Creaking headset

[Doyleyburger]

Having an issue with my headset at the moment ......
Every time I turn the handlebars I hear a creaking/ticking sound !
I took everything apart, cleaned and re-greased and still no joy. I can't see anything out of place and bearings seem ok.
Anyone experienced this or have any ideas?
Thanks in advance

 

[TissoT]

Compressed to tight ... Via the centre allen key bolt on the stem !
Try new bearings !

 

[Georgem123]

Compressed to tight ... Via the centre allen key bolt on the stem !
Try new bearings !

i have a similiar issue and it could be that it is too tight,, how would you know if that was the case? what is the correct tightness?

 

[Doyleyburger]

I didn't even bother thinking the bearings would need replacing as the bike is only a year old, but just been doing some reading on the subject and it seems it's fairly common on my particular bike. I will undo the top cap and side stem bolts and torque them down to a slightly less tight setting tomorrow and see how that goes. Thanks

 

[Brommyboy]

To check that the bearings are not too tight, simply lift the front end using the cross bar and then tilt to one side. The front wheel should swing easily under its own weight.

 

[lpretro1]

It could be a simple as your cable ferrules needing a clean and grease or they may even be cracked...

 

[TissoT]

i have a similiar issue and it could be that it is too tight,, how would you know if that was the case? what is the correct tightness?

Lift up the front end and rotate the bars .... they should move at ease with out pushing on the bars to do so ... If its to lose .. press the front brake to see if the heads set moves (rocking motion)

 

[cyberknight]

My bike creaks from the front area when i am standing , i cant work out why though and it had a new headset a couple of months ago which i have not touched as the LBS fitted it .
I did tighten the bolts that hold the shifters to the drops as they were not fully tight but i have not had chance to check.

 

[Doyleyburger]

It could be a simple as your cable ferrules needing a clean and grease or they may even be cracked...

Well you were spot on there mate, although I must admit I dismissed that to start with. Took it to @Jason.T to put it on his new bike stand, where we stripped everything and dropped out the forks, spent about 45 minutes breaking apart the upper and lower headset bearings. Even went as far as taking every ball out to clean and then refitted with lots of grease........still was ticking away !!!!
@Jason.T then noticed it was the cable ferrule after all that. Bit of a clean and grease up and all was well

 

[cyberknight]

I took the stem off and cleaned/greased anything that might creak and then loosened the headset and put a load of grease in there and cleaned every spacer etc then reassembled .No time to test it today so