Creaking handlebars

bobtbuilder

Finally, thanks to some guys on my club run, I have discovered that the annoying creaking noise when I'm climbing out of the saddle isn't my bottom bracket at all, but is coming from where my handlebars are clamped to the stem.

What do I need to buy to resolve this? Some sort of grease-stuff, I'm guessing. FWIW it's a carbon bars & stem set up.

Ta!

Ben6899

I'd start by taking everything apart and giving it a good wipe down with a clean rag... nice clean mating surfaces. Then put it all back together without any grease or owt (watch the torque) and see how that goes. It might still creak so you'd benefit from using a bit of carbon assembly paste.

You may have seen my thread on an annoying click coming from the steerer/stem/handlebars. I think I've cracked that... my stem is an alluminium adjustable one with a shim insert. I tried all sorts to get rid of the creak (removed handlebars, cleaned, greased/removed stem and cleaned all spacers etc). I finally opted to put a dab of lithium grease between the stem and the shim... looks like I'm sorted. I would never have thought the noise could come from there as it's such a tight fit, but it did (or seems to have done)! So check all around that area.

I'm on the lookout now for a non-adjustable, shimless stem if anyone has any recommendations.

beefcake2

I had this on my road bike. I took the clamping plate off the stem and cleaned the bars etc. I then greased the 4 bolts holding the face plate on and then did each bolt up so that it was just finger tight. I then did each bolt up a quarter of a turn at a time with a tourque wrench. This way, the pressure is evenly distributed across the clamping area and should avoid any movement causing creaks etc.