# help , 07 Orca is having major creaking



## JBP (Dec 1, 2006)

Does anyone have any advice, my 07 Orca just started to creak badly on every peddle stroke. I look for any sign of cracks in the carbon but there was none, does anyone experience this problem.


----------



## BunnV (Sep 7, 2005)

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=141206


----------



## FLbiker (May 21, 2005)

*Creak*

I had a small creak, actually a clicking sound. I found out it was the small metal chainstay guard that Orbea uses to protect from a dropped dropped chain. The glue had come loose and it was touching the crank ever so slightly on each revolution. I pulled the guard off and the noise was gone.


----------



## DMoore (Feb 4, 2004)

I had an early Orca. It creaked badly, drove me crazy for two years. I replaced practically every component on it and it stopped creaking. I finally sent it back to Orbea for inspection. It turns out their early bikes had a headset design problem - I don't recall the specifics. But with the headset replaced the bike quieted right down.

DMoore


----------



## Gordo (Dec 24, 2006)

*Its probably your bottom bracket...*

The key thing to determine is does it creak on every pedal stroke or just intermittantly. If really coincides with a pedal stroke then determine if its the same point in every pedal stroke. If so its either a bottom bracket bearing or the crank arm bolts or the chain ring bolts.

Start by tightening up all the chainring and crank arm bolts to their recommended torques. If this doesn't eliminate the creaking, its most likely the bottom bracket.

If its a bottom bracket bearing, you will probably need to replace the cups but you could start with pulling the whole thing apart, cleaning, re-greasing, and re-tightening it. That actually fixed one of my creaks on my orbea. If that doesn't work, new bearing cups are in order and they aren't too expensive. You can replace them yourself and only take about 30 mins total.


----------



## Big Jim Mac (Jun 28, 2007)

I had this sound on my Onix and it was a loose crank arm bolt.


----------



## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

Gordo said:


> Its probably your bottom bracket...


Don't be so quick to focus on that. It's possible, but I've had a lot of creaks on bikes and it's never been the BB. The whole bike moves side to side in reaction to the pedal force, so it could easily be in the headset, seat tube, seat mount, or elsewhere. 

To the OP- have a friend ride alongside you on an empty road. You watch for cars and look straight ahead. Have him turn his head and look at you. Make the bike creak. With his head in that position his stereo hearing may be able to pinpoint the source of the noise. From on top of the bike yours is nearly useless.

Oops- old thread. JBP, did you ever figure it out? A post here might help someone else with the same problem.


----------



## BrokenBonz (Nov 20, 2008)

Had the same problem very recently on an 08 Orca. Turns out it was seat post, although I swore it could not be. LBS reinstalled with some special lube of some kind. Whatever. It's gone now.


----------



## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

BrokenBonz said:


> Had the same problem very recently on an 08 Orca. Turns out it was seat post, although I swore it could not be. LBS reinstalled with some special lube of some kind. Whatever. It's gone now.


 It was probably friction paste. Lube can get rid of a seat post squeak, but can make it more likely to slip so it isn't advisable. Friction paste puts a layer of very fine grit between the pieces and makes them grip as the come together so you don't get the movement that causes the squeak. If your LBS sells carbon fiber parts they should sell friction paste.


----------



## BrokenBonz (Nov 20, 2008)

California L33 said:


> It was probably friction paste. Lube can get rid of a seat post squeak, but can make it more likely to slip so it isn't advisable. Friction paste puts a layer of very fine grit between the pieces and makes them grip as the come together so you don't get the movement that causes the squeak. If your LBS sells carbon fiber parts they should sell friction paste.


Sounds right. Thanks for the clarification.


----------

