ticking headset



P

Paul Davis

Guest
I have a Cane Creek S2 headset on my rigid steel bike. When I rock the bike
backwards and forwards with the front brake applied, or rock the bike with
the front wheel hard agains a wall, I can hear a slight 'ticking' noise
which seems to come from the top cup.

The headset is correctly tensioned with no play and smooth steering - I've
had it checked at the LBS to be sure and I've been told it's fine.

I was wondering whether this is anything to worry about? Crane Creek
technical support seem to suggest that it's fine and mention that ticking
noises can come from friction between spacers (there is also the possibility
that the ticking is coming from elsewhere).

I have a stack of carbon spacers, I don't recall hearing the ticking when I
was using aluminium and Cane Creek plastic 'interlock' spacers.

Might it be the upper cup and cover moving or even the bearings?

I might be worrying about nothing but thought I'd ask for ideas.

Thanks for any thoughts,
PJay
 
I had a similar "ticking" whenever I put pressure on the handlebars in
a direction that they couldn't move freely, and the solution was to
re-grease all the stem and quill bolts, as well as the contact points
between the handlebars and stem, as I had failed to do so after doing
some minor adjustment work.

--rcoder