# The Cannondale Creeeek



## ganginwood (Dec 4, 2006)

admit it.....its true and hope it doesn't happen to you.
i own a 2007 system six and it already happened to mine. the bike has been to the shop 5 times this month and they still can't fix the creek. its not the wrench, he's very good. he also talked to the cannondale tech dept and tried their suggestions but to no avail. 
after my last episode on my older cannonball i swore i'd never ride another one. 
but because i got a good deal on this, i made the same mistake again. 
its too late to buy another bike so i have 3 questions
1. why is cannondale known for this creek?
2. why does it seem to only happen to cannondale (it must be in their bb/crankset combo)?
3. how do i fix this?


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## polkm5s2 (Feb 11, 2007)

I have a 2007 SystemSix and I have experienced a couple creeks. It turns out that the first creek was the seatpost. The second creek was the rails on the saddle. I initially thought that the creek was from the bottom bracket and crankset, but when I am out of the saddle, I don't hear the creek.

What did the bike shop and the cannondale tech dept suggest to fix the creek?


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## Speedy (Oct 30, 2005)

Every creek I've ever had - I always think it's coming from the BB - but it's always been something else. Just keep troubleshooting.


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## LeDomestique (Jan 17, 2007)

In my first 100-200 Ks on my new CAAD9 I had creaks coming out of my ears...forks, BB, cranks, etc.
They were ALL fixed sooner or later


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## dontimberline (Apr 20, 2006)

Have a CAAD7 for the past three years - didn't hear a single creak from it. The only noise that creeps me out is when a picked-up stone is flung against the downtube - it's a loud high pitched clank - but that's obviously not what you're talking about. Just picked up a used Six 13 - haven't ridden it enough yet - maybe 300 miles max, but I haven't noticed any creaks on it either.


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## Jeff in Texas (Mar 17, 2006)

I had a creak coming from the front fork area on my Six 13. I figured it out today. I took off my front wheel, put it back on and adjusted the tension, voila, no more creak. Silence is golden. Sometimes its just the simple things.


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## ninjaslim (Apr 30, 2006)

My Six13 Pro had a creek I thought it was the BB but turned out to be a piece of sand in the rear QR skewer.


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## woogie11 (Jul 16, 2006)

I know that on the System6 a "creeek" can result from vibrations transitioning from the carb to alu. Because they are co-molded and sometimes certain high speed frequencies "road buzz" transitions loudly from the carb to alu. It's interesting to go from really smooth nice pavement or even a hardwood floor to rougher pavement to see if it happens. Sometimes running a wheelset with steel spokes or a carbon rim helps stop that from happening. Hope that helps.


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## s2ktaxi (Jul 11, 2006)

check your pedals...


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## stwok (Mar 15, 2007)

woogie11 said:


> I know that on the System6 a "creeek" can result from vibrations transitioning from the carb to alu. Because they are co-molded and sometimes certain high speed frequencies "road buzz" transitions loudly from the carb to alu..........


My Six13 has 2 more joints then your S6 and all I hear is the sound of tires on the road and the chain passing through the rear derailleur !! No creeks ............ no knocks............ nothing!

*ganginwood,* you never mentioned where you thought the creek was coming from. So we have to guess. If it's coming from the crank, re-grease where the arms connect to the axle and make sure they are properly torqued. Everything should be checked for tightness/properly torqued, seat post, pedals, skewers, and stem. Another place that is often overlooked is the spacer stack above the head set. I was getting a creek from my handlebars every time I came out of the saddle and put more weight on the bars. So I put grease on top of the head set and on the each of the spacers and then re-assembled. And the creek was gone! So I don't believe there is a "Cannondale creek", it could happen to any bike with carbon fiber parts.


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## Cannon Ball (Dec 29, 2005)

Jeff in Texas said:


> I had a creak coming from the front fork area on my Six 13. I figured it out today. I took off my front wheel, put it back on and adjusted the tension, voila, no more creak. Silence is golden. Sometimes its just the simple things.



Same here. '06 Six13. Creek from fork/wheel juncture. I actually rubbed a little grease on the inside of both tabs and the creek has been gone since.


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## ganginwood (Dec 4, 2006)

i never mentioned where the creek is coming from because we don't know. every part of the bike has been cleaned and re-greased, qr's replaced, etc....
just stumped.


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

I know it has happened on mountain bikes from Cannondale so I guess it's also possible on road bikes (Cannondale or others)... Sometimes, tubes that are welded together sit very close to one another but there can be small gaps between both that the welds don't fill, inside the frame usually. When riding, frames (even the stiffest ones) get twisted slightly and the two tubes can rub very lightly against each other and make a creeking sound that travels inside the frame so it's hard to know exactly from where it comes...

Cannondale even has documented the issue in a tech document (about the Rush I think) but I don't remember if it was considered a defect and thus, covered by the warranty... If you checked every bolt, every metal to metal surface, threads, bearings, that _might_ be it.


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## LeDomestique (Jan 17, 2007)

It happened again. Annoying creek coming from BB / cranks when pedalling. Take it to the shop for check. Bike back from the shop. Do 50 km ride, creek still there. Get angry with shop. Read this thread. Decide its' not the BB. Decide to regrease seat post and seat rails. Out for a 50k ride. Creek gone. Voila !

Advise: apply grease everywhere !


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## ganginwood (Dec 4, 2006)

i wish mine was that simple. it only happens when i'm out of the saddle so it can't be the saddle or post. 
update:
they replaced my crankset this weekend. creek is still there. i'm wondering if its in my cleates?


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## stwok (Mar 15, 2007)

ganginwood said:


> update:
> they replaced my crankset this weekend. creek is still there. i'm wondering if its in my cleates?


Do you get the when pedaling or coasting?? 

Put a thing coat of grease on the contact surfaces of the pedal.


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## the Inbred (Feb 28, 2004)

ganginwood said:


> i wish mine was that simple. it only happens when i'm out of the saddle so it can't be the saddle or post.
> update:
> they replaced my crankset this weekend. creek is still there. i'm wondering if its in my cleates?


headset bearings, stem spacers, stem bolt/ top cap interface, stem/ top cap interface...clean all those, apply a thin layer of grease, see what happens. 

pop the bearings of the headset out, clean the sides, and the inside of the headtube, apply a thin layer of grease, see what happens.


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## funhog1 (Jan 26, 2003)

*Fixing Creaks*

creak...a demon spirit bound to affect any brand at any time.

Since Diagnosing might be time consuming...a creak could sound like it's coming from one place when it may not be that area..... (Pedals vs. BB....or Hub/Skewers/Frame..

I battle the demon by

1. Lube every thing....seat rails, Seat post, Seat Clamp ...All bearing races...Any bolt...anything with a thread...All slathered in Grease. I usually go light on exposed areas like seat rails....and the occasional alu stem/bar interface that I come across with a creak. Lube not just bolt threads...also lube behind the bolt heads...and around any washers.

2. Properly torque/snug down all bolts...or assembly points.

3. Hollowgram SI Cranks. Spindle Crank Arm/Crank Bolt interface ....Totally immerse that whole junction in Grease...Go crazy with the goo there. make sure those bolts get the right amount of torque. If need be....Borrow the tools from a shop...All shops get new set of SI crank tools with each SI bike they get. Make good with the service dept mavens and get a loaner set if you want to jack with the interface yourself

As to why some percieve them to show up on Cannondales?

My experience is that lesser quality or flexy frames or cheap flexy components with more give are less likely to creak. 

A mis-aligned...or mis-adjusted/no lube hub/skewer/dropout may not creak on a softer riding, less...precision made frame or on a softer more flexy wheel.

Everyone's got good input...so there's always that one anecdote that may cure it that no one may have ever experienced themselves.

It's rough having a high quality bad ass frame....there's no mercy on assembly/tune/prep...it all has to be perfect, and wrenches that don't get to ride the bike after they work on it may be limited in ability to ensure a "fix" before something leaves the shop...that and if they are skinny and working on a bike for a rider with more mass..they may not be able to percieve any creaks at all....

I hope all ends well with the creaks...


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## cyclust (Sep 8, 2004)

My 6-13 had a creak that sounded like it came from the BB or crank, but it was from the seatpost [carbon]. While they say you should not grease a carbon post, that fixed the creak. Unfortunately, it also caused my seatpost to creep down no matter how much I tightend the seatpost binder. So I ended up wrapping electrical tape around the post about 10 times very tightly flush with the top of the binder, this solves the creeping problem. Switching to a thomson post would probably be the best fix, as the machined surface gives the binder something to bite into.


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## stwok (Mar 15, 2007)

cyclust said:


> My 6-13 had a creak that sounded like it came from the BB or crank, but it was from the seatpost [carbon]. While they say you should not grease a carbon post, that fixed the creak. Unfortunately, it also caused my seatpost to creep down no matter how much I tightend the seatpost binder. So I ended up wrapping electrical tape around the post about 10 times very tightly flush with the top of the binder, this solves the creeping problem. Switching to a thomson post would probably be the best fix, as the machined surface gives the binder something to bite into.


I have a Six13 with a carbon seat post and haven't had any problems with it. I cleaned the seat post with lighter fluid to remove oil and other contamination and then wiped out the aluminum seat tube around the clamping area. When everything is clean, there are no creaks. 

Carbon fiber will give you a better ride then aluminum.


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## Hooben (Aug 22, 2004)

What you are talking about is aluminum frame fatigue. It is only supposed to happen to older bikes. I have a 1996 cannondale road bike that will creak only when I stand up and climb, or ride hard and fast. It at first will appear to come from the bottom bracket. It is actually the frame creaking as aluminum does not last forever. The real sadness is that your bike is not old. Does this mean that Cannondale is lowering the quality of the aluminum they are using?
Get in touch with a Cannondale rep. and demand a replacement. Perhaps you got a bad seed or a lemon.


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## mikedesign (Jan 25, 2004)

It could be the actual co molded socket and carbon rubbing I know they put boron in there for compression. 

I remember old gt sts thermoplastic bikes doing this from new usually as the band stretched


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## Veni Vidi Vici (Feb 10, 2004)

My bb creeked a couple of times.....turned out to be the pedels once and the frt wheel/fork
area the other time. I hate noise and will find and fix it pronto. Don't let a simple noise beat
you......You'll find it.


Veni Vidi Vici


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## pcsandre (Jun 28, 2007)

Are you using SI Cranks? I had a creak in my System6 and the problem was fixed by adding another preload shim between the BB and the crank.


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## ukiahb (Jan 26, 2003)

ancient history, but I bought a 3.0 waaay back in the early 90's and had to go through three frames before I got one that did not creak when standing on the pedals, was told at the time that a butting tube within the seat tube was the problem and that it only appeared occasionally on the biggest frames (mine is 60cm and I still have it). Fortunately Cannondale and the excellent LBS (Noe Valley in S.F. FWIW) stuck with it until I had a quiet bike


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