For the Bike Gurus

[Lead Balloon]

My BB started getting creaky a few weeks ago and started creaking constantly not longer after, even without putting any real power through the pedals. I took it to my lbs a couple of weeks back, just before Bedford MD to get some grease in it. Previously I've been happy with the service and ability of the mechanics in the shop but when I got it back on this occasion it still creaked the whole way round the bike leg.

Note: I had taken one of the crank arms off the night before and they originally thought that was the reason.

I took it back in today to get the creaking resolved and when I came back to pick it up they said that I'd had a tandem BB in my roadie instead of a regular one.

Points to note with this one:
Bridgtown built the Kuota from scratch
Why didnt the lbs notice it was a tandem BB last time I took it in?
Would having a tandem BB have caused issues before now?

I rang Bridgtown just before and I believe with the quality of the fit they definitely would have noticed if it had a tandem BB in it when they built it. Thoughts please?

LB

[chappers]

I'm not a bike guru but something for you to check- the cranks on my kuota were creaking last yr and turned out to be the cranks needing tightening slightly

[Lead Balloon]

Yeah the cranks needing tightening was the first thought by the LBS. The whole thing with the the tandem BB had me wondering though. If the Kuota had had a tandem BB in from day one surely I would have serious issues with it from the off though? I've not touched the BB since it was built and I don't think that Bridgtown wouldn't have noticed something like that when they put it together. It's sounding to me like the LBS were taking me for a ride to be honest. Shame as they've been good up until now as well. Maybe I should move this to the Shit List

[Sir Jibbenstein]

Aren't tandem bottom brackets a different size/shape for an eccentric bottom bracket shell?

[Jungle_re]

sound silly but have you checked your stem bolts are torqued up?

[Sqealy wheely]

Work your way through the fixings, I had creaks which I thought related to the bottom bracket ended up removing the handle bars cleaning up the surfaces and refitting which resolved the issue.

Someone at the time suggested that it could have been coming from the bottle cages as the frame flexed

Worth spending some time checking the simple things first.

[Bendy Ben]

What did Bridgetown say ?

Mistakes do get made. Honest ones at that.

[Jack Hughes]

Creaks have a way of travelling down/up the tubes... so, yes, as has been said, check everything.

Could even be your saddle being lose.

[Lead Balloon]

Took it out for a spin just before and still creaking at first but it had stopped by the end of the ride. I think it may have something to do with the handlebars so I'll tighten them up and see how it goes after that.

Jibbs, yeah they are which is why I was wondering whether my lbs was pulling a bit of a fast one on me.

Ben, I phoned up Bridgtown when I got home. Didn't actually get eyes on the BB while I was in the shop. I rang up Bridgtown and they said that the only way it could have had a tandem BB in it would've been if it came to them like that and they would have noticed during the build process anyway. I may pop back into the shop and ask if they've still got hold of the old BB on the pretense of gaining knowledge of how to spot signs of wear etc in future.

If I don't get to the bottom of it I'll just have to assume it was an honest mistake somewhere along the line and keeps eyes open in future.

Cheers for the advice on hunting down the offending creak everyone

[Kevy427]

Cheers for the advice on hunting down the offending creak everyone

Old age/glutes?