So last night I swapped my 44t stronglight chainring to a F5 49t and I bought a new KMC chain on the side. I'm reasonably experienced when it comes to working on bikes but for some reason even though the swap went smoothly I now get a really loud creaking coming from my bb/chainring area when putting force down on the pedals.
First thought was to take the bb off, clean and relube everything and put it back on, which I did, which did nothing for the creaking sound… I've also tightened the chainring bolts, loosened the chain tension, lubed the chain, tightened the crankarms down and so on.
Only things that come to mind now are that my bb could be toast for some reason after the swap, which really doesn't make sense or that the stronglight cranks don't fit well with the F5 chainring.
Thoughts?
Rob
by vhiteJuice
9 Comments
Probably not the bb unless you can feel something when spinning the cranks.
Try to figure out the source. Use a paper towel tube to isolate the sound.
Might just need to wear in the chain/chainring a bit
How is your chainline?
Needs lube
Are your chainring bolts aluminum or steel? I swapped mine with steel and it helped with tightening them + eliminating the creaks. Very unlikely it’s the BB or new chain. Make sure to regrease your chainring bolts if you didn’t.
Your chaining bolts are probably loose tbh
May be unrelated, but cranks defo toight?
Stronglizzy 2000s are super solid, but if they’re not done up very very tight – the taper can wear through, and then gradually start creaking. Usually non drive side is more likely to do this
Worth checking anyway imo just in case
Pedals
Where does the creaking sound like it’s coming from? Is it under power or all the time? Is it a rhythmic creak or inconsistent? I’ve fixed creaks on people’s from dirty seat rails, worn pedals, and more common stuff like drivetrain and bb creaks
I have a Lattice with a KMC and it’s fine. It’s always the cogs for me that don’t play nice with some chains.