[Steve71]

It only makes the noise when I'm hard on the brakes lifting myself up for a nose wheelie. I've checked the headset for play, cleaned and re-greased all my stem and spacers (which reduced the noise a lot). I guess the only thing left to do is take the headset cups out, re-grease and reassemble them. Any other ideas or suggestions?

 

[icegeek]

Fox fork?

 

[Steve71]

Fox fork?

I have a Fox Vanilla on there at the moment, but the problem was still there when I had the Manitou Black.

 

[icegeek]

When you try that cup removal/regrease thing, take a close look at the headtube to see if it's ovalled a bit.

 

[kosmo]

Still Could be the Fork

You said it did it with a Black, as well as the current Fox fork. But you also said you regreased spacers, etc. and the noise was reduced a lot.....so that might have masked the creak coming from the fork.

Anyway, if you're fairly big and aggressive, Fox fork stanchions are infamous for getting a little wiggly in the crown, resulting in a creak when braking, hitting roots, or doing nose wheelies (whee!). I've had the steerer/crown/stanchion assembly cheerfully replaced on my TALAS three times.

My test for this noise is pretty simple. Tip the bike over on its seat and h-bars. Remove the front wheel. Stand in front of the bike facing the back wheel, stand on the h-bars, grab a fork leg in each hand, and push the left leg back while pulling the right leg forward. Then do the opposite. If you get creaking, you have probably loosened up your tubes in the crown.

If you remove the fork and clamp it in a vise, you can isolate the creak even better, but it takes a few extra minutes (and a vise).

 

[tscheezy]

What headset is it? Were the cups and crown race greased at installation? Headset creaks are pretty much unheard of. Crown and STEM creaks are a dime a dozen though.

 

[Steve71]

What headset is it? Were the cups and crown race greased at installation? Headset creaks are pretty much unheard of. Crown and STEM creaks are a dime a dozen though.

It's a King HS and I did grease the cups and crown race - but I was a bit slack and just used some M-prep (not a real thick grease).

I really hope the head tube isn't ovalized. I had a lot of trouble early on with my Hopey (using the 35mm nut to preload the headset). The damper would start to slip a little inside the steerer tube as I tightened the nut. Now I use a threaded rod to preload the headset and then install the damper.

But don't get me wrong, the headset never had any play, it just wasn't as snug as I'd have liked.

Anyway, the only things left to troubleshoot are the HS cups and the head tube... and it could also be the fork.

The reality is though; I never hear the creak when I'm riding trails. I'm just worried it's indicative that something is wrong. Should I just forget about it unless it gets worse

 

[seasick]

I battled this for sometime with a King HS and Thomson stem combo. I thought it was due to the Thomson stems (pre-OS) attachment. Pulled everything apart, cleaned and re-greased numerous times. No luck. It was usually OK for the better part of the shake-down ride but inevitably started creaking after heavy braking.

Long story short, here was the solution. Do you recall the little white plastic washer that is supplied (?) with the King HS? This washer was inserted between the stem spacer and the HS and (thankfully) the creak has been gone for months now.

 

[Steve71]

Long story short, here was the solution. Do you recall the little white plastic washer that is supplied (?) with the King HS? This washer was inserted between the stem spacer and the HS and (thankfully) the creak has been gone for months now.

I tried the washer, but no luck. Thanks for the suggestion all the same!

 

[tscheezy]

A loose King headset will usually just end up eating the conical interface where the crown race or top ring interface with the bearings in the cups. The next time it is apart you can see if the bevelled lip on the crown race or top cap that seats against the inner bearing race is not uniform all the way around. I seriously doubt you ovalized the head tube. The HS cups would rock. It is probably something simple like the fork crown.

 

[Steve71]

Thanks Tscheezy, I'll check it out next time I have it apart. It seems like it's been apart about a million times already, so hey what's one more time.

 

[jokermtb]

thompson stem? If so, try throwing on a cheapie.....

 

[Steve71]

thompson stem? If so, try throwing on a cheapie.....

I had a cheapie on before I got the Thompson and I still had the creaking noise. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[tscheezy]

Today was really warm and sunny and on my ride my Z1 FR1 suddenly developed the most horrible creaking. It sounded like it was coming from the lowers. The sound just seemed to reverberate through the stanchions. When I got home I pulled the whole front end apart (Hopey, stem, bar, fork, steelset) and put it back together and put marine grade anti-sieze everywhere. It seemed to fix the issue, but I won't know for sure until the next ride. Any metal on metal contact is suspect...