SOS - mystery drivetrain creak - help needed

[Ballameiro]

I am "suffering" from a creak somewhere in the drivetrain. It creaks with each pedal revolution under load. It creaks irrespective of a left or right pedal stroke. It still creaks when I am not sitting in the seat. Here is what I did myself to remediate the situation:

- Regreased Pedals
- Changed Pedals
- Regreased Cranks and retorqued cranks
- Bought Shimano Steps Lockring tool and greased and retorqued lockring
- Regreased chainring bolts
- Changed chainring bolts
- Lubricated chain
- Changed chain temporarily for a testride from my second bike. Still creaks.
- Bought Shimano Cassette tool. Bought chainwhip tool. Cleaned and regreased cassette and retorqued to specs (40NM)
- Checked all suspension pivots. It is not suspension related. It does not creak when I don't pedal on a downhill ride for example. It does not creak when I press the saddle down to engage the suspension.
- Regreased seat rails and seat post. As indicated above, it is not seat or seat post related.
- Regreased and retorqued rear derailleur/pulley wheels.
- Regreased and retourqued rear derailleur hanger.
- Took rear derailleur off and test rode without. Still creaks.
- Lubricated the spoke crossings. Lubricated spoke nipples.
- Checked spoke tension. Not an expert, now wheel is not true anymore. Great.
- Checked and lubricated cable housings.
- I checked the motor bolts, regreased / retorqued them.
- I checked the chain stay protector and plastic coverings on the motor.

I don't know what to do further myself. At this point, I cannot exclude a motor issue or maybe a rim / freehub issue, but I am not able to come to a conclusion myself. I did not touch the headset as the creak is clearly coming from the drivetrain / back wheel area.

Help me please!

 

[Lexinoo]

Watching this thread as I've been having the exact same problem with mine,I also did most of what you described but the problem remained and it was doing my head in. Then last week I went out for a ride in the wet, as soon as I hit the first puddle the creaking stopped and it hasn't returned,yet!but I'm sure it will.
Hope you get it sorted, mine is a canyon spectral with e8000 by the way.

 

[RickBullotta]

I am "suffering" from a creak somewhere in the drivetrain. It creaks with each pedal revolution under load. It creaks irrespective of a left or right pedal stroke. It still creaks when I am not sitting in the seat. Here is what I did myself to remediate the situation:

- Regreased Pedals
- Changed Pedals
- Regreased Cranks and retorqued cranks
- Bought Shimano Steps Lockring tool and greased and retorqued lockring
- Regreased chainring bolts
- Changed chainring bolts
- Lubricated chain
- Changed chain temporarily for a testride from my second bike. Still creaks.
- Bought Shimano Cassette tool. Bought chainwhip tool. Cleaned and regreased cassette and retorqued to specs (40NM)
- Checked all suspension pivots. It is not suspension related. It does not creak when I don't pedal on a downhill ride for example. It does not creak when I press the saddle down to engage the suspension.
- Regreased seat rails and seat post. As indicated above, it is not seat or seat post related.
- Regreased and retorqued rear derailleur/pulley wheels.
- Regreased and retourqued rear derailleur hanger.
- Took rear derailleur off and test rode without. Still creaks.
- Lubricated the spoke crossings. Lubricated spoke nipples.
- Checked spoke tension. Not an expert, not wheel is not true anymore. Great.
- Checked and lubricated cable housings.
- I checked the motor bolts, regreased / retorqued them.
- I checked the chain stay protector and plastic coverings on the motor.

I don't know what to do further myself. At this point, I cannot exclude a motor issue or maybe a rim / freehub issue, but I am not able to come to a conclusion myself. I did not touch the headset as the creak is clearly coming from the drivetrain / back wheel area.

Help me please!

Other possible causes:


- Rear thru axle not properly lubricated or tensioned
- Rear hub bearings or freehub bearings damaged or dry
- Rear hub internal axle cracked (not uncommon for eMTBs with aluminum hub internal axles)
- It could very well be suspension related, since the loads on the pivots/bushings change under pedaling load
- Slightly bent brake rotor that only rubs under pedaling load due to slight frame flex or hub movement
- Loose spoke(s) or a poorly built wheel

 

[Ballameiro]

Other possible causes:


- Rear thru axle not properly lubricated or tensioned
- Rear hub bearings or freehub bearings damaged or dry
- Rear hub internal axle cracked (not uncommon for eMTBs with aluminum hub internal axles)
- It could very well be suspension related, since the loads on the pivots/bushings change under pedaling load
- Slightly bent brake rotor that only rubs under pedaling load due to slight frame flex or hub movement
- Loose spoke(s) or a poorly built wheel

Hi Rick,
#1: I have checked that, I just forgot to mention yesterday.
#2: and #3 sound possible and something I want to look into- is this something a dude with medium mechanical skills can do or would you recommend to go to a bikeshop? Are there any tutorials on the net? I have a SLX freehub, microspline.
#4: I thought about that. But dont' you think you can replicate creaking by moving / pressing / bending / sitting and jumping stationary on the bike? I did check the pivots for that reason though and moved on as I couldnt replicate the creak.
#6: That's good too. "Loose" spoke is hard to define for me though. I mean, I can use a spoke tool and torque them all up a quarter turn or so. If I did that, do you think the wheel will be completely un-true?

 

[DrStupid]

Is it a regular frequency click when peddling at constant cadence and load?

 

[Ballameiro]

Watching this thread as I've been having the exact same problem with mine,I also did most of what you described but the problem remained and it was doing my head in. Then last week I went out for a ride in the wet, as soon as I hit the first puddle the creaking stopped and it hasn't returned,yet!but I'm sure it will.
Hope you get it sorted, mine is a canyon spectral with e8000 by the way.

I live in Orange County. I cannot wait for rain is where I'm going...

 

[Ballameiro]

Is it a regular frequency click when peddling at constant cadence and load?

If you picture a clock, I would say the creak occurs between 0100 and 0400 PM, with both pedals though, so half of the revolution (between 0400 and 0700) is quiet, I guess you can call that regular frequency, but it is not constant. I took a video, but cant upload it, does anybody happen to know the MB limit for attachments?

 

[RickBullotta]

Hi Rick,
#1: I have checked that, I just forgot to mention yesterday.
#2: and #3 sound possible and something I want to look into- is this something a dude with medium mechanical skills can do or would you recommend to go to a bikeshop? Are there any tutorials on the net? I have a SLX freehub, microspline.
#4: I thought about that. But dont' you think you can replicate creaking by moving / pressing / bending / sitting and jumping stationary on the bike? I did check the pivots for that reason though and moved on as I couldnt replicate the creak.
#6: That's good too. "Loose" spoke is hard to define for me though. I mean, I can use a spoke tool and torque them all up a quarter turn or so. If I did that, do you think the wheel will be completely un-true?

"The most dangerous tool in the world is a spoke wrench in the hands of a home mechanic". ;-)

A poorly built wheel can be due to more than just spokes that are too loose - they could be too tight, uneven, etc... - generally a bad practice to always just tighten spokes to true a wheel. Always balance - 1/4 turn tighter on the spokes in the direction you want to move the rim and 1/4 looser on the opposing side. I've seen many friends overtighten a wheel and later on snap spokes or break nipple heads off.

The "pinch test" can help - pinch each pair of spokes (do drive side first, then non-drive side). All the pair(s) should feel about the same tension on the same side, and the non-drive side spokes should (generally) be a little less tension, depending on wheel dish/hub flange locations.

Regarding the hub servicing, it's not super hard, but it's also very easy to accidently destroy things if you're not careful pulling the hub apart.

Perhaps review this doc first:

https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/storage/pdf/en/dm/MAHB001/DM-MAHB001-07-ENG.pdf

 

[DrStupid]

I found my regular interval click by marking the chainring. It always clicked when the chain ring mark hit around 1 o'clock. It was a chainring shoulder bolt, just a hair too long at the shoulder, preventing proper interference betwixt the ring and spider.

 

[Ballameiro]

"The most dangerous tool in the world is a spoke wrench in the hands of a home mechanic". ;-)

A poorly built wheel can be due to more than just spokes that are too loose - they could be too tight, uneven, etc... - generally a bad practice to always just tighten spokes to true a wheel. Always balance - 1/4 turn tighter on the spokes in the direction you want to move the rim and 1/4 looser on the opposing side. I've seen many friends overtighten a wheel and later on snap spokes or break nipple heads off.

The "pinch test" can help - pinch each pair of spokes (do drive side first, then non-drive side). All the pair(s) should feel about the same tension on the same side, and the non-drive side spokes should (generally) be a little less tension, depending on wheel dish/hub flange locations.

Regarding the hub servicing, it's not super hard, but it's also very easy to accidently destroy things if you're not careful pulling the hub apart.

Perhaps review this doc first:

https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/storage/pdf/en/dm/MAHB001/DM-MAHB001-07-ENG.pdf

Thanks. I got this from Commencal today, thats what you had in mind right? I will give it a try myself, I think...

 

[Ballameiro]

I found my regular interval click by marking the chainring. It always clicked when the chain ring mark hit around 1 o'clock. It was a chainring shoulder bolt, just a hair too long at the shoulder, preventing proper interference betwixt the ring and spider.

Thanks. I might check that too but focus on the above first.

 

[Ballameiro]

Its gone. Wow. Commencal / Shimano should proactively address it, still mad at that, but it’s over.

 

[Ballameiro]

Watching this thread as I've been having the exact same problem with mine,I also did most of what you described but the problem remained and it was doing my head in. Then last week I went out for a ride in the wet, as soon as I hit the first puddle the creaking stopped and it hasn't returned,yet!but I'm sure it will.
Hope you get it sorted, mine is a canyon spectral with e8000 by the way.

Its gone!

 

[Lexinoo]

I'll try that then if mine starts again. Cheers ?

 

[RickBullotta]

Its gone. Wow. Commencal / Shimano should proactively address it, still mad at that, but it’s over.

I'm gonna pat myself on the back then...lol. Suggested above: "Rear hub bearings or freehub bearings damaged or dry". Close enough. ;-)