Cannondale Creaking / Rattling rectified!

[Al T]

Hope it may help someone in a similar scenario:
Just in case this assists anyone else who may encounter an annoying persistent rattle / creaking....
My Cannondale Synapse entry level bike's only 2 weeks old but has been back twice for rattling / creaking..the creaking rattle noise was unbelievable & drove me insane...it wasn't a noise associated with something rotating it was more of a persistent structural creak...to cut a long story short we found that the only time it didn't do it was when I was out of the saddle!...I was amazed to find that a new seat post & saddle seems to have sorted it...I was also amazed how much the aluminium frame kind of amplified & transferred the sound throughout the frame...
Touch wood that's it sorted for good now...
Well done James at Wheelbase...!

 

[raleighnut]

Quite common that, makes a change to sort it so quickly though. People have been known to chase the cause of creaks for days

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Quite common that, makes a change to sort it so quickly though. People have been known to chase the cause of creaks for days

Note to self: read posts more carefully when tired. For a moment my brain thought it said:

People have been known to chase the source of creeks for days

 

[betty swollocks]

Hope it may help someone in a similar scenario:
Just in case this assists anyone else who may encounter an annoying persistent rattle / creaking....
My Cannondale Synapse entry level bike's only 2 weeks old but has been back twice for rattling / creaking..the creaking rattle noise was unbelievable & drove me insane...it wasn't a noise associated with something rotating it was more of a persistent structural creak...to cut a long story short we found that the only time it didn't do it was when I was out of the saddle!...I was amazed to find that a new seat post & saddle seems to have sorted it...I was also amazed how much the aluminium frame kind of amplified & transferred the sound throughout the frame...
Touch wood that's it sorted for good now...
Well done James at Wheelbase...!

The noise is caused by minute grit particles getting between the seatpost and the seat tube. Just take the seatpost out, clean it and the inside of the seat tube, re-grease and re-insert: sorted. And yes, the aluminium does seem to amplify the noise.
I've pacified numerous Cannondale riders by diagnosing and eliminating these incredibly annoying sounds by doing as described.
Glad you're sorted.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

May have to give that a try. I have a clicking coming from the crank on the Synapse, I'm presuming it's bolts needing to be torqued up, although I'd hoped it would be fixed at the service it had Monday (I'd flagged it up as a thing and suggested they test it on the turbo as it only clicks under load but it doesn't look like they bothered). The clicking/ticking with every revolution (worse up hill) drives me insane and I really don't want to do the 100 with it still happening. The frame really does amplify it too.

 

[MickeyBlueEyes]

a new seat post & saddle seems to have sorted it...

Playing devils advocate, was the old saddle & post faulty or would you of had the same result by taking out/tightening/lubing your originals?
Reason I say that is I've had loads of creaks, one example being the pedals. Simply, and by doing no more than undoing them (not removing them) and then retightening and the creak's gone.
Just seems odd that a bike that's only 2 weeks old would have a faulty post and saddle.

 

[Pikey]

May have to give that a try. I have a clicking coming from the crank on the Synapse, I'm presuming it's bolts needing to be torqued up, although I'd hoped it would be fixed at the service it had Monday (I'd flagged it up as a thing and suggested they test it on the turbo as it only clicks under load but it doesn't look like they bothered). The clicking/ticking with every revolution (worse up hill) drives me insane and I really don't want to do the 100 with it still happening. The frame really does amplify it too.

Had this issue, growing worse over the last few weeks, until it drove me insane yesterday. So this am, removed pedals, cleaned and regreased and tightened chainring bolts, they had lost about 1-1.5 nm each by the look of it, so could be the prob.

Let's hope I'm click free on today's ride or I'm going to have to consider that it might be my knees after all.

 

[Pikey]

Hope it may help someone in a similar scenario:
Just in case this assists anyone else who may encounter an annoying persistent rattle / creaking....
My Cannondale Synapse entry level bike's only 2 weeks old but has been back twice for rattling / creaking..the creaking rattle noise was unbelievable & drove me insane...it wasn't a noise associated with something rotating it was more of a persistent structural creak...to cut a long story short we found that the only time it didn't do it was when I was out of the saddle!...I was amazed to find that a new seat post & saddle seems to have sorted it...I was also amazed how much the aluminium frame kind of amplified & transferred the sound throughout the frame...
Touch wood that's it sorted for good now...
Well done James at Wheelbase...!

I found this with both of my synapses within a month from new, just have to clean, regrease and put back together. Eventually it seems to clear up. I did put some fibre grip assembly paste in one of them as seemingly nothing would cure it, and it's fine now.

Keep an eye on the stem / handlebar interface too, that caused all manner of clicks and creaks on my first synapse if you even left it near a window inside on a wet day, against cleaning that up sorts it, but I replaced my stem with a white one to match the bike (like a tart) and never had any issues since.