Headset creak

[bikinchris]

I have a bike I have been working on and this problem vexes me.

Ti frame with tapered ENVE fork. Chris King headset with hidden upper cup and conventional lower. 130mm Thomson stem slammed.

The bike creaks when you pull hard on the bars.

All bolts have been checked with a torque wrench.
Checked to make sure the headset is completely square,
I have swapped wheels,
moved spacers around,
checked the steer tube for cracks,
disassembled and cleaned all of the parts from the crown race all the way to the spacers.

It still creaks when I pull hard on the bars. I think the creak is in head tube and I am tempted to actually oil the tapers and crown race. But I don't want any oil to get to the carbon steer tube.

Any other ideas?

[fignon's barber]

Had the same issue. Drove me crazy for a year. Refaced the headtube. Never a peep after that.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

Had the same issue. Drove me crazy for a year. Refaced the headtube. Never a peep after that.

Yes, I might have to do that. I have the top facing tools, but the bottom is much larger (I think 1 3/8) and I would only be able to check square, not the inside diameter.

[John H.]

Did your top to bottom clean and lube extend to the compression plug?

A loose or dirty plug can make noise- sometimes they get installed incorrectly as well.

Here is the video from Enve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQe9TJJq1PE

Originally Posted by bikinchris

I have a bike I have been working on and this problem vexes me.

Ti frame with tapered ENVE fork. Chris King headset with hidden upper cup and conventional lower. 130mm Thomson stem slammed.

The bike creaks when you pull hard on the bars.

All bolts have been checked with a torque wrench.
Checked to make sure the headset is completely square,
I have swapped wheels,
moved spacers around,
checked the steer tube for cracks,
disassembled and cleaned all of the parts from the crown race all the way to the spacers.

It still creaks when I pull hard on the bars. I think the creak is in head tube and I am tempted to actually oil the tapers and crown race. But I don't want any oil to get to the carbon steer tube.

Any other ideas?

[bikinchris]

I didn't remove the compression plug. But I will. I had installed it with carbon grit to keep it from twisting,

One more bit of information. The bike had been in a rainstorm while on the rear rack of the car. This was a day where we got 7 inches of rain in a few hours. The rain was hard enough to short out the SRAM blip shift buttons.

[Kontact]

Don't forget stem bolts and lever bolts. Even if you aren't on the hoods, flexing the bars from the drops is going to affect the levers.

[John H.]

Relative to the plug- It is also worth checking to make sure that the fork cut is even.
A crooked cut could assist the plug in coming loose.

Originally Posted by bikinchris

I didn't remove the compression plug. But I will. I had installed it with carbon grit to keep it from twisting,

One more bit of information. The bike had been in a rainstorm while on the rear rack of the car. This was a day where we got 7 inches of rain in a few hours. The rain was hard enough to short out the SRAM blip shift buttons.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by John H.

Relative to the plug- It is also worth checking to make sure that the fork cut is even.
A crooked cut could assist the plug in coming loose.

That is correct, I know. I use a jig to cut the fork, finish it with a flat file and deburr the edges inside and out. It is absolutely square.

[bitpuddle]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

.

The bike creaks when you pull hard on the bars.

I had a bike that creaked when I yanked on the bars. It was the seatpost. Creaks are difficult to isolate.

In my case, an aluminum Zipp post was just a touch small in diameter and it didn’t play well with the overly-clever post binder. Replacing with a different carbon post solved it. I spent a lot of time reassembling and inspecting the headset.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

I have a bike I have been working on and this problem vexes me.

Ti frame with tapered ENVE fork. Chris King headset with hidden upper cup and conventional lower. 130mm Thomson stem slammed.

The bike creaks when you pull hard on the bars.

All bolts have been checked with a torque wrench.
Checked to make sure the headset is completely square,
I have swapped wheels,
moved spacers around,
checked the steer tube for cracks,
disassembled and cleaned all of the parts from the crown race all the way to the spacers.

It still creaks when I pull hard on the bars. I think the creak is in head tube and I am tempted to actually oil the tapers and crown race. But I don't want any oil to get to the carbon steer tube.

Any other ideas?

Take the HS out and grease in headtube where HS bearings live, also fork crown race seat..check the handlebars for cracks at the stem.

[Mikej]

Before you try anything drastic, grease the split ring and angle ring on the top portion.

[David Kirk]

Is the white nylon ring that goes between the upper bearing race and the stem in place?

dave

[beeatnik]

It's the seatpost, especially if you're using a Thomson. If not, then skewers (17.6% probability).

If you were running an integrated headset, I'd go with compression plug. Had that issue for a while on my CAAD10.

[drewellison]

I had a headset creak with similar manifestations. When I finally replaced the bearing cartridges, it went silent. The old bearings seemed smooth with no play, so I didn’t suspect them.
Drew

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by beeatnik

It's the seatpost, especially if you're using a Thomson. If not, then skewers (17.6% probability).

If you were running an integrated headset, I'd go with compression plug. Had that issue for a while on my CAAD10.

No. It creaks with the fork clamped into a mount and me standing next to the bike.

I think I will use Never Seize on the places where the headset touches. Right now, I'm convinced there is some kind of flex between the headset and fork.
Failing that, it must be the bearings.