FOUND IT - WHAT A RELIEF!

After nearly four months of searching, I have found it. It started out as an irritating creak. Then it went away, then it came back - louder, then it went away. My Scott Spark had developed a terrible creak and I took it to numerous bike mechanics to get it sorted out. All failed! As a first timer on a carbon bike, I was simply not used to creaks on carbon. They tend to resonate and are difficult to track down. Here's how it went:

1) Its the BB: It was my first experience with PF30 BB's and this was an XX one. I tried everything with the BB and for months was convinced this was the problem. I started cursing Scott and had got to the point where I was going to approach the distributors!

2) Its the Pedals: I started to eliminate all other possibilities. I found an issue on my XTR pedals and swopped them out. New pedals and the creak stopped - for a few days anyway. Then it was back!

3) Its the drop outs: I looked at the drop outs, greased them and cleaned everything. Creak stayed.

4) Its the seat: Stripped it down, cleaned it and tried a new seat. No change.

5) Its the bloody cluster: Then this morning, riding around Central, the penny dropped. On the smallest (11) cog on the rear, the squeak disappeared. I whipped the cluster off. It was not tightened properly. I cleaned it, stuck it back on, tightened it properly, and hey presto - the Squeak was gone.

The most irritating and frustrating thing about my whole Scott career thus far was sorted out.

Hallelujah! I went for a three hour ride and grinned all the way!