Cracking sound when under load

[Gary29]

My road bike is a year old now, nothing fancy, Shimano Tiagra, not sure what make the free hub is, but I 'think' the free hub is about to fail.

This is not a bragging thread but I have powerful legs and when I put full power through the cranks, I occasionally get a slight slip and a cracking sound from somewhere in the drive train, is there any way I can check where it's coming from?

Chain and cassette look good, is it just a cheap free hub?

[J886ATV]

Could be wear in the chain / front chain rings - if they are both worn you can get slip like that there too.

Year old? How many miles? What has been changed so far?
(Edited for numerous typos / spelling mistakes)

[hman]

With your self pro-claimed "powerful legs" you will be over the handlebars and eating tarmac if that free hub lets go under high torque.


I would just replace it.

[Gren]

J886ATV said:

Could be wear in the chain / front chain rings - if they are both worn you can get slip like that there too.

Year old? How many miles? What has been changed so far?
(Edited for numerous typos / spelling mistakes)

This is where I'd be looking. Worn chain/rings will cause a slip which makes a noise like you mention and will be felt through the pedals.

[Gary29]

J886ATV said:

Could be wear in the chain / front chain rings - if they are both worn you can get slip like that there too.

Year old? How many miles? What has been changed so far?
(Edited for numerous typos / spelling mistakes)

1600 miles since January, nothing has been changed on the road bike, it's just a work horse to keep fit.

It feels like a very small amount of 'slip' so that's what's making me think free hub is skipping over a pawl possibly, didn't know if it was a common issue?

But I'll check the chain and rings for wear before changing the free hub.

Thanks for the replies.

[S100HP]

Gary29 said:

This is not a bragging thread but I have powerful legs

[JEA1K]

S100HP said:

Definitely sound like the freehub. I have just bought another for my training wheels ... last one went pop 12 months ago, rode it since March until now and its gone again. Had been creaking for a few weeks, suspected BB issue and when I inspected it, the bearings on the outer end had failed so the cassette was running out of true.

[Gary29]

JEA1K said:

Definitely sound like the freehub. I have just bought another for my training wheels ... last one went pop 12 months ago, rode it since March until now and its gone again. Had been creaking for a few weeks, suspected BB issue and when I inspected it, the bearings on the outer end had failed so the cassette was running out of true.

Thanks for the reply, was expecting some mild ribbing when I wrote that

I don't profess to be a director of any kind if that helps lessen the boldness of the claim lol!

[nammynake]

Dropouts are often the cause of creaks. It's a 5 minute job to remove both wheels, clean the dropouts and apply a little grease. Give it a go !

[LotusMartin]

nammynake said:

Dropouts are often the cause of creaks. It's a 5 minute job to remove both wheels, clean the dropouts and apply a little grease. Give it a go !

The above fixed an identical sounding problem on my road bike, unfortunately after I had already replaced the chain, cassette and bottom bracket. Turned out I just wasn't putting my wheels on tight enough.

[marksx]

Could it be the BB itself? Can you feel anything through the pedals?

[Gary29]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's not a carbon frame, it's Alu.

I will check the dropouts, the rear skewer has never been great, it's a little short but that's what came with the bike so I've just kept using it.

Through the pedals, it does 'feel' as though the resistance goes off them for a split second which is what is making me think it's the free hub, but I haven't gone over the bars or shinned myself......yet!

[S100HP]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I had that on my Isaac. Really common apparently. Used to annoy the hell out of me.