Creaking noise from left pedal

fasty · 07-09-2009 4:16pm #1

How do I troubleshoot a creaking noise from my left pedal? It only seems happen when I put weight on the pedal when it's at its highest point and not much weight I might add.

I noticed it happening after being out in some quite heavy rain last week.

Would it be the pedal, the crank or potentially something else? I'm quite new to bicycle maintenance so a few pointers on what to look at would be great!

rughdh · 07-09-2009 4:20pm

Could be a loose chain ring, if it's none of the above.

tsamba · 07-09-2009 4:40pm

hi

i had a prob like this with speedplay pedals and found it was the cleat making the creak i used some candel wax on the pedal and cleat and the creak stoped so maybe its worth a try..

Acoustic · 07-09-2009 5:05pm

if its a new bike

could be the crank comming lose , i had something similar for a few weeks to whicj i thought it was the pedals ( had cheap mtb alloy ones ) on my road bike , but then my crank came lose

bring it to ur local bike shop

Greyspoke · 07-09-2009 5:06pm

Without knowing what pedals you have and how good the seals are I'd say there's a good chance that water got into the bearings and washed some of the grease out. If you can't strip them down to regrease them then you could lay the bike on its side, left pedal down, and run a bit of oil into the gap between the axle and the pedal body - proper oil, not WD40. It's only really a temporary solution but if they're cheap pedals (and it is the pedal causing the problem) then it might be the only solution (or just put up with it!)

Caroline_ie · 07-09-2009 6:23pm

eeeerrrr .. could be your shoe. I had to change my SPD shoes last week for that reason. The the part of the shoe where the the cleat is screwed on ( the oval bit ) was starting to 'cut' into the sole of the shoe and was squeeking like mad, I too thought it was the pedal when it was just ... my left shoe. I did change both shoes ...

fasty · 07-09-2009 7:01pm

Greyspoke wrote: »

Without knowing what pedals you have and how good the seals are I'd say there's a good chance that water got into the bearings and washed some of the grease out. If you can't strip them down to regrease them then you could lay the bike on its side, left pedal down, and run a bit of oil into the gap between the axle and the pedal body - proper oil, not WD40. It's only really a temporary solution but if they're cheap pedals (and it is the pedal causing the problem) then it might be the only solution (or just put up with it!)

They do seem like quite cheap/basic pedals and what you're saying makes sense. I'll try that tonight and also post a pic of the pedal!

I might just get a bring it to Cycleways if that doesn't work. The bike is about 5 months old.

EDIT: What sort of oil?

Brian Hennessy · 07-09-2009 9:42pm

I had an awful squeak/creak on my bike, brought it to lbs, no joy. Ended up putting vaseline bewteen pedal and cleat. Simple solution for something that was driving me crazy.

Greyspoke · 08-09-2009 10:54am

fasty wrote: »

They do seem like quite cheap/basic pedals and what you're saying makes sense. I'll try that tonight and also post a pic of the pedal!

I might just get a bring it to Cycleways if that doesn't work. The bike is about 5 months old.

EDIT: What sort of oil?

Use as thick an oil as possible but thin enough that it will actually run into the pedal. Motor oil might just work its way in or failing that something like 3in1. Leave the bike on its side for a good few minutes and turn the pedal a few times. If there's any play in the bearings, waggle the pedal body a bit which will help the oil penetrate.

Creaking noise from left pedal

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