Noticed a weird trend with bottom bracket creaks lately

Over the past month I've fixed three bikes where the creak was coming from a dry seatpost clamp not the bottom bracket and I'm starting to wonder how many people chase ghosts before checking the simple stuff first, has anyone else run into that kind of misdiagnosis?

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2 Comments

wesley_hart1mo ago

That's definitely a thing. You hear creaking and your brain goes straight to the bottom bracket because that's the common culprit on forums. But yeah, I've seen guys replace bearings and retorque cups only to find out it was a dry seatpost or even loose chainring bolts. Saddle rails can creak too, sounds just like a bottom bracket issue but it's coming from behind you. Always worth hitting the simple stuff first before pulling the cranks.

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abbyk101mo ago

Oh man, tell me about it, I once chased a phantom creak for three weeks before finding a loose water bottle cage bolt.

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