Steve Jones's Answer.

	Steve Jones The author of four mountain-biking books, Steve Jones has logged thousands of miles of trails and backroads. Meet Steve Answer Archive Biking Forums

Few things aggravate me more than the sound of my bike creaking unexplainably. Part of the joy I derive from a ride through the woods on my bike involves the notion that I am doing so silently, or nearly so. A quiet approach allows me a greater likelihood of surprising some wild animal, like a deer or a turkey. Also, the unwanted sound of my bike making unnatural sounds beneath me reminds me of my own body's growing inventory of groans.

We can't do much about a body's old-age noises, but there are several strategies you can employ as you search for the annoying source of"cycle squeak."

First of all, lift the bike wheels off the ground (by either placing it on its back or putting it in a rack) and pedal with no pressure on the frame. If it still makes the same noise, can you isolate it? Chances are, it won't be so easy. Clicks and squeaks can be be very difficult to locate. Make sure you keep your fingers and other body parts away from the back wheel as it turns, or else you'll be doing some squealing of your own.

If you do detect a noise when the bike is off the ground or with little or no pressure on the frame, and the noise occurs in rhythm with your pedals, clean and lubricate the moving parts of your pedals (the ball bearings around the pedal axle). If you have a really old bike without a sealed bottom bracket (the place to which the pedal's crankarms are attached), it could be you need to get the bearings repacked or replaced. Otherwise, I doubt your sealed bearings will ever give you trouble — but it is a possibility.

If the noise isn't present when the bike is in the rack or on its back, get on the bike and balance yourself by holding onto a small tree or some other suitable object. What you want to do is to remain stationary while back-pedaling (even though the noise probably doesn't originate in the pedals, it could appear once weight gets on the frame). If the creak is still absent, try applying pressure to both pedals but without moving the bike forward: Remember, you're still holding on to the tree or whatever.

Still no noise? Let go and coast slowly, all the while balancing on the pedals and gently bouncing up and down. If the noise coincides with the pressure coming down on the frame, you could have a cracked frame. If you've been riding hard or had a wreck that was rough on the bike, check to make sure all the braised sections still look well joined. You may have to wash the bike to get a closer look into all the corners.

Hopefully, that's not it. In which case, try everywhere there's metal-to-metal contact: seat post (take it out and clean both it and the inside of the seat tube), headset, seat clamp, and even the cables can cause a mystery noise. Remove, clean, and lube any and all parts that you feel qualified to put back together.

If that doesn't do it, you may have a cricket in your crankset, or a mouse in your cro-moly. And if that's the case — well, I don't even want to talk about what that involves.

Thanks for the question.