How to Stop Common Bike Noises

When you’re riding up hawk hill and chasing down a friend of yours that got the jump on you, you are not going to get the element of surprise if you have a bike creaking when pedaling hard.

When the bike creaks when pedaling hard it can be a ton of different options with what may be going wrong. It could be the frame, or the gears, or the bracket, or the pedals.

For you we are putting the problems in order from most common to least common so that you can find your mystery creak and sneak up on people as you continue to fight up these hills.

In this post we will list out the common problems of a bicycle that will cause a creaking noise. Second, we will detail how to fix the creaking that happens in pedals. Third, we will discuss the bottom bracket, and what causes it to creak.

By the end of this publication, you should have an understanding of all the creak causers in your bicycle and be able to stop it.

What causes common bike noises in a bicycle?

Typically, the reason why a bicycle will creak is because one specific part of your bicycle that is metal touching metal has not been serviced, greased, oiled, cleaned, or is dry.

If you are able to think hard about your bicycle, think of all of the places that you have worked on, cleaned, greased or oil lately. Now think of the parts of the bicycle that you have not.

The places that you have not cleaned, oiled, greased or replaced lately is likely to be what is causing the creaking.

For example, I have not cleaned my pedals in years. I will need to clean, grease the bearing and oil the springs. That will most likely stop my down stroke bike creaking when pedalling hard.

What are some places on your bicycle that will cause common bike noises?

Why is my bike creaking when pedaling hard?

Your bike creaks when pedalling hard because there usually is something in a bearing that is dry. If it only creaks when pedalling hard check either the pedal and oil and grease it or the bottom bracket.

It may be better for your time to check the pedal first because taking out the bottom bracket can take a bit of skill, patience and the right tools.

If it is not either of those two, then here is the list of possibilities. Remember, that when you hear a creak around the bottom bracket, the cause can be something like the seat post because the sound can travel through the body of the bicycle and out to another part.

These are all in order from most frequent to least frequent.

Pedals

If you are like many and don’t see the value in purchasing more expensive pedals, we are here to tell you that the value is in the bearings. If you purchased the lowest priced pedals to put on your bicycle, then you ought to know that the pedals’ ball bearings will begin to creak after about 6 months.

If you have a pair of Shimano SPD pedals, and they have not been serviced in a long time (like mine) then take the pedals off, remove the axle and grease the axle. You should also spray oil on the springs as well to make sure that the creaking is not coming from a hang up in the locking mechanism.

Bottom Bracket

The bottom bracket is what makes your bicycle move forward. All of the energy and power that you put into your bicycle is transferred through this joint in the bicycle. Take out the bottom bracket, clean any dust and residue in the bracket.

From there, take grease and put grease throughout the inside of the bottom bracket. When you are re-installing the bracket make sure that there is no play in the bracket so that it is able to continue spinning freely, effortlessly and noiselessly.

Chain Ring

If your chain ring spiders are not screwed on tight, then your ring will wobble while pedaling. This can be both dangerous, in efficient and at the very least annoying when you hear creaking while pedaling. Most of the Chain rings are tightened with a hex wrench (mm) or with a torx key.

Take off your Chain ring, and make sure that they screws are all tightened correct. All of this may be a good time to inspect the chain ring as well to make sure that they are not worn – as a worn chain ring can cause your chain to skip unnecessarily.

Frame

If there are any parts of your frame that are connected to metal then it is time to check to see if you have greased or oiled that area.

This really does mean any part of your bicycle. The reason being is that the sound can vibrate through the frame and end up coming out of the hollow tubing on another part of the bicycle.

For example, are you hearing the creak come from your bottom bracket? It can very well mean that the seat post is having a problem. This is common.

Other places to check that not many look are the axle of the front and back wheels which will cause creaking through the frame.

Seat Post

The connection of the seat post very well can creak if it has not been lubed in a very long time. Take off the seat post, and the bars connecting the seal post and apply lube to the connections of metal on metal.

Many are surprised that this is an area that can cause creaking in another part of the bicycle.

Headset Bearing

If the bicycle is put together correctly and the bicycle builder used the correct components, it should take a very long time before the Headset needs to have its grease replaced.

There are typically guards inside of the headset that keep the area from getting wet, or corrosion inside of the area and will keep your bike turning smooth. However, if your bike is starting to creak and you need to check one last place, or perhaps you are coming from burning man, this is one area that you can check and add grease to stop creaking in your bicycle.

How do you fix a creaking pedal?

Assuming that you have a clipless pedal, you want to take the axle out of the pedal and reapply grease to the pedal. After you take out the axle and apply grease, then spray with chain lube the spring mechanisms.

You should also try to give the pedals a brief wash in water as well to get any dirt and debris off. Dry thoroughly and spray with WD-40 before putting on the lubricant to get any debris and rust off of the bicycle pedals.

What causes bottom brackets to creak?

A bottom bracket will creak when there is too much debris inside the bottom bracket. It is best to take out the bottom bracket, clear the area of debris, clean and re-grease the bracket. Wit the right tools this is very simple.

If you do not have the correct tools, then you may want to take this into the bicycle shop to have this done.

Outside of this, there can be many reasons why a bottom bracket will creak as listed above like the seat post needing to be re-lubed, the headset having problems, and many more.

Conclusion: Bike Creaking when pedaling hard

When your bike is creaking while pedaling hard, it can be frustrating. You don’t know exactly why and you also are having a hard time figuring it out.

There are a ton of reasons why, but the most likely reason is if you paid too small an amount for lower quality pedals. Try replacing the pedals first. If you have replaced the pedals, then look to the bottom bracket and then throughout different parts of the frame such as the seat post, the wheel axles and the headset.