Creaking noise - ISIS crank? How tight can it go?

[kahunacohen]

I had this problem on my KH20. I ordered thinner hub spacers which helped considerably but not totally. If you read the forums this kind of comes with the territory. I would try thinner spaces, order a few sizes. I forget which ones worked for me, but they are only a few dollars.

[pstrick]

Originally Posted by unibokk

I think it might be the spokes. Even on a twenty inch wheel I get a creaking sound when I put sideways twist on the wheel while almost stationary. The hub on your wheel is in suspension. Uneven pressure on the hub can cause it to twist which in turn may cause the spokes to rub making a creaking noise. With regard to the spacers,I always make sure there is no space between spacer and hub.I always use a narrow piece of piping to extend the hex key handle as mentioned in an earlier post.

Hope this helps.

One way to test if it is the spokes versus the pedal or crank might be to rotate your cranks relative to the wheel 90 degrees. If the creaking noise then occurs at a point in your pedal stroke that is now also offset 90 degrees from where it was, may more likely be a spoke issue. If the point of your pedal stroke at which the creak occurs is unchanged after this maneuver I would think that points to the noise coming from the crank or the pedal.

[unibokk]

Originally Posted by pstrick

One way to test if it is the spokes versus the pedal or crank might be to rotate your cranks relative to the wheel 90 degrees. If the creaking noise then occurs at a point in your pedal stroke that is now also offset 90 degrees from where it was, may more likely be a spoke issue. If the point of your pedal stroke at which the creak occurs is unchanged after this maneuver I would think that points to the noise coming from the crank or the pedal.

That's a good idea. Thanks Pstrick.

[ShannonG]

Originally Posted by tholub

The recommended torque is something like 25 foot-pounds, which is a lot. If you don't have a long-handled allen key, you probably can't get that much into it; even if you do, you probably can't get much more. So, crank it down hard.

Also, some grease on the tapers is a good idea.

Thanks to this thread, I finally solved the mystery clicking feeling that has been annoying me for months. Because this clicking coincided with me getting my new pedals, I started there. However, the pedals weren't the cause. Then, I replaced the bearings, even though they were less than a few months old. Finally, I did what I should have done originally, searched this forum. When I installed the cranks, I just hand tightened the cranks with an allen wrench. So last night, I took the cranks off and lubed the splines and then re-installed the cranks with a torque wrench set to 25 foot lbs. That did the seemed to do the trick! Today, I went a 20 mile ride with no clicking! I'm feeling optimistic that this is the solution that I have been looking for. Thanks everyone!!! I love this forum.

[Shmolagin]

Originally Posted by ShannonG

Thanks to this thread, I finally solved the mystery clicking feeling that has been annoying me for months. Because this clicking coincided with me getting my new pedals, I started there. However, the pedals weren't the cause. Then, I replaced the bearings, even though they were less than a few months old. Finally, I did what I should have done originally, searched this forum. When I installed the cranks, I just hand tightened the cranks with an allen wrench. So last night, I took the cranks off and lubed the splines and then re-installed the cranks with a torque wrench set to 25 foot lbs. That did the seemed to do the trick! Today, I went a 20 mile ride with no clicking! I'm feeling optimistic that this is the solution that I have been looking for. Thanks everyone!!! I love this forum.

That's great!

[battleshiplinoleum]

Originally Posted by Nurse Ben

Cranks, unless excessively worn, can almost always be made tighter, the exception being the above case where the ISIS bolt bottoms out on the spindle. I have only had this problems on Venture II's.

I got that problem on KH Spirit cranks on a KH Spirit hub. The bolt bottoms out on the spindle.

I'm using a 4mm spacer right now. Using a shorter or no spacer leads to play normal to the axis. Greasing the spindle helped temporarily, but only for a couple of hours.

The crank seems to have some rotational play on the hub. The creaking occurs reliably when I first push the pedal/crank in one direction and then the other direction, e.g. first forward/accelerate the wheel, then backwards/decelerate.

A dealer recommended to just buy a new set of cranks and consider ISIS cranks expendable items. Q: Any better ideas or hacks?

A rider recommended me to just live with the creaking noise and rotational play and suggested it won't get worse. Q: Can anyone confirm or disprove that?

[finnspin]

Originally Posted by battleshiplinoleum

A dealer recommended to just buy a new set of cranks and consider ISIS cranks expendable items. Q: Any better ideas or hacks?

While I hate that idea probably as much as you do, it seems to be the normal practice. As far as I can tell, right KH spirits are especially prone to issues, as they get extra torque from the brake, and can't be spaced inwards much, as they run into disk-frame issues.

Since you tried grease already, loctite 641 on the splines would be my only idea that I can think of. It's designed to hold bearings onto shafts, that may need disassembly for maintenance. Sounds like it may work to me, and I know people had at least some succes with regular (bolt securing) loctite.

Originally Posted by battleshiplinoleum

A rider recommended me to just live with the creaking noise and rotational play and suggested it won't get worse. Q: Can anyone confirm or disprove that?

I haven't seen or heard of anyone damaging their hub from this problem (and I know quite a few people using the "ignore it"-method), so while the creaking and movement may get worse, I don't think you will cause further issues.

[battleshiplinoleum]

Originally Posted by finnspin

Since you tried grease already, loctite 641 on the splines would be my only idea that I can think of.

I came back to brief you about the outcome.

I intended to reinstall the cranks using some Loctite 641. I discovered that my 4mm spacers weren't 4mm but 4.5mm and 3.7mm, the former having been on the creaking side, I think. So I measured and concluded that actual 4mm ones would fit good and applied such instead. I also applied some of that green Loctite. Wait, green? It seems to be supposed to be yellow. It's a Chinese bottle, can't tell whether its fake, legit but wrongly labelled, or just legit.

Anyway, there's no creaking any more but also no grounds to draw any new conclusions from this.