So, to update everyone and in case someone comes here in the future, I have mixed news: I don’t have the noise anymore… but I don’t know why.
I kept riding my bike for around 2-3 weeks after posting this and the noise just kept reducing gradually. After around 4 weeks I can’t hear it anymore.
As I mentioned before, I changed almost everything on my bike to no avail. The only parts I did not change were the frame and the BB. I have not idea what was it… but thanks everyone for the help. If this happens to me again or I see a problem, I will update.
If I may offer this perspective. An undiagnosed noise will virtually never just go away. There may possibly still be something wrong. From personal experience with SRAM cranks I’d personally never use one again as I’ve had three break on me. One was a case of a Force crank where the axle became disbondef from the crank arm which your situation reminded me of. AXS does present issues with its proprietary nature. I do hope it really simply went away though.
I replaced the chain with one from another bike. Noise is gone. The “new” chain is a Red instead of Force and 1 link pair shorter than the one which caused the noise. But I don’t think either of it matters.
Aaah, mine does exactly the same thing, it’s driving me crazy! In my case it started when I replaced the old chain with a new one fhis year, since then I have it all the time on the small ring (replaced cassette, chainrings twice since I changed the size, crankset, even RD hanger since I bent the old one - it’s still the same noise). I can hear it also when riding seated uphill and pushing hard… What’s funny, over time as the chainring teeth get dirty it is quieter, but when I clean them it’s horrible… I thought I must have some kind of bad chain batch (with the old one it was 100% quiet, but it was worn…) and planned to replace it again, maybe with a Red chain (using Force chain now). Though in a chain test the Red one ended up worse than Force…
Mine did this too (Red AXS) a few weeks back (exactly the same noise only at certain power ~250W) and it was an under-lubricated chain. It was freshly waxed however I did a bad job in a hurry. On the first ride after it rained part way through and that was enough to set it off. Got home, re-waxed and problem solved.
I have this exact same issue. For anyone thinking that this is the bottom bracket, I don’t think it is… I have tried 4 different bottom brackets to no avail. The most frustrating thing for me is it that it rides beautifully for 15-16 miles and then the noise comes back. Seems to happen after a number of climbs. Some of the BB’s and steps I’ve tried below: -
2x Ceramic Speed DUB BB’s
1x Stock SRAM DUB BB (SRAM won’t talk to you unless you have all components SRAM)
Current BB is a BB Infinite module - I will be keeping this as its awesome (just a shame its not fixed the issue)
Application of locktite to preload tensioner, and crankset bolt (instead of grease)
Out of desparation I also tried a tiny tiny amount of WD40 to the pre-load area (careful not to apply excessively. Oddly, this fixed the issue for a few long rides - until it rained heavily and then it came back.
I have also tried a new Front Derailleur (for another mental issue with this groupset) chain constantly coming off the big ring - regardless of FD alignment / Setup. As a side note the only way this was ‘fixed’ to an acceptable level was by messing with the spacers outside of what BB infinite say should work.
I’ve had a number of highly regarded professional mechanics look at this issue and none of them know what’s going on.
I’m determined to get to the root of this issue - it’s a new Tarmac SL6 S-Works, SRAM Red AXS, BBInifinite Bottom Bracket.
I’ll post back with updates but if anyone has further suggestions I’m all ears.
Hi - I have now solved this problem on my bike. Like another person with the same issue, it turned out to be the freehub on the rear wheel.
For me I’d missed a small spacer out when swapping out an 11 speed free hub to the xdr one. The guy who put me on to this potential cause had a faulty freehub.
Thanks - I’m using a Force cassette on a Tacx Neo trainer, and a Red cassette on a normal wheel. I’ll check the spacers. Otherwise the drivetrain is all Force AXS. I’ll let you know if I find anything.
I found this thread after searching online. Factor ONE, SRAM RED AXS, Ceramicspeed BBright PF30. Silent operation except when out of the saddle, crank under load in the power stroke between 2-4 o’clock. I’ve been through the misery of the above - I’ve changed pedals, cassette, wheels, chain, I’ve checked torques and greased contacts points from RD, seatpost, seat clamp, headset etc - thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk. I can feel a mild reverberation in my feet when this happens, and if I stand on the pedals and force one side down, then the other, I can get the noise to appear so I am convinced in my case that it’s rock in the BB cups/shell that only displays when you put under enough load. I’m changing the BB tomorrow and will report back but this is driving me nuts on what is supposed to be the best equipment money can buy.
I feel for you and it’s really frustrating. I had a Ceramic Speed BB also, different issue by the sounds of it. Mine occurred only after some period of riding and I didn’t even have to put any force through the pedals once the noise started. Which BB have you gone for? If I were you I’d look at BBInfinite bottom brackets. I’m running one of those and for press fit bottom brackets it fixes the issues of mis aligned BB Shells and poor manufacturing tolerances. I don’t think the issue you’re facing is necessarily anything to do with the AXS groupset, more a BB issue.
One word of warning, if you go through SRAM support they will be no help unless you have a full SRAM groupset including the SRAM Road BB…
Thankfully my bike is fixed now but it took about 10 months of pain and a lot of money before I finally got to the root of the issue.
Thank you. I’m sorry to hear about your woes but glad you’ve resolved them. I’m changing the BB for a like-for-like as in the first instance I think I need to rule in or out an identical product. I do agree with you that the issue isn’t likely to be the groupset - as it happens, I’ve two bikes with identical groupsets and only the Factor has the issue, the other bike has a Chris King BB. I’ll report back to the thread with my results as soon as the LBS turns it around.
Yeah I think that is a good shout. The ceramicspeed bb is actually a decent design (bearings on the outside).
I still think the bbinfinite is a superior design (there’s a sleeve in the middle to counter any tolerance issues and prevent that bearing alignment problem) but ceramic speed is good.
From the symptoms I can’t see it being anything other than the BB / Shell. The other option you have is getting a hambini bottom bracket (see his YouTube videos - quite revealing how shoddy frame manufacturing is).
The feedback on the issue from the LBS was a simple one - the BB had not been fitted properly, with Loctite not being present on one side of the BB. This was surprising given the bike is low-volume and hand-built: perhaps the engineers were having an off day. The LBS mechanic pulled the BB and refitted it using Factors instructions (Loctite 641 into the BB grooves) and the bike is running as smoothly as it did on the day I picked it up. Did 850m of climbing today and didn’t hear a single thing - I’m delighted! I’ve now got a spare CeramicSpeed BBRight BB but I’m sure I’ll make use of it in a few years time.
Thank you so much, and you too. The weather (in Surrey, UK) was lovely today, a promising spring day, so what nicer an occasion to have fully working equipment again.
I came across this post about three weeks ago with the same exact sounds coming from my bottom bracket / crank area that @Daniel_Hernandez posted in his video under the same conditions - only happens with the chain in the small ring in the front. I also went through many of the same trouble shooting steps: removed and repressed the BB (using Loctite Activator and Loctite 641), tried a new BB, replaced the chain, removed the front derailleur, tried a different rear wheel, replaced the pre-load adjustor ring on the non-drive side, replaced the pedals, tried different arrangements of spacers on the drive / non-drive side of the bottom bracket, and removed the SRAM Red AXS chainring block from the crank arm, cleaned and regreased the mounting bolts and reassembled. Nothing helped.
I had the opportunity to change out the drive side crank arm + chainring block, which solved the problem - no more creak!
Does this make sense? Not sure - My SRAM Red AXS chainring block has been regularly used for 3+ years. Over the last year, it has seen more grit and dirt on my gravel bike and has (a best guess) about 15,000 total miles on it. I would have thought it would last longer…
I hope this helps others troubleshoot this noise. I’ve spent almost two months on this and am glad to have finally figured it out!
Factor LS
SRAM Red Axs 48/35 with 10-33 rear cassette
SRAM Red Chain
CeramicSpeed BBRight Bottom Bracket
I don´t know if this has been postet already - i had the same noise (S-Works MTB Frame). Turned out to be the connection between the thru axle and the carbon frame. Maybe it´s worth looking at.
