Terry, the man who’s been pouring over my bike looking for the mysterious source of the irritating creaking, has come through beautifully! He finally found it… Apparently, the rear brake cable wasn’t seated properly, and every time I torqued the frame with the right crank, it creaked. The weird part is that it creaked in the bottom bracket area, while the brake and it’s cable run along the top of the frame. Very odd.

So… Many Thanks to Terry for having finally found the problem!! I took it out, and enjoyed beautiful silence for the first time all summer. :)

Lesson here is that the problem might not always be where the symptoms indicate.