BB30? If so, ditch the ceramics. They're too dainty for a man of your calibre. If you're feeling feisty, go King. He won't let you down.

@John. This is like my favorite topic. You may remember the noises my bike was making a couple of weeks ago on the way to Levain bakery. You were dubious about my supposition that it was just the pedals that needed regreasing. You were right. The bottom bracket was shot after 4 months. The obvious diagnosis came when I pulled the cranks off and turned the spindle and heard/felt a creak-creak-creak. But there ARE other reasons for such noises. I would start by taking the pedals off and cleaning the threads and regreasing and replacing. You should check the chain ring bolts and make sure they are tight. Other potential creak sources are  your seat post binder bolt, the bolts that hold the seat onto the seat post, the stem/handlebar connection. I'm sure you know this. 

For the sake of being thorough, never forget to tighten your quick release skewers!  Ride Brooklyn replaced my BB once before we realized it was my QR skewers creaking rather than my BB.  Don't worry though, that mechanic doesn't work there anymore and the diagnosis was more mine than his.  It creaked with each pedal stroke when I was out of the saddle.

Oh yeah. I have a set of wheels that creaks and others that don't.  I agree, change the front wheel and see what happens.

Carbon creaks - I've seen (heard) one coming from a bottle cage that needed tightening

The foil is not BB30. it is BB86, which is an alternative press fit set up. The BB cups can creak in the carbon frame.

You need to take the cups out, do NOT grease the cups, instead use blue loctite and press them back in.

Sorted.

I am not around this weekend or I would help as I have all the tools and the loctite (BMC uses the same BB).

@Stokes I had the same front wheel creak with the Bontrager Race Lights, a bit of dry lube on the dropouts fixes that.

@Everyone else, thanks for the tips. It could well be any one of these things, but it smells like BB404. Is there a preferred grease to use when greasing bottle cage bolts, seat bolt clamps, crank arm bolts etc? I have shimano green stuff and some lithium white grease kicking around, but wondering if there's something that is more carbon friendly.

@John. You jinxed me. My bike started creaking/ticking in synchrony with my pedal stroke yesterday. Just spent the last 3 hours trying to get rid of it. Tested both chain rings. Tried different shoes/cleats. Took off the pedals and regreased. Took off the cranks and regreased. Changed the number of washers on the BB to get optimal compression of the wavy washer. Tried different wheels. Tried pedals and shoes from 'cross bike. Even removed, regreased, retorqued my chain ring bolts. Tick tick tick. I was ready to give up. But I had also commented after the PP race that maybe I just needed to clean my chain, which had gone quite a long time with a minimal amount of lubricant. So I cleaned my drive chain, relubricated and voila. I think the tick is gone. At least now my wavy washer is optimally compressed and my chain ring bolts are evenly torqued, which wasn't the case previously.

Meanwhile, a tiny cut in my tire casing caused my nice latex tube to develop a leak. Forget about finding said leak (a prerequisite for patching). You cannot pump up the tube enough to detect the hole. Reminds my of some shenanigans in my freshman dorm trying to fill a condom with what we thought was going to be explosive hydrogen gas but turned out to be nitric oxide. The sidewall of the condom bubbled, burst and released the highly toxic brown gas into the laundry room. Anyway, back to butyl for Orchard Beach.

My new rear training wheel has lost it's "click" when I'm coasting.

pawls

eragot said:

I find that it's better to be quiet so as to not let others know you are coasting when they are working their tails off.

Interesting; I always thought it was a safety feature for those behind you.  I like the stealth idea though; will go well with my all-black kit I've socked away for clandistine #cxpractice (but don't tell anyone where I learned that trick)

^ If you sneak up to the back of a break, pedal and feather your brake rather than freewheel. Also hang back a bit further than usual = more free ride.

An inaudible freewheel is a danger to those behind you. The noise is as functional as brake lights.

Gwynna Smith said:

Rule #65

// Maintain and respect your machine.

Bicycles must adhere to the Principle of Silence and as such must be meticulously maintained. It must be cherished, and when leaning it against a wall, must be leaned carefully such that only the bars, saddle, or tires come in contact with the wall or post.  This is true even when dismounting prior to collapsing after the World Championship Time Trial. No squeaks, creaks, or chain noise allowed. Only the soothing hum of your tires upon the tarmac and the rhythm of your breathing may be audible when riding. When riding the Pave, the sound of chain slap is acceptable. The Principle of Silence can be extended to say that if you are suffering such that your breathing begins to adversely effect the enjoyment of the other riders in the bunch, you are to summarily sit up and allow yourself to be dropped.10

After joining Kissena I first met up with Jeff W. and Mike P. at the park to do some laps.  I caught onto their wheels as they were doing tempo and noticed Mike's chain squeaking like a bird's nest full of chicks.  I quietly wondered,"What the hell kind of fred club did I just join?"

Then I spent the next few laps desperately holding onto Whitey's wheel while Mike proceeded to sit at the front and rip my legs off.  I never cared about his squeaking chains ever again.

True story.

On the recent new members ride the loudness of the freehub on my zipp wheels was commented upon. I had vaguely noticed it before - especially in comparison to Shimano or Campagnolo wheels, but I had never felt ashamed of it. Not like I do now.

Does anyone have a 120mm road stem? Looking to stretch out the one on my Cdale. 1 1/8" 6 degrees black preferred. Also any recs on a good stem? I have the oem cannondale c2 on there now.

I'll take your Zipp wheels Ian.

ian ellis said:

On the recent new members ride the loudness of the freehub on my zipp wheels was commented upon. I had vaguely noticed it before - especially in comparison to Shimano or Campagnolo wheels, but I had never felt ashamed of it. Not like I do now.

Now every time I walk past those wheels in the house I have to avert my gaze. They may have to go.

Have you tried oil or grease in there?  (otherwise, I may have to fight Brendan for them)

Regarding the clicking, it is odd that yours got quieter. Usually it gets louder as the grease moves out of the way. I doubt anything is wrong. Depending on how fast you are going, what gear you are in, and the design of the mechanism, the ratchet may not make a noise.

Far be it from me, however, to suggest that you should not disassemble, clean, and grease your hub. Do it!

Any reason I shouldn't use a shim to adapt my old 1" steerer tube to more modern 1 1/8" stems? I don't remember off hand what the steerer tube is made of, but probably aluminum given the 1999 vintage (Time carbon fork).

http://www.amazon.com/Thomson-Bicycle-Step-8-Inch-Black/dp/B0013UOZ20

@Stokes, I have a shim on my 145 Giant stem and it's rock solid.

shims are no probs for a stem...I used one for years on my Bianchi.  The choices in 1" stems are nonexistent....shim it out to 1-1/8 and get anything you want.

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013/10/how-to-clean-your-bike/
Anyone know where you can buy that bottle brush? The little teflon thingy is cool too.

Here is a good selection of bottle brushes:
https://www.tedpella.com/brush_html/Brushes.htm

Radiator cleaning brush should fit the bill. Hardware store, home depot, etc... I find that an old hub works better than any chain keeper. I even got a Morgan blue one..

JohnMalcolmson said:

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013/10/how-to-clean-your-bike/
Anyone know where you can buy that bottle brush? The little teflon thingy is cool too.

Somebody really needs to do a NYC version of this; how to clean your bike in a 5x3 space without getting a divorce or covering everything you own in grease...