Please help diagnose this noise

[Bob Ross]

I realize attempting to diagnose a noise in an internet forum is an exercise in futility (...unless this message board allows .mp3 attachments? Hmmm...) but bear with me please. Perhaps this will be obvious to someone.

Hardware: Frame & fork are 22-year-old Bridgestone 600 (lugged CroMoly 4130). Handlebars are new Deda 215, stem is new Nitto Technomic, bartape is fizik BarGel or Specialized BarPhat or some other such semi-compliant non-cork substance (I didn't install the bars or wrap them so I don't know for certain). Headset is original 1" threaded, brake levers are original DiaCompte.

Symptoms: When I am riding in the drops -- and only when I'm in the drops, it never makes this sound when I'm riding on the hoods or on the tops -- there is a CREAKING noise that comes from somewhere around my hands. It seems like I can exacerbate this noise by torquing my hand up & down in the vertical plane (i.e., parallel to the direction the bars are facing...which, since I'm in the drops, means essentially forward & back in relation to the direction I'm travelling). It originally was only audible on the right side, but very recently I've started to notice also (albeit to a lesser extent) on the left also. It sounds like a cross between what a loose squeaky floorboard would sound like when you walked across it, and what a steel I-beam would sound like moments before it collapsed due to the weight of King Kong sitting on top of the building (...if it were a really tiny building and a really tiny King Kong). Call it a squeak, or a creak, maybe even a snap-crackle-and/or-pop...not loud, mostly concentrated in the midrange (800-1200Hz).

Ignorant guesses: Bar tape shifting along the bar? Brake lever not screwed down tight enough? Stress-crack in the aluminum handlebar?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[TAW]

Since you're looking for suggestions, look over/tighten/adjust your front brake. I had a guy that I replaced his bottom bracket because it was creaking, and it turned out not to be the bottom bracket but his rear brake. Seemed impossible to believe, since it happened regularly when he pushed the pedal down on the right side, but it was the brake. Those sounds can run along the frame and appear to be coming from another location.

Hope you find it, we all hate those noises.

[Fixed]

cracked bars bro
cheers imho

[victoryfactory]

Bob;

First, check the quick release tightness and front wheel.
Then,
Can you make the sound while not riding, just standing over the bike?
If not, then ride in the drops out of the saddle.
No noise?
It's the saddle, dude.
However, if you can get the noise during the standover test, you probably
have something in the front end, headset, stem, etc. disassemble, lube and
reassemble, dude.

This is just one of the noise-quests that I've been on

Try the easy stuff first.
hope it is helpful

VF

[Kevan]

.

[bironi]

grease the contact points of the stem/bar connection.

[Fixed]

bro i had a bike that ticked when I sprinted it was the computer sensor hitting the magnet when the carbon fork flexed . i hate carbon forks
cheers
.

[imp25rs]

grease the contact points of the stem/bar connection.

+1 on this. I would use anti-seise though instead of a lube. I would also put in where the stem go into the headset. That is how I solved the noise on my bike.

[Steve Hampsten]

I'm going with the quick release skewer myself. Clean and lube all surfaces. Replace everything else to be on the safe side.

[bzbvh5]

Have you ridden in the rain. I had a creek so bad, I thought my bike frame was comming apart. I wiped off each spoke on the front wheel, and that creek was resolved.

I also had a similar thing happen after I was a little too agressive washing my bike. I took the handle bars off, the quill stem, and disassebled the headset from the fork stearer. I cleaned and greased everthing as I assembled it back. Don't overtighten the headset when you reassemble it (voice of experience).

[regularguy412]

+1 on this. I would use anti-seise though instead of a lube. I would also put in where the stem go into the headset. That is how I solved the noise on my bike.

*2 on the lubing of the contact points.

Additionall, I couldn't tell , from a pic on the net, if that bar has a ferrule (sleeve) in the center portion that gets clamped by the stem. If so, I had a bar that NEVER creaked with my Cinelli Grammo Ti stem, but when I put it on my refurbed CSI with a Serotta Ti threadless stem, it creaked badly on the left side.

A new bar with no ferrule solved this problem for me.

I put the Grammo on my TG with a new, non-ferruled bar and it didn't creak there, either. Maybe some bar/stem combos just don't work well togther, since I had done all the normal anti-creak remedies to no avail.

Mike in AR

[thwart]

So... when you ride in the drops (which increases the weight on the front end of the bike/handlebars/stem) is when you hear the noise...

And you have a recently installed set of handlebars and stem...

I like the suggestions above about lubricating the handlebar/stem interface in some manner. I suppose it could even be the stem in the steerer interface.

On the other hand, if it's worse when you are out of the saddle and climbing/pulling on the bars, (in my limited experience anyway) it's more likely to be the skewer/brake issue, or the bottom bracket.

My two cents...

[rwsaunders]

I think that it's your wallet squeaking, begging you to let go of some of that moldy money, so that you can buy a new bike. :cool:

[David Kirk]

Loose headset crown race.

Dave

[stevep]

22 yr old bike?
come on man.
move into the 90s anyway.
make that thing yr winter bike.

[Fixed]

22 yr old bike?
come on man.
move into the 90s anyway.
make that thing yr winter bike.
bro maybe she getting a little creaky
my joints pop too now days
cheers imho

[Bob Ross]

22 yr old bike?
come on man.
move into the 90s anyway.
make that thing yr winter bike.

Ha! Dude, this is my winter bike! Winter/commuter/backup bike actually. If it was my swanky main ride you think I'd be asking for advice on an internet forum?!?! Shee-yit, I'd have that sucker in the shop post-haste.

To everyone else who made excellent suggestions, thank you. Here's some feedback so far:

I have tightened the stem/bar interface & the stem/fork interface (bolts on the Nitto quill stem) to no avail. Still makes the noise. Next step is to try lubing those contact points as several of you have suggested.

I tried cleaning & lubing the front QR skewer to no avail. Still makes the noise.

The Deda 215 bars do not have a separate ferrule/sleeve. Direct contact from quill stem to handlebar.

I have never washed this bike with a hose. Did ride it in a hellacious rainstorm a couple months ago, but I'm fairly positive there's no correlation between that event & when I first noticed the onset of noise.

I have not yet tried making the noise while standing over the bike not riding; that sounds like a very wise diagnostic, so I will definitely give that a shot. Will report back my findings.

Also gonna try tightening the brake lever clamp.

[Bob Ross]

further feedback:

standing over the frame (not riding) I can still make the sound by torquing up & down -- though strangely (or perhaps this is germane) more up than down -- on the handlebar. However, it didn't seem as pronounced as when I was riding. Then I put the bike in a trainer & tried it again with my feet in the pedals (but not pedaling). Both in and out of the saddle it was as loud as when riding.

[thwart]

From the turkey mechanic: Tightening stem bolts even further has never worked well for me to eliminate squeaks or clicks... a little lube is needed.

YMMV, of course. ;)

[NateM]

Pull the stem out of the frame,clean quil and lube the expander and bolt.Clean the inside of your fork steerer with a rag and then steel wool.Lube the tube. Anytime I ride in the rain my Nitto stem makes this creak 2 or 3 days later.