Movement in pedals (normal?)

[mynydd]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help.
Cycling into, and back from work today I noticed an annoying click, creak coming from the bottom bracket area when I applied pressure. It seems to be coming from the left hand side.
I've taken off the spd's and given them a thorough degreasing and clean, whilst doing this I noticed slight movement between the threaded area and the pedal - ie when they are fitted back onto the bike they wobble everso slightly up and down. Is this normal? I'm wondering if this could be the source of the noise. They're about three years old and have been used daily.
Thanks, any opinions appreciated

 

[alicat]

No. Are they definitely on tight enough? Could you try another set of pedals on the bike or the pedals on another bike to try to eliminate the problem.

 

[mynydd]

Yes, definitely on tight enough, it's the join in the pedal unit (don't know the technical term) that there is movement in.
Will try the cheap pedals that came with it in the morning. Just wondered if a small amount of movement was normal. Just hoping it's not an issue with the bb, as I had problems with that when bike was new and eventually had to send it back to specialized. Thanks

 

[alicat]

A small amount of movement is not normal. If one pedal goes up when the other goes down then it is likely to be a problem with the bottom bracket.

 

[mynydd]

Thanks, hopefully that's it then and the pedals are shot they're shimano m520's and have been well used for at least three years, on various bikes. Thanks again

 

[mynydd]

Damn!!! It's not the pedals, just tried the original ones. And the noise / creak is definitely sill there. As stated previously I had this problem when I first had the bike and eventually it was sent back to specialized. It's, typically, just out of warranty. Any ideas? Otherwise I'll take it to the lbs tomorrow. The original shop I got it from were awful.

 

[alicat]

Does sound like time for the lbs and a new bottom bracket.

 

[mynydd]

Yes, should last more than a year though shouldn't it? I'm not that heavy, and don't do huge mileage....