Creak with lateral pressure on forks

bengboy

Hi,

I've a Planet X SL Pro Carbon, and have noticed it creaking quite a bit when I get out of the saddle. I think I've pinned it down to the forks. I took the wheel off and when I press the tips of the forks towards or away from eachother, the same creak occurs. There are no obvious cracks I can see.

Is this fairly normal, or should I be worried there is a tiny crack somewhere and they need replacing?

Any advice greatly appreciated, thanks!

Ben

amaferanga

Is there any play in the headset? Have you tried taking the bearings out and applying a spot of grease between the bearings and the frame?

Monty Dog

Agree on headset adjustment / clean and regrease bearings first before suspecting anything else.

bengboy

Thanks for the replies.

I have already taken the headset apart, cleaned and greased everything, yet it still happens.

I can recreate the creak with the bike in a workstand, wheels off, and pushing the tips of the forks towards or away from eachother, without applying any force at all through the headset. That's what makes me think there may be a problem with the forks themselves, or perhaps it's just they're not the best quality (it is one of the cheapest full carbon bikes around...)

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Ben

desweller

Can you pop the fork out of the frame and check it off the bike?

Doesn't sound good though.

4kicks

Dollars to donuts its the headset. Planetx ones are pretty cheap. My planet x one squeeks like crazy even after stripping, cleaning & lubing. Theres a reason planetx has sold out of replacements!

bengboy

Well, you were bleedin' right! I failed to take off the last washer on the top of the fork (?crown race?), and now I did, cleaned it, greased it, and ... SILENCE!!! Result.

buder

I get this on my SL Pro, drives me nuts.

I have to keep on greasing it and re-tightening the headset before its starts clicking again.