And lube where the rails go into the saddle shell. If the creaking is coming from the saddle my money is on this.
Travis.
Creaking seatpost advice - options
- Thread starter Binaural
- Start date
Travis.
Binaural
Eats Squid
Did last night and confirmed there's no difference, alas.
By this stage I am not just keen to defeat the creak, I am determined to catch the exact culprit. The next things I am going to try in order:
1. The seatpost head bolts protrude a few mm above the bar and it looks on closer inspection that they may be biting into the body of the saddle. I am going to space these out until they're flush to see if it makes a difference, if it does I will use a bolt to grind them flush. Really hopeful for this one.
2. A few drops of oil or silicone into the rails where they join into the saddle
3. Trimming the seatpost to rule out tolerance issues from the relatively deep insertion.
4. Temporarily swap seats to see if it's related to that
This is really driving me crazy!
pharmaboy
Eats Squid
I reckon you are hitting too many things at once. The first thing you should do is change out the seat then ride. then change out the seatpost. I know this is sort of like going back to the beginning, but given nothing has worked so far, maybe it's best to go back and be a bit more methodical.
Binaural
Eats Squid
I think you've definitely got a point there, I might try swapping in my MTB seat as an experiment before I start sawing anything.
Nambra
Definitely should have gone to specsavers
I've got a related situation that might add something to this discussion.
Had a bolted seatpost clamp on my hardtail (aluminium frame and rigid aluminium seatpost) and haven't had any creaking issues since new - over 2 years now. Changed it last weekend for a Hope quick release clamp to make it easier to adjust seat height for skills practice when not commuting on it. I initially applied a light smear of grease to the inside of the seatpost and frame and whilst it made no noise, the seat dropped about 40mm during my commute to and from work on Monday - the clamp seemed as tight as I thought it should be (didn't want to break the lever off).
I then wiped out the grease and put a little carbon paste inside the top of the seat tube for better grip, and adjusted the clamp slightly tighter. Now I have a really creaky seatpost at the clamp and inside the seat tube, and I'm thinking that maybe the grit in the carbon paste is rubbing ever so slightly against the metal surfaces as they flex and this is where the noise is coming from. I plan to wipe out the paste tonight and see if the creaking goes away.
Might also be worth considering in your situation as well, at least to rule it out?
Update: wiped out the carbon paste before riding home tonight and no creaking seatpost.
Had a bolted seatpost clamp on my hardtail (aluminium frame and rigid aluminium seatpost) and haven't had any creaking issues since new - over 2 years now. Changed it last weekend for a Hope quick release clamp to make it easier to adjust seat height for skills practice when not commuting on it. I initially applied a light smear of grease to the inside of the seatpost and frame and whilst it made no noise, the seat dropped about 40mm during my commute to and from work on Monday - the clamp seemed as tight as I thought it should be (didn't want to break the lever off).
I then wiped out the grease and put a little carbon paste inside the top of the seat tube for better grip, and adjusted the clamp slightly tighter. Now I have a really creaky seatpost at the clamp and inside the seat tube, and I'm thinking that maybe the grit in the carbon paste is rubbing ever so slightly against the metal surfaces as they flex and this is where the noise is coming from. I plan to wipe out the paste tonight and see if the creaking goes away.
Might also be worth considering in your situation as well, at least to rule it out?
Update: wiped out the carbon paste before riding home tonight and no creaking seatpost.
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Binaural
Eats Squid
Going to try this tonight!
On the topic of failed efforts, I've tried putting dry lube in the junctions between the seat posts and the saddle body but without noticeable effect. Swapping seats just revealed that I have an even louder creak on my mountain bike seat and didn't seem to help.
If the removal of the paste doesn't help, I am going to try wrapping the seatpost in electrical tape, but I am not keep on this due to the fact the post would be pretty likely to slip.
John U
MTB Precision
What travis said. Worked for me.
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Binaural
Eats Squid
Nambra, may your loins be ever fruitful, your tip worked!!! On inspection, I could see that the grain size in my Finish Line fibre grip paste were too large and coarse, and were digging into the carbon fibre rather than breaking down into smaller particles. After putting the world's thinnest sheen of antiseize on the seatpost the creak is gone completely. No slippage observed so far either.
Now I can get back to being annoyed by the smaller creaks my bike perpetually has
Now I can get back to being annoyed by the smaller creaks my bike perpetually has
Nambra
Definitely should have gone to specsavers
Great news Binaural, I think we're on to something... and cheers for the Motorex recommendation too Travis.
Funny how we're probably as anal as Liberace's loofah about keeping grit off our bikes, yet that's exactly what most carbon assembly compounds contain. I think I'll be looking for a non-gritty alternative now. Sounds like anti-seize could be worth a shot, it's certainly thick and sticky compared to regular grease.
Funny how we're probably as anal as Liberace's loofah about keeping grit off our bikes, yet that's exactly what most carbon assembly compounds contain. I think I'll be looking for a non-gritty alternative now. Sounds like anti-seize could be worth a shot, it's certainly thick and sticky compared to regular grease.
Oddjob
Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
That's crazy! I'm heavier than you and had the same problem on my Ti bike and Thomson seatpost. I would've put money on the noise coming from the rails, same as my bike.Nambra, may your loins be ever fruitful, your tip worked!!! On inspection, I could see that the grain size in my Finish Line fibre grip paste were too large and coarse, and were digging into the carbon fibre rather than breaking down into smaller particles. After putting the world's thinnest sheen of antiseize on the seatpost the creak is gone completely. No slippage observed so far either.
Now I can get back to being annoyed by the smaller creaks my bike perpetually has
Ps enduro make a press fit bb that screws into itself. Might solve any noise coming from bb area.
Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk
Binaural
Eats Squid
Well, that was nice while it lasted. Having discovered the creak slowly workings its oleaginous way back, I pulled the seatpost out and hit it with the antiseize treatment - still there. Pulled it out and hit it with grease instead - stilllll there.
Now, I might just have some grit in the seat tube that I can't readily clean out, but I am worried. I have checked to see if anyone uses a low-strength loctite to fill up the gaps instead (425), but it certainly doesn't seem like a common practice. I've also heard that there's a compound called ti prep (copper paste) and provides a little lubrication that is helpful. Any ideas?
Now, I might just have some grit in the seat tube that I can't readily clean out, but I am worried. I have checked to see if anyone uses a low-strength loctite to fill up the gaps instead (425), but it certainly doesn't seem like a common practice. I've also heard that there's a compound called ti prep (copper paste) and provides a little lubrication that is helpful. Any ideas?
Oddjob
Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
I can tell you the answer, but you dont want to hear it.
In the meantime try changing collars. I like the Thomson ones. I always anti-seize the bolts.
Can't hurt to try the copper paste on the post. What post is it again?
Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk
In the meantime try changing collars. I like the Thomson ones. I always anti-seize the bolts.
Can't hurt to try the copper paste on the post. What post is it again?
Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk
pink poodle
気が狂っている男
I bet there's a crack in the frame.
Mr Crudley
Glock in your sock
I use copper paste on lots of bits where two different metals are screwed in together. Definitely fixed any BB creaks for me and stops seizing as advertised. Copper paste or Ti prep is must have for a Ti frame for any Ti to alloy/steel interfaces. You local auto shop has it much cheaper than any bike shop will too.
I'm on the fence on what lube to put, if any, between a Ti frame with a CF seatpost.
Maybe ask the manufacturer since one line of thought is to put carbon paste with a CF post and metal frame or CF frame. I think SC mention regular old lube only and no CF paste for CF seat posts in CF frames to stop cold welding/galling. I think there is some contention fiercely debated on interwebby forums if some lubes will affect the CF weave in the longer term and I don't want to think about that rabbit hole of stuff with no clear answer either.
Maybe a bit out there but could the CF and Ti be flexing at different rates when riding hence your creak? You might not find anything statically and individually each part is fine while the bike is not behind ridden, I would try another non CF seatpost if you can. I have an alloy Thomson in my Ti Xizang and it has never creaked. I give it a slight lick of Pedro's occasionally and that was about it.
It is process of elimination with a big dose of good luck.
Brow
Big Block
New bike time.