Bicycle Mechanics - Hard Shifting and Front End/headtube creaking

Hey folks. Earlier in the week I posted a message about my crank falling off. Thankfully, it was fixed. I finally took a ride today and observed that down shifting to harder gears/smaller cogs (or is that considered an upshift? Crap...) is rather clunky and harsh and I'm getting a lot more chain rub at the high ends. I'm running D/A with a FSA crank and those shifts seems to really slam into place. Any thoughts? It didn't seem this clunky before the crank came apart.

Lastly, the reynolds fork cap keeps loosening. I hand tighten it (Its an ouzo pro), but loosens again after a long ride or two. This didn't occur until after the shop adjusted the headset. Can't figure it out. And today, I noticed some creaking when I turned the bars/front end (but not while on the road). It almost sounds like something is too tight. Thoughts?

Thanks for your diagnosis!

Sorry. No good answers for cronic loose fasteners - this is a typical problem if the threading isn't correct, but that is hard to imagine on a bicycle with standard parts. If the bike is coming from the shop with loose fasteners, I would have to guess that a weenie wrencher is at the bench. You can use a little lock-tight on the fasteners which is what machine mechanics use, but this is an uncommon approach for bicycle mechanics.

Creaking in a headset is usually from the stem rather than the headset. Is it possible that the stem is set too high, ie beyond it's recommended limits? IF no, try greasing the stem and making sure it is tightened correctly.

Good luck.

Hey folks. Earlier in the week I posted a message about my crank falling off. Thankfully, it was fixed. I finally took a ride today and observed that down shifting to harder gears/smaller cogs (or is that considered an upshift? Crap...) is rather clunky and harsh and I'm getting a lot more chain rub at the high ends. I'm running D/A with a FSA crank and those shifts seems to really slam into place. Any thoughts? It didn't seem this clunky before the crank came apart.

Thanks for your diagnosis!

It seems that the front chain wheel is in a different position than before and your front derailler needs to be adjusted to suit the new position.

It may be that the cranks were not on far enoug and the front derailler was adjusted to suit the position of the chainwheel. It is also possible that you have correctly re-installed the crank and the front derailler needs to be set to suit the new position. It may be the case that the front derailler was pushed out of alignment when the cranks came off.

It may also be that you are a bit more aware of the bumps and scrapes than you were before the crank fell off. Just adjust the front derailler.

I am not sure without looking at the bike that this is what the problem is, but it makes sense to me.

Thanks for the input.

For about 10+ miles of riding before the crank came apart, I couldn't get into the big ring (as the spindle came undone, I guess it everything outward) I guess everything got thrown out of whack as I tried and tried to move into the big ring (not knowing what was wrong). I'm not sure how this would affect the R/d however. Perhaps the mechanic who reinstalled the crank made some adjustments. I am also wondering if that creaking I hear is actually coming from the cables--turing the bars may be pulling them a little tight and causing the creak. All this is frustrating since it is a new bike, new fork, new headset (CK), everything. Thankgoodness I have a nice shop a few blocks away (though I purchased my bike out of state). I'll look a little closer and report back. Thanks again.