I have isolated the creaking noise when I am climbing hard and pulling on the bars. It is the stem handlebar clamp. If I loosen the clamp a tiny bit it doesn't creak but the bars slip. The tighter the clamp the more it creaks. I have Salsa bars which have a bead-blast finish and seem to be painted. I have a threaded Nitto Technomic Deluxe stem. I plan to cure the creak with loctite and have three questions:
1) Blue or red loctite?
2) Is loctite ok with the painted bars?
3) Can I get the loctite into the single-bolt clamp without taking the bars off?
I have isolated the creaking noise when I am climbing hard and pulling on the bars. It is the stem handlebar clamp. If I loosen the clamp a tiny bit it doesn't creak but the bars slip. The tighter the clamp the more it creaks. I have Salsa bars which have a bead-blast finish and seem to be painted. I have a threaded Nitto Technomic Deluxe stem. I plan to cure the creak with loctite and have three questions:
1) Blue or red loctite?
2) Is loctite ok with the painted bars?
3) Can I get the loctite into the single-bolt clamp without taking the bars off?
Thanks, Dan
I wouldn't use loctite in this application. I would loosen the stem and slide the clamped section out to take a close look at it. If there are no cracks or other mechanical deformations I would then take something like #400 emery cloth to the clamped area. I would lightly coat the area with grease. I would clean the clamping bolt(s) and examine it (them) to make sure the threads are in perfect shape. and apply grease to the threads and under the bolt head (and both sides of the washer, if there is one.) I would then torque down the assembly to the manufaturer's recommended torque.
I tried the grease since it was easy to do and it seems ok on today's ride. I lightly greased all the contact surfaces on the bar, clamp, bolt and washers. We'll have to see how long it lasts.
Thanks for the help, Dan
Quoted message said:
I wouldn't use loctite in this application. I would loosen the stem and slide the clamped section out to take a close look at it. If there are no cracks or other mechanical deformations I would then take something like #400 emery cloth to the clamped area. I would lightly coat the area with grease. I would clean the clamping bolt(s) and examine it (them) to make sure the threads are in perfect shape. and apply grease to the threads and under the bolt head (and both sides of the washer, if there is one.) I would then torque down the assembly to the manufaturer's recommended torque.
