the beef

I spent a good part of this afternoon practicing my trackstand. All this time I was putting a fair amount of weight on my handlebars. I've got a threaded headset w/ a quill stem. When I was finished I realized is that turning the handlebars resulted in a creaking/low clicking noise. Pressing down on the handlebars also produced a creaking/clicking noise; it takes a little bit of force of course. I just CANT find out where this noise is coming from!

I've tried loosening the headset a bit, and then tightening it up again. I've tried tightening the stem. I've tried tightening the place where the stem clamps onto the handlebars. I've tightened the quick release on the front wheel. I took the quill stem out, stared at it for a second having no idea what to do, and then put it back in.

What's the matter with my bike?

jur

Grease the quill.

vrkelley

That could be a dangerous thing - at the wrong moment..Make sure the handlebars are clamped down tight. Make sure the stem is seated correctly

Surferbruce

degrease the bars where they clamp in the stem, a little lube or gease on the bars in the stem clamp can cause creaks.

TheMow

I have a creak aswell. I dont have a headset setup and it doesnt creak when i turn just when some pressure is put on it. I cant figure it out either. If you get to the bottom of the problem keep me posted

OneTinSloth

a creak is usually caused by two things rubbing together, that are not supposed to rub together. lubing the area where the creaking is occurring will make the creaking go away, but might not correct the root problem, and might make it worse (as the lube will facilitate the rubbing together). usually the only time i'll use grease to solve a creak is when it's coming from the bottom bracket, greasing the cup threads will usually get rid of it. and if there's a creak coming from the seat/seatclamp area. anyway...

a creak coming from the handlebars can be pretty serious, and usually comes from where the handlebars are clamped in the stem.

if your stem is 26.0mm, and your bars are 25.4mm, that will cause a creaking. also, if your stem is a single bolt aluminum style of questionable quality (SR, Sakae, etc), there could be a deformity in the inside of the clamp, which would cause it to not get enough surface to surface contact with the bars. get a honing tool and run it on the inside of the stem to get rid of the deformity, but don't over do it. if it's a large deformity, some rough sandpaper, or a round file will work best.

the low thunking sound could be caused by the quill shifting inside the steerer tube of the fork. my old bike used to do this. it's pretty normal, as the OD of the stem can't be EXACTLY the same size as the ID of the steerer tube, otherwise, it won't go in smoothly, or at all. what happens, is, when the quill is tightened, that is the only part of the stem shaft that's "gripping" the inside of the steerer tube, so the rest of the shaft is free to wiggle a bit in there. it'll slip under pressure, which is why you get the thunking sound.

it could also be that your headset is a little loose, or your crown race doesn't quite fit on the fork, or that your hub is a little loose...without seeing the bike, it's hard to say what it is for sure, but those are a couple of the less obvious causes.