[Ole Grey Hair]

So I bought a brand new 2009 Teocali Elite last month from Performance in Seattle, have ridden it hard and love the bike. But lately its developed this "cracking" noise that sounds like its coming from the non-drive side of the crankset or BB, performance suggested greasing the BB, so I took it all a part and did that, it got rid of some of the noise, but I really notice the "cracking" when standing and pedaling hard. Is this just cheap cranks or something worse? Anyone have an oppinion? Suggestions? Performance is supposed to look at it Tuesday, I've already contacted the manager there and they say they'll look at it then. I just was wonderng if any other Teocali Elite owners had similar problems. Others have suggested it could be a cracked frame or linkage problems, but this noise only happens when pedaling hard, when I've jumped the bike w/o pedaling there's no linkage noise.
JB

 

[mullen119]

So I bought a brand new 2009 Teocali Elite last month from Performance in Seattle, have ridden it hard and love the bike. But lately its developed this "cracking" noise that sounds like its coming from the non-drive side of the crankset or BB, performance suggested greasing the BB, so I took it all a part and did that, it got rid of some of the noise, but I really notice the "cracking" when standing and pedaling hard. Is this just cheap cranks or something worse? Anyone have an oppinion? Suggestions? Performance is supposed to look at it Tuesday, I've already contacted the manager there and they say they'll look at it then. I just was wonderng if any other Teocali Elite owners had similar problems. Others have suggested it could be a cracked frame or linkage problems, but this noise only happens when pedaling hard, when I've jumped the bike w/o pedaling there's no linkage noise.
JB

Its probably the linkage. Its a problem with pre 2011 freedrive frames other then the bootr and pinnr. The 688 stock bearings are junk and need constant attention. If you catch it early you can grease them and grease the contact points on all 4 bearings and it will go away for a little while. They gave the 2011 teocali the same bearings as the stronger frames. If you need to replace them. Use only enduro max bearings. They use twice as many balls and last much longer.:thumbsup:

 

[shureimage]

Had exactly the same as yr describing on my 08 Khyber (same set-up) re-greased the bearings & it went away for awhile, ended up replacing them all & all has ben good, but recently after a heavy week in the alps the creaking is back so will change again but will look into the above mentioned enduro max bearings.

 

[hanyz]

Same problem with Teocali Super 2009, after few hundreds km (+my 100kg) creepy sounds around suspension. Let change all back bearings with different ones and the sound is comming back after less than 200km. What about reclamation during guarantee period? Dont want to spend 100$ every second month... will focus on Enduro Max.

 

[worldmtb]

I have the same issues on my Mongoose Teocali Elite 2009 . What bearings exactly did you replace to solve the creaking sound. I See on Mongooses website that there is two different places to change bearings, Did you replace both the BB link Pivot Bearings and the Main Pivot Bearing Bearings , Also can you give more detail on the exact Bearings you Used .

 

[Ole Grey Hair]

The bearing that you need to replace with are Enduro Max bearings. I had the tech at my LBS just take everything apart and regrease everything. My bike is brand new, apparently Mongoose skimps on actually greasing these bearings when they build the bikes at the factory. They give these bearings a slight grease job and pop them in. When you look up the Enduro Max bearings ....you'll see that there's a bearing tool, I'd think this to be a good one because it also can be used to replace the BB bearings as well. Good Luck. I have quiet linkage now, but have developed a noise in the rear wheel bearings, I think.

 

[DucJ]

I had the same creaking on my 09 Teocali Super.. Took the pivots apart to grease them and found one of the main pivot bearings is loc-tited to the axle

 

[mullen119]

I have the same issues on my Mongoose Teocali Elite 2009 . What bearings exactly did you replace to solve the creaking sound. I See on Mongooses website that there is two different places to change bearings, Did you replace both the BB link Pivot Bearings and the Main Pivot Bearing Bearings , Also can you give more detail on the exact Bearings you Used .

Most the time, you only need to replace the BB pivot bearings. the bearing size is 688. You can use any bearings that are size 688. But using enduro max bearings will last much longer and are worth the extra money. Just google "688 enduro max bearings" and click on the shopping results.:thumbsup:

 

[jayflo0800]

My 2009 Khyber Super recently started making the same "cracking" sound during heavy petal strokes. So I brought the bike into my local shop where they took apart my cranks and re-greased everything. Unfortunately that didn't seem to solve anything. Then they tried putting different pedals on the bike, lubing the seat post, and pretty much every contact point on my bike without success. It was driving me nuts. :madman: Considering how new my bike is I just couldn't believe my ears. :madmax:
Heartbroken, I turned to the internet for answers. Searching high and low I finally came across this post! Thank you guys so much for posting this info.. I cannot wait to pass this on to my guy at the bike shop. Hopefully this will be the end of this problem. :thumbsup:

 

[jayflo0800]

Quick question: Are the BB pivot bearings all the same size for Mongoose bikes? I want to replace the pivot bearings on my 2009 Khyber Super as well as replace the bearings on my 2009 Boot'R Team. Anyone?

 

[mullen119]

Quick question: Are the BB pivot bearings all the same size for Mongoose bikes? I want to replace the pivot bearings on my 2009 Khyber Super as well as replace the bearings on my 2009 Boot'R Team. Anyone?

The bearings on the boot'r and pinn'r are different then the teocali and kyber. Im not sure of the size though. If you take it apart, the bearing size will be written on the bearings seals.

 

[jayflo0800]

The bearings on the boot'r and pinn'r are different then the teocali and kyber. Im not sure of the size though. If you take it apart, the bearing size will be written on the bearings seals.

Thanks again mullen119, I just ordered the Enduro Max bearings for my Khyber (688) today!:thumbsup:

 

[jayflo0800]

not just the BB pivot bearings...

OK. So it has been a week since I had my BB pivot bearings (688) replaced on my Khyber. My bike shop guy told me he found two out of the four original bearing casings were cracked or broken. Unfortunately even with the new bearings installed only 90% of the noise has been silenced. I am now forced to believe the main pivot bearings are next to be replaced. These bearings are a different size then the BB pivot bearings.

DIMENSIONS .... 10mm x 26mm x 8mm / Enduro Max: 6000 2RS MAX

Hopefully after the main pivot bearings are replaced the bike will no longer make that crackling sound...

 

[Uly]

One other thing to check. If you have a link at the bottom of the rear triangle, behind the BB, I would clean and grease everything associated with that link. Water gets in there pretty easily and wreaks havoc. Also, on my 06 teocali super, the washers for that link (used as seals) were plastic and wore down causing metal to metal rubbing and creaking. Probably not plastic anymore, but worth a look.

 

[mullen119]

As Uly said, you gotta grease the crap out of anything that has to do with that pivot area. Problem with doing that is the grease gets nasty with dirt and you then have to clean and regrease after every few rides. Its a constant battle.

here is a good link:
http://www.mongoose.com/usa/usaeng/mtn/tech

 

[Hachiroku]

Also, on my 06 teocali super, the washers for that link (used as seals) were plastic and wore down causing metal to metal rubbing and creaking. Probably not plastic anymore, but worth a look.

Two of those plastic washers in my 06 elite frame are damaged. They measure 20mm outside diameter, 12mm inside, and about 1mm thick - They just look like standard washers/spacers but I'll be damned if I can find any in that size on the internet.

 

[Uly]

Yup, I had the same problem trying to locate that size. I ended up getting nylon washers from a hardware store that were close to the OD, a little smaller versus the ID and a littler thicker. I drilled out the ID to the size I needed and then slowly shaved down the thickness to 1mm with a sanding block. Took about half a day to get two of them to the right specs.

I think if I looked harder I might have been able to find hard plastic washers that met the specs on-line, but I got impatient.