Couple Wrenching Questions...

noonievut said:

I've noticed a few creaks coming from my bike as of late (relatively new OCR1), I found that most of the noise was coming from the adjustable stem, which I've now replaced. Now 'most' of the noise is gone, but there is still some noise. So I would like to have my own going over of things, but I have a few questions:

1) I noticed the headset wasn't very tight, so I did tighten it a bit (just enough so I wasn't applying too much pressure)...is this fine...or anything I need to know about tightening the headset, or possible creaks here?

2) I have a carbon fibre seatpost. I decided to raise my seat slightly and noticed the clamp was on very tight, so after adjusting the height and re-tightening, I tightened less this time, I noticed less creak??? Does this have something to do with aluminum around carbon being tightened too much? Anything around tightening bolts with carbon involved?

3) Any good repair books specific to road bikes? I have a mountain bike repair book already and only experience with minor repair there.

As I said, it's better now, but I still notice the odd creak. I haven't been out for a full ride since these adjustments, just around my street, so I'm not sure if under pressure the creaks will come out more.

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQindex.shtml
has quite a few topics covered for free.
Torque is one covered that can help answer questions one & two. You may find sufficient iformation here to cover your needs for number three as well.

daveornee said:

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQindex.shtml
has quite a few topics covered for free.
Torque is one covered that can help answer questions one & two. You may find sufficient iformation here to cover your needs for number three as well.

Thanks.

I decided to bring the bike into the shop. After putting it through a flex/stress test, LBS told me the creak was coming from both the seatpost and the bottom bracket. Both were fixed (not quite sure how :o )...I think the seat post, main source of the creak, had something to do with a sleeve that sits between the CF seatpost and frame that needed some oil. I took it for a short ride and couldn't hear a thing.