PSA: Spent 2 hours chasing a creak that was just a dry pedal cleat

I was about to tear my whole drivetrain apart on a customer's bike. BB, chainring bolts, seatpost, everything got greased and torqued. Finally dabbed some dry lube on the cleat/pedal interface and it went silent instantly. Felt like an idiot. Has anyone else spent way too long hunting a noise that turned out to be something obvious?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyl189d ago

I had a client's bike once where I regreased every pivot and bearing on his suspension fork because of this random tick noise. Drove me nuts for like three days. Turns out it was just a loose spoke nipple on the rear wheel that I never thought to check first. What's the one noise you always forget to check before you start pulling things apart?

kellyg148d ago

Pick up the bike and ride it around the block first before you touch any tools @caseyl18. I swear half the time a weird creak or tick turns out to be something stupid like a loose bottle cage bolt or a tiny piece of gravel stuck in the brake pad. Saves me from tearing apart a perfectly good suspension fork for NO reason every single time.