Noises from the handlebar area.

daveydave43

Hi. Bit worried at the moment because i have noticed some strange clicking/ticking types noises coming from the general direction of my handlebar/stem.
Noises only happen when putting a lot of force through the bars i.e when sprinting/ climbing.
Bars themselves are Deda 310 anatomic with the 26(?) mm diameter.
I have had a look at the area around the stem clamp zone on the bars, and the stem itself. There is nothing to suggest a crack, no silver hairlines etc.

So. Are these bars going to break on me, is it likely there is a crack somewhere under the tape, am i worrying about nothing?
Or am i going to have to play safe and shell out for some new handlebars?

John.T

It could be your wheel QRs. Put a smere of grease on the dropouts and make sure the QRs are tight. If no different spray some WD40 or similar on the stem clamp and seeif it stops it. If it does remove the bars and check that the edges of the stem clamp are nicely rounded and are not marking the bars. Re-assemble with carbon assembly paste.

lewishamilton

Its funny you should say that. I've noticed the same noise over the past week or two.

I'm pretty sure its not the quick release as I can feel the click through the hoods when putting excess force through them (when climbing or sprinting). It almost sounds and feels like a something is cracking when it happens...Sort of like when you have a click in your knee (thats the best way I can describe it).

John.T

Have you checked the QR. The guy I was riding with the last week was complaining he could not stop his bars creaking. I suggested he check his QR. We stopped, he did and tightened it up a bit. End of creak. These things are often not where they appear or sound to be coming from.
If the bars are going to break then the first big pothole will do that for you.

daveydave43

lewishamilton seems to be having the same or similar problem.

ill have a go tightening up the QR's, see if they do the job.
cheers John.

3legs

I've just cured simliar clicking/creaking noises that I was convinced were coming from the front end. I'd recently lowered the stem by a couple of spacers and assumed that I had under/over tightened some bolts. I ended up stripping and greasing all surfaces around the stem/bars but still the creak persisted. I've been taking the front wheel out of the bike to fit it into the car for transporting recently, so my next thought was that the noises were related to that. Checked the tightness of the QRs and cleaned/greased the sides of the for drop outs... still the noise persisted

In a rare moment of clarity I remembered that the noises coincided with the repair of a REAR wheel puncture. I checked and then tightened the rear wheel QR up by a very small amount, and hey presto, clicks and creaks all gone

Keep working through all the possibilities, you will discover the route cause eventually. Good luck.

bazbadger

Also consider your headset.

Mine has been making a clicking noise and it's actually the headset. Happens when pulling on the bars - eg climbing or sprinting.

Could be the race is pooped or you need to check surfaces are clean.

ColinJ

Definitely find out what is causing the noise!

I had a similar noise on my mountain bike once and had intended to sort it out but forgot until I was out on a ride. Oh well, I'd check it out when I got home...

I ended up doing a high speed descent on a steep rock-strewn bridleway with a 100 ft drop-off to the left of it. I got all the way down to the safe flat bit at the bottom and there was a loud crack and the bolt in the stem pulled out of the thread and my bars rotated through 90 degrees almost throwing me off the bike! :shock:

It's not something you want to take chances with!

cyclingfury

Hi daveydave. I have just solved exactly the same problem on my wife's bike. Her bike was making the exact same noise as yours. After eliminating wheels, skewers etc. I undid the stem and handlebars and generously lubed the steerer post under the spacers and squirted some lube down into the fork itself. I put it all back together and the noise has totally disappeared. Hopefully your problem will be solved just as easily!

wasabi_m

having a very similar problem with a creaking/ticking noise, but it seems to be coming from the saddle area. have slackened and tightened all bolts but doesnt seem to work. only occurs when sitting, doesnt happen at all when standing for climbing or sprinting.
any help would be brilliant.

dennisn

wasabi_m wrote:

having a very similar problem with a creaking/ticking noise, but it seems to be coming from the saddle area. have slackened and tightened all bolts but doesnt seem to work. only occurs when sitting, doesnt happen at all when standing for climbing or sprinting.
any help would be brilliant.

Try a bit of WD40 or light oil wherever metal is clamped to metal(or carbon).
OR squirt some water in all of the above mentioned areas first and see if that makes things quiet down. If it does, then lube lightly.

lewishamilton

Decided I was either going to smash my bike up or sort this noise out this morning...

I removed the handlebars from the stem (when I removed three of the bolts weren't especially tight) and proceeded to clean the bars and stem contact points / clamp area incase there was any dirt or grit there.
Tightened them up again (properly) and hey presto, I'm not losing my sanity when cycling anymore.

Jobs a goodun....

ADIHEAD

Glad you sorted it Lewis and well done for last Sunday! Bit of a close call with Jensen though hey

lewishamilton

All in a days work!

I was playing with Jenson...he knows he's my bit*h!

ADIHEAD

LMFAO Lewis