRAM Red22 crankset) and had it built.
Under heavy load (climbing) over 300watts I get a creaking sound that I’m (unfortunately) familiar with from other Specialized bikes. What’s the most fool-proof solution to get rid of any creaking noises? I had Kogel bearings installed in my previous bike (2012 S-Works Venge) and it helped, but I still get creaking w/ that bike when I go over 500 watts.
Any tips would be appreciated, along with links to products you recommend.
I’ve heard good things about this from a certain podcast… @Jonathan
It’s a teflon pipe dope (thread sealant).
All of my bikes have threaded bb’s, so no firsthand experience.
Are you sure it’s the bottom bracket? I mean 100% sure!
I thought for sure it was my bottom bracket as well. Turns out it was my DA cassette. Under heavy load (climbing), it would creak and creak. After a while, it didn’t need a heavy load to creak. Shop warrantied and replaced the cassette twice. Finally I gave up and switched to an Ultegra cassette on all three sets of my wheels. Been all good! The DA9000 and DA9100 cassette is
Check this:
Now, there was one time in the last four years where the creak was from my BB. If I remember correctly, my mechanic rotated the bottom bracket a bit and problem solved.
Edit: I found an old video on my phone w/the creak. I’m going uphill at really low wattage as you’ll see, but listen to that creak. It would get even louder if the wattage was higher.
A new bike. That’s is the only solution. I mean the thing you have is already about a year old!!
Seriously, loctite green 680 retaining compound solved my problem once. Recently I tried the Enduro Torq Tite thread together bottom bracket and it worked great.
e If the Specialized BB is a press fit, I suggest looking at Hambini’s Youtube channel. I believe you can get a Hambini BB that solves the problem ( I don’t have first hand experience with press fit BB’s)
Thought I’d chuck in some ideas, have you check ALL your bearings…
Headset, wheel hub, spacers etc etc. chain ring bolts? And said above, cassette - Can you try another wheel?
Also worth inspecting your fork steerer too. Any impacts previously? Even your seat post can be mistaken for a creaky drivetrain/BB.
When I worked at a bike shop we had a spec’d out BMX with a shocking creaking/cracking sound when under load. Honestly, to everyone’s ears it was the BB. Nope, couple days of playing and poking around turns out it was an old headset bearing! The sound just traveled through the bike frame.
Hope you can find the problem quickly!
Beware coming to the conclusion that it’s the BB!!!
I had a similar issue with my S-Works Tarmac. A creak, that I thought was coming from the BB under heavy load. It was into the bike shop seven or eight times and no-body could figure it out. It was one day when I was cleaning it, I twisted the bars and heard the damn noise!!! Turned out that it was the cables creaking where they entered the downtube!!! A coulpe of drops of lube and it’s completely disappeared!
Appreciate it’s likley to be something else on your bike, but be methodical in trying to identify where the noise is coming from!
I once replaced my BB, crankset, and pedals to solve a mystery creak only to discover the creak I was chasing was coming from the bolts on my aluminium bottle cage/the cage against the rivnut. A dab of grease on the bolts and problem solved.
Something that I didn’t see mentioned: remove your pedals and load the threads with grease. Use more than you think necessary. When you reinstall, make sure they are really tight. This has solved many creaks for my clients.
I also highly recommend the BB Infinite. Not cheap, not light, but it is creak-free. Superb bearings, too!
+1 for checking the easy stuff. Any time you put down more power, there’s usually a lot of body english that pushes and pulls on various parts of the bike, all of which are liable to complain. Your equipment is fairly new so should not be worn out yet, and replacing nice gear is pretty far down my list of solutions.
I had a bad creak disappear after I removed, regreased and retightened chainring bolts. My wife’s bike sounded like the whole BB was going to rip out of the shell when she cranked on it, but it turns out a little grease on the front QR skewer is what it took. Once you eliminate these things, try removing the crankarms, giving everything a good wipe-down, then re-grease and re-install. Good luck.
I went the entire summer frustrated with my creaky BB. Every single time I got out of the saddle or mashed my pedals I’d get that annoying creak. Only to find out it was my seat post creaking as the bike flexed under load. I discovered it will cleaning my bike.
If it really is the BB, then I tend to go for thread-fit BB’s from someone like Wheels Manufacturing. They are made to fit press fit frames but the 2 halves thread into each other to hold the BB in place tightly.
Is it press fit? I have a press fit bottom bracket on my MTB, and apparently creaking is a known issue with press fits.
My BB also happens to be worn, which I’m sure exacerbated the creaking (bearing rotation not smooth when I remove the cranks and spin with my finger), so I’m replacing it. The part will arrive in the next few days, and I’ll report back if the new BB stops the creaking.
