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Singlespeed creaking


AustinBike
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Having a real problem with my 2014 Kona Unit singlespeed. I have ~10,000 miles on it based on Strava so it gets real use, but primarily on the streets, not the trails. 

About 6-8 months ago it developed a creak. Or more accurately a series of creaks. I have been replacing components but am running out of options. Here's what I have replaced so far:

  • Front cog
  • Rear cog
  • Chain
  • Bottom bracket
  • Pedals
  • Rear freehub

The creak comes from the rear half of the bike. It is not the seat post, it happens if I stand. If I am pushing hard up a hill it does not happen, but only happens when I am pedaling. Here's the weird part: I get on the bike and start riding, it is silent. At about 15 miles the sound starts, by 20 miles it is awful. Then the next morning, I start riding, silent again.

One of the last things left could be the rear wheel. If I want to see if it is the spokes, I know I can put some drops of oil on the spoke holes of the hub and where the spokes cross each other. Going to try that.

Any other options?

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1 hour ago, mack_turtle said:

Take it apart, grease and tighten everything.  Loose pedals and chainring bolts. CR bolts should be tight, like 12Nm!

Check all the nooks and crannies of the frame for cracks.

Crank ring bolts were just removed, cleaned and replaced this weekend, then it creaked again.

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Grease, anti-seize, or something like Loctite 242 is all that is needed for BB cups. Teflon tape works too, but any of those work IF the cups are torqued properly. The only thing that would cause a creak are dry threads or under-torqued cups. If you greased the threads originally and water got in there, it could wash out the grease and leave a corroded interface that could creak.

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9 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

Grease, anti-seize, or something like Loctite 242 is all that is needed for BB cups. Teflon tape works too, but any of those work IF the cups are torqued properly. The only thing that would cause a creak are dry threads or under-torqued cups. If you greased the threads originally and water got in there, it could wash out the grease and leave a corroded interface that could creak.

I will pull the BB and re-grease this week.

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6 hours ago, Dan Meeks said:

Someone already mentioned but I will second the idea that you may have a cracked weld. They can be hard to spot, and it sounds like you've done everything else. Let us know what you find.

I did check all of the welds. There is a small possible crack by the headset but, to be honest it could be a deep scratch as well. Anyway, the sounds are coming from the back half of the bike, this is right next to the head tube.

IMG_4943.jpeg

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I rode with him on Saturday. It is a *very* strange pattern. Once it starts making noise, he has to be pedalling in order to create the noise but even fairly soft pedalling can sound like a tin can of bolts jostling around. It almost sounds like the rear wheel, from riding close behind. 

Up in the stand with everything assembled, if you pedal backwards it feels like the resistance is a bit on the high side and it is uneven, getting stiffer at certain points in the rotation. Makes me suspicious of the chain and cog. Once the wheel and chain is off, the cranks rotate more freely but still not as smoothly as you'd think they should.

The spokes have high but seemingly even tension.

The cog has some lateral play in it. I forget if its a freewheel or a splined hub.

Next time it makes the sound, you should drop it out of the quick releases and then reinstall it and see if the sound is still there.

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3 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Is it a 9mm QR, if so yes, that would be great.

I suspect that is your problem. I can NEVER get a QR tight enough to last a whole ride without trouble on my SS. I finally noticed the creak would start after a hard climb on the SS. My thought is the mashing up the hill loosened the QR or something and it didn't stop until I readjusted and reclamped the rear wheel.

I finally changed to a solid axle to solve the problem.  You may have a different problem, but the QR was mine.

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Yeah, sliding dropouts.

I have a different back wheel that was given to me this weekend but it has a SRAM XDrive freehub (DT Swiss 350) and there does not appear to be a simple way to get that switched over to a SS compatible freehub, at least that I can find.

Going to try a longer chain today to see if that matters. Also going to take apart the sliders and clean it if there is any grit between the slider and the frame. 

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23 hours ago, Anita Handle said:

I rode with him on Saturday. It is a *very* strange pattern. Once it starts making noise, he has to be pedalling in order to create the noise but even fairly soft pedalling can sound like a tin can of bolts jostling around. It almost sounds like the rear wheel, from riding close behind. 

Up in the stand with everything assembled, if you pedal backwards it feels like the resistance is a bit on the high side and it is uneven, getting stiffer at certain points in the rotation. Makes me suspicious of the chain and cog. Once the wheel and chain is off, the cranks rotate more freely but still not as smoothly as you'd think they should.

The spokes have high but seemingly even tension.

The cog has some lateral play in it. I forget if its a freewheel or a splined hub.

Next time it makes the sound, you should drop it out of the quick releases and then reinstall it and see if the sound is still there.

That almost sounds like the tension on the chain is too tight and/or uneven tension on sliders.

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15 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

My wheel is indeed 135mm QR.

Tomorrow looks like a rain day so I am going to play with the chain length and also see if the thru axle from my Vassago will fit on the Unit. I have heard rumors that the Kona unit also uses the paragon dropouts so I could see whether that wheel fits. If so I can try a thru axle first and if that does not work, circle back on your QR.

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