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Troubleshooting › Noises

Pedal or crank feels loose or wobbly: causes and fixes

Stop and check before riding further: a loose crank can strip its threads or fall off.

Check it on your own bike

  1. Pedal working loose · Most likely

    Tighten each pedal with a pedal wrench (left pedal is reverse-threaded).

    Fix: Remove and install pedals

  2. Crank bolt loose · Most likely

    Push the crank arms sideways. Movement at the arm means re-torque the crank bolt.

    Fix: Remove and install square-taper cranks · Remove/install two-piece cranks · Remove, install and remove play from 3-piece cranks

  3. Worn bottom bracket bearings · Sometimes

    With cranks tight, play or grinding in both arms is the bottom bracket.

    Fix: Replace cartridge bottom bracket · Replace external-cup BB · Replace Mid BB bearings