Fitting handlebars

Jim H said:

I recently bought a road bike (Giant OCR) on the internet. I had to fit the handlebars (Cinelli
Altera) myself when it arrived. I am having problems setting them up correctly. When tightened,
the right hand side creaks alot when I am riding if I put any weight on it at all. The left hand
side is fine though. I have simply fitted them by tightening the two bolts on the stem (Ahead
composite). They do appear to be level both vertically and horizontally. I assume no extra padding
is needed between the handlebars and the stem. Anyone know what I am doing wrong?

Could be a defective handlbar or stem. I put a salsa bar on a bike and had a similar problem.
Rather than risk damage by overtightening I just cut up a soda can for some small shims and tucked
them in the right spots. Crude, but effective. The alternative is replace each part until the
problem goes away.

"Jim H" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I recently bought a road bike (Giant OCR) on the internet. I had to fit the handlebars (Cinelli
Altera) myself when it arrived. I am having problems setting them up correctly. When tightened,
the right hand side creaks alot when I am riding if I put any weight on it at all. The left hand
side is fine though. I have simply fitted them by tightening the two bolts on the stem (Ahead
composite). They do appear to be level both vertically and horizontally. I assume no extra padding
is needed between the handlebars and the stem. Anyone know what I am doing wrong?

I'll bet the guys over at rec.bicycles.tech will figure it out in a flash. In the mean time, did you
grease the bar, the inside of the stem, and all of the bolts before you put it together?

Vol

Voltaire said:

"Jim H" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I recently bought a road bike (Giant OCR) on the internet. I had to fit the handlebars (Cinelli
Altera) myself when it arrived. I am having problems setting them up correctly. When tightened,
the right hand side creaks alot when I am riding if I put any weight on it at all. The left hand
side is fine though.

I'll bet the guys over at rec.bicycles.tech will figure it out in a flash. In the mean time, did
you grease the bar, the inside of the stem, and all of the bolts before you put it together?

You might check that the bolts on the stem are all at the same torque (assuming more than one bolt).