Pro tip: I quit chasing every creak in a bottom bracket with a torque wrench

Stella Hall · 2026-10-17T14:35:04.051665+00:00

For a long time I'd pull a crank and start guessing at torque, tightening the bearing preload a little more each time. Last spring a guy named Ray at a shop in Toledo watched me do it and told me to stop guessing and just feel the play first with the wheel off. So now I set the bike in the stand, grab the crank arms, and check for side to side slop before I touch a single bolt. Nine times out of ten the creak is a dry seatpost collar or a loose chainring bolt, not the bottom bracket at all. I wasted a good 45 minutes on a customer's bike last Tuesday chasing a noise that turned out to be his shoe cleat. The torque wrench still comes out, but only after I've felt for play and listened with the bike upside down. What's your go-to first move when a customer swears the noise is coming from the bottom bracket?

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Pro tip: I quit chasing every creak in a bottom bracket with a torque wrench | Bicycle Mechanics - Vivisector