[BelaySlave]

Vitals:
2004 Ponderosa (REI housebrand) Novara hardtail
TruVativ FireX cranks
Shimano M540 pedals

I've been having this problem for several weeks now...

When I'm pedaling hard, there is an irregular creaky, clicky noise coming from somewhere in the crank area (don't know if it's the crank themselves though). It only happens on the right side between the 12 and 3 o'clock positions when I'm mashing down. When the terrain gets steeper and I have to really work it...the noise is very, very noticeable and I can feel it.

What could be the problem?

Thanks!

Nick

 

[Namlak]

Sounds familiar...

I had a similar noise with my Truvativ FiveD crankset. I pulled the cranks, removed the bottom bracket, and reassembled everything with grease as recommeded by Truvativ (get the manual at their web site) and - importantly - tightened everything down to the _proper_ torque. No noises on many hard rides since.

BTW, the bike was nearly new and was apparently assembled by Igor the Overtorquer which is why I now do all my bike wrenching myself.

 

[Mike T.]

Yep it's a classic case of BB creak. Remove the BB unit, clean & grease up the threads and replace.

 

[BelaySlave]

Thanks for your replies! Very much appreciated!

Am I doing more harm to it by riding on it? I was planning on riding tonight after work and then bringing it to the shop, but if I am doing further damage...then I'll skip the ride and bring it to the shop.

 

[Razor]

As others have stated, the BB is the likely culprit, but my friend had a similiar situation with his new bike fresh out of the shop and his right crank arm was probably only torqued to 50 ft lbs. After tightening it up, the noise vanished.