Squeaks & Creaks

So I have a creak in the bottom bracket (SRAM GXP) on my Salsa Fargo. Spent much of yesterday trying to eliminate it without success. By day's end, I had replaced the old BB with a new one, but only after removing/reinstalling, cleaning and re-packing the original BB several times. Also torqued the spider and chainring bolts to spec and re-greased the crank spindle where the arm bolts on. 

By bedtime, it was still squeaking. If anything, it was getting worse. Grr.

What could it be? Did some Googling. Pedals? Derailleur hanger(s)? Thud-buster seat post? Alternator dropouts? My money's on the dropouts. Folks have had all kinds of issues with them, and have tried all kinds of remedies to, well, remedy those issues.

Woke up this morning prepared to wage greasy war on all bolts and slider plates anywhere on the back half of the bike.

But first, I decided to swap out the custom wheel for the factory wheel and test it out. 'Cause I mean, what if it's the rear hub on my spendy custom wheel? So I swapped wheels and went for a spin.  

No creak.

Oh darn. (Or something like that.) Must be the hub, right? So not looking forward to breaking down and rebuilding my Hadley.

So I sigh, take the factory wheel back off, sigh again, put the custom back on, and flip the skewer shut. Hmm, seems a little loose. Undo, cinch it up tight, and lever it shut. Just for grins, I take it out.

Guess what. No creaking.

So, the creak appears to have been coming from the rear dropout, because maybe the QR wiggled loose over the past month? It's been about that long since the rear wheel has been off the bike. Hoping the creak stays gone. So far, so good.

Sometimes it's the little things.

-David