FSA K-Light crankset bb30 creaking

Smig1985

Just wondering if any budding mechanics out there can offer their two cents on a problem I've been having with my 2011 Focus Izalco Pro 1.0 (Bought new in August/September 2012). I noticed a creaking sound coming from the bottom bracket area recently. I thought nothing of it and carried on for another few weeks until the creaking started to get much worse, rendering the bike almost unusable. Dropped it into the LBS and they told me my bottom bracket was cooked and that it would take a few days to order in a a new one. The W200 was on that weekend so I frantically rang around a couple of bike shops to see if they'd have the parts and do the repair the following day. Luckily, I found one and they did the job within 24hours. About a week later, however, the dreaded creak was back, albeit not quite as bad. I've checked the frame for cracks and can't see any and I'm 100% positive that the creak is coming from the cranks/bottom bracket and not anywhere else on the bike. Did the bike shop just not fit it properly/fit the wrong one or totally miss the problem first-time round? I've subsequently dropped it back in and don't fancy shelling out another €75 to have it 're-fixed', especially if they, and my local LBS to boot, missed something on the first inspection. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated, cheers lads!

letape

I don't know the answer - but if you had this fitted just a few weeks ago, I'd advise bringing it back for them to look at it, as clearly it shouldn't have developed this fault so soon.

funkyjebus

My bb / chainset develops a creak every so often, usually after been in wet weather. If take the chainset off and give it clean and a grease and re torque it is fine for a few months.

I never got this problem with my old alu bike, but once I moved to carbon does happen every so often.

It's a very annoying sound.

paddydriver

Have a search online for creaking and clicks on some of the FSA BB's. I have a Mega Exo, its a good few years old on a bike that was not used a whole lot until I bought earlier this year, and it has a slight click in it too.

Searching around it seems to be a very common issue with the Mega Exo, and other FSA BB's too. I am living with it now as you can only feel it when spinning cranks without pressure - cannot feel anything when riding normal power; but expect it may eventually get worse.

Squidgy Black

Are you sure it's the BB? Could also be the pedals, try tightening them too. Bring it back to the LBS, you paid for them to fix it and it's still not fixed, they should repair it for free.

Smig1985

@stetyrrell Well the first mechanic that looked at it told me the bottom bracket was the problem. I presume the second mechanic concurred because he fitted a new one having looked at it himself. You're definitely right - if the source of the 'new' creak turns out to be the BB again then I expect them to fix it without charging for labour because they should have fixed it properly the first time. It's just unusual that after the BB had been replaced the first time the noise went away for about ten days but returned soon after that. I've definitely ruled out the skewers and saddle as the source of the problem, not 100% about the pedals, but the creaking sound I am experiencing is identical to that which precipitated the new BB in the first instance. Surely a new BB can't give out in less than a month? :O

@paddydriver Yea, the creak I'm hearing is only very noticeable when I am out of the saddle, particularly when climbing or pushing a slightly bigger gear than I would normally. I can't hear it when I am spinning away on the flat. However, this is how the problem began the last time, and within two months every turn of the pedals emitted the most horrible creaking/scraping sound which registered with every single person I passed on the road...and let's face it, no-one wants to be that guy with the noisy bike!

alpha46

I have the same problem on my Giant TCR Composite. Had a problem with my BB creaking after 10 months of cycling and brought it back to my LBS. Giant refused to replace it under warranty as they said it was general wear and tear. The LBS ordered the FSA bearing kit from Giant and fitted it and i paid E90 for the pleasure. All was ok on week one but while doing the tour of the peaks the following week BB started to make noise again. DID the ROK the following week and noise got worse. Went out Sunday just gone and BB was squealing loudly with every rotation of the peddles especially on the hills. Just dropped it back into the LBS and await their findings

youtheman

I have the FSA K-light crankset with the BB30, press fit, on a carbon Bike. Bad news is that the bearings don't last long, good news is that it is pi55 easy (and cheap) to replace them. A set of bearings costs approximately €15 euros from wiggle. Just need a large hex head (not sure what size, 8 mm of 10 mm) to remove the left crank and a light tap of a hammer and the whole lot comes out. Youtube will show you how its done (and you don't need any of the expensive 'Park' tools to get them in our out).

From my experience of the BB30 I cannot see what could make them 'creak', possibly lack of grease. Take the chain off the crank and spin it to see that it rotates freely. If you take out the bearing then you can 'feel' if its getting rough by spinning the inner race.

I'd say it is more likely (as has been suggested) to be a pedal issue. Maybe change pedals and see if that eliminates the problem.

ashleey

You can't just 'tap out' bb30 bearings from that frame. You need a couple of cheap tools to remove and replace

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/SearchResults.aspx?Search=Bb+30

The first item is used to knock them out using say a long screwdriver and hammer. The second is to press using a squeezing vice, the new bearings in. both from fsa and are inexpensive. The biggest difficulty is alignment. Anything slightly out and you get a creak assuming your frame is accurately made! I found greasing the frame when squeezing in the new bearings helped and I too have a focus frame and no creak. I did buy the sram bearings though. Check what brand was used for you.

countrykid

what pedals are on your bike??

seanin4711

stetyrrell wrote: »

Are you sure it's the BB? Could also be the pedals, try tightening them too. Bring it back to the LBS, you paid for them to fix it and it's still not fixed, they should repair it for free.

could be the saddle rails going into the saddle if they got water in the last few weeks as this is the case with me!

Roger Hassenforder

check your chain ring bolts?

Smig1985

@countrykid I'm using Speedplay Zeros. I re-grease them every couple of months and lube the cleats before each ride so they've been well looked after in that respect, don't think the bearings are shot in them just yet. Would the creaking be caused by over or under-tightening the pedal spindles or something else entirely?

Smig1985

@RogerHassenforder I think the LBS checked that out before they looked at the BB. When I brought the bike in I said I thought the noise was coming from the BB area but didn't explicitly point to it as the source - they said they would check all the possibilities.