Any ideas ???

[Fiona N]

Thanks Kypdur, you've exactly described my problem. I was averting my mind from that possbility, I'm afraid, by tackling every other bit of the bike because it seems like a creaking frame is for 'life' especially as some flex was what I bought this frame for rather than going for the straight Al version. I'll consult with some people and see whether a bit of epoxy/loctite at the joint might reduce the problem without detrimentally affecting the frame.

But at least it means I'm not going crazy and I'm going to have a beautifully maintained winter hack bike, too

Roll on the Spring when I plan to splash out on a new summer bike - undecided between Ti (probably Enigma Elle) and full C - I like the look of the Wilier ladies' model if I can live with a bike called 'Mimosa'

 

[Fiona N]

A quick update for Kypdur - I've found that a quick spray of WD40 or similar lubricant gives 95% relief as long as it's not raining and a new front derailleur has fixed the rest of the noises.

Stealth biker

 

[02GF74]

Well, we sort of have an answer
I didn't realise that I had two things going on - one (the worst) of which is related to the front derailleur which is - not to put too fine a point on it - a heap of c**p. .... the noise, the complete pathetic-ness of the Tiagra derailleur (obvious once I put the bike back on the turbo so I could watch the parts without worrying about traffic - it flexes and wobbles all over the place) and the fact that fiddling with the derailleur (particularly moving it up, away from the big ring) meant that the clicking and grating noises got better or worse inversely to the performance of the gears.

but you said:

Thanks for that link PP.
I forgot to mention that I removed the front derailleur as a test which confirmed that the noise was quite independent of both the derailleur and the chain ring in use. .

is anyone else confused by this contradictory statments????

anyways, you have it sorted. but serves you right from buying from Ribble, they are lying theiveing bastards!!! oops, there I go again.

 

[Fiona N]

If you read all my posts you'll find that I resolved the issue into two separate parts - one was the derailleur which I couldn't set up so that it was clear of the chain in most of the gear combos, although in some it was OK e.g. middle chain ring, middle sprockets, and the other part was the frame squeaking.
Since the noise was quite variable and all around the drive chain it wasn't obvious that two things were going on, thus removing the derailleur only removed part of the problem. I guess that if I'd thought to oil the frame before changing to the new derailleur, I'd have caught on a bit quicker.

There were some coincidences that made life difficult - for example, I fiddled with the position of the old derailleur after returning from a ride which was wet. The next ride the noise was much worse - seemingly due to fiddling with the derailleur but actually, in all probability just due to getting fine grit into the frame gaps. Sadly, if I'd sprayed the frame with Bike Spray as I do with the Al mtb, I might have solved the problem sooner.

 

[kypdur]

Hello again!

After spending far too long drilling out the stripped allen bolt I've managed to fix the creaking problem. The problem was the bolts were too short.

The bolts supplied were 8mm and the replacements are 10mm (they were left overs from a set of time cleats)

I've been out in all weathers since I fixed it and not a sound has been heard, especially when climbing out of the saddle. I didn't apply any extra lubricants or glues and haven't overtightened them this time.

If you need any bolts I have spares.