I forgot where I read this, but one experienced bike mechanic had an entire article online dedicated to creaks. Apparently in many cases people misdiagnose bottom bracket creaks with chainring bolts. (yes, chainring bolts).

Basically any bike can develop creaks if you get water and dirt into high stress areas. Used to happen ALL the time on my mountain bike. Since I’m a hater of creaks I decided to go all the way with this bike. You will want the following four items:

(1) grease
(2) TiPrep (a grease-like substance that prevents metals from bonding to your Titanium frame preventing them from being removed. TiPrep has copper as one of it’s main ingredients. Also prevents creaking.)
(3) plumbers silicon tape
(4) carbon fiber “assembly paste” (a recent development, this is also like grease, but has tiny plastic BBs in it that help prevent carbon-on-carbon from slipping. Also reduces the torque required on the bolts. Also prevents creaking)

- Grease your: pedal spindles, chainring bolts, headset bolts
- Carbon fiber assembly paste your stem if it is in contact with carbon handlebars or a carbon steerer tube
- TiPrep your Bottom bracket and wrap it in two layers of plumbers teflon tape before assembling

Double-check that all of your bolts are staying tight the first few rides and you should be set with the basics.

Beyond that, less common creaks would most likely be:
- headset spacer stack order (sounds weird but I’ve seen changing the order work)
- worn pedals (I had some ritcheys with soft alloy which, once they developed a creak, could not be silenced by anything. Switched to Shimano and has been quiet thus far)

I own a merlin cr works with dura ace 7900 and easton carbon EC 90 fork. I have this bike for a bit more than 1 year and i was very satisfied….until now. Last two weeks I was in mallorca for biking and during a climb the bike begin creep and peep. Changed the chain, the bottom bracket, reinstalled the headset but the noise comes back everytime I put pressure on the pedals. Ideas?

Tnx

Tried out the top of the line Carbon frames from Scott, Cervello, Look and Pinarello back in 2006 – they where a bit lighter but not nearly as nice a ride as the Works CR.
I really love the stiff backend, low point of gravety and the direct and precise handling of the front end, the road feel and complience. It’s a lot of fun for commuting in the Copenhagen area, comfortable enough for century rides, Stiff and light for climbing in the Alpes or Sierra Nevada and secure for descending those same mountains at 80-100km/h.

I still ride the supplied fork – i haven’t had any clicking problems though i’m a big rider at 90-95kg. Have decided that if i crash it i’ll get a Woundup for ultimate control. Tom Kellog thinks that the Real Design fork is a great fork, similar to the Ouzo Pro witch he helped develop.

If i ever crash the frame or someone steals it, the replacement will be an identical build Custom Merlin/Spectrum – perhaps with build with a slightly taler headtube. Tom Kellogs compact design in the CR is just awsome.

I’ll have to check out availability of the Edge fork here in Australia. Had been looking at Reynolds Ouzo Pro and Easton EC 90 forks (both of which seem to have had mostly favourable reviews) but am seriously considering the Edge fork on the strength of your recommendation.

I think you may be right about the wheels being a part of ‘the problem’ in crosswinds. The spokes are flat-bladed and the rims pretty deep (42mm) and, like you, I didn’t notice that I was being buffeted around so much with my old standard-spoked wheels.

Thanks again, Aaron. Oh yeah, Bear Mountain sounds like fun!

For me I didn’t notice the clicking until I was in a quiet bike shop during my fitting. We were able to study the bike a bit closer when applying various kinds of torque, and we all agreed we didn’t like what we were seeing or hearing.

If you’re hearing that clicking while riding you might be looking at a more serious situation.

Due to the geometry of the Merlin I didn’t have many choices for forks that had the same rake (and would therefore maintain the same steering characteristics). If I remember correctly there were only three:

- Alpha Q
- Edge
- Easton (not recommended by LBS)

In researching the forks a bit online I ended up liking “coloclimber”s description of moving from an Alpha Q to the Edge in this post:
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=46412

He said “…it was akin to pushing the stiffer suspension button on my mother-in-laws S-Class. Same Mercedes ride quality but tighter”.

While many others defended the Alpha Q the combination of the rave reviews and the aesthetics of the Edge won me over, though it ended up costing more.

I’d say the difference between the Real fork and the Edge was noticeable–the bike immediately felt stiffer in the front. The fork absorbs bumps quickly and keeps you going in the direction you were pointed with no waver. I did notice that I had to get a little stronger in the upper-body to hold the bike on my desired line since it’s so light and the steering so tight (again, due to geometry).

Just this last weekend I had a chance to race a course that was a perfect test for this wheel/fork combo: Bear Mountain. It contained some rolling hills through a forested section with patchy roads littered with little potholes and some monster descents, one of which catapulted you straight down at 50mph followed by a 180-degree hairpin at the bottom that turned you around and sent you back up.

The Fork, in combination with the carbon handlebars kept the bike steadfastly in a straight line over the rough stuff (not so stiff that I was bounced around) and was firm enough to handle the *hard* breaking and cornering on the big turn. It didn’t feel like the fork was flexing under the stopping stress at all.

After passing that test I knew there wasn’t anything else I could throw at it that wouldn’t be downright dangerous.

Re crosswinds: I’m not familiar with those wheels but I noticed crosswinds more immediately after moving from my standard-spoked Ritchey OCR wheels to the flat-bladed Ksyriums.

Sometimes I’ll be riding in a crosswind cursing the wheels thinking that I’m working way harder than I used to, then I’ll glance at the speedometer and notice that I’m pulling 2mph faster than last year and it begins to make more sense.

Of course to respond to the circling skeptics: yes, I did train harder over the winter and early spring so yes, *I* was what was more likely faster, not the bike. But I can say with certainty that the new bike is more fun to ride.

I was interested in your comments on the Real Design fork that came with the frame, Aaron. I’ve still got the Real Design HP Pro forks that came with mine and am wondering whether or not I need to upgrade them, too. I’m getting the same clicking noise that you got when riding out of the saddle and, more worryingly, a squirrelly front end on descents (at times) and in cross-winds. My head set (Cane Cree solos) is fine, as are my wheels (American Classic CR 45s). Given that you mention that after an upgrade, your bike ‘carves a very confident line on hard corners and over rough patches’, I was just wondering if you’d had similar problems?

Cheers,
Matt

See you out on the road.