Bicycle Mechanics - creaky drop bars

Alright, I just got this sweet Surly Long Haul Trucker build. My lbs didn't do a proper fitting, and put the drop bars too low. The stem was too shallow. I had them swap it out, and ever since I hear a creaking whenever I shift the bike beneath me. I've tightened it up as tight as possible, and have tried various amounts of torque just to make sure it wasn't too tight. But it's still doing it. I brought it back in, but they didn't know what I was talking about.
I have ritchey bars and a "Dimension" stem. I used to have a Felt 6 degree flip flop stem before they changed it out. Any ideas? Am I just a hypochondriac, or will my bars break off half way up a hill?

mine do that too. I wonder what the problem is. I'd definitly be insterested in the answer to that. consider this a bump.

So, uh, I guess no one knows/cares.
I thought perhaps it could be a sizing issue. Could it be this? Are all road bars created equal, or was my stem built for the wrong handle bars?

Creaks come from many places. It can take a bunch of test riding by a patient person to figure out the exact spot.

Stem clamps come in (most often) 25.4mm for a MTB handlebar, and 26.0mm for a road bar. It can be hard to tell the difference unless the spec is on the stem.


Other creaky spots: Hoods, front QR, rear QR, BB, crank, pedal, headset, seat post clamp, and seat post shim(some times welded in and hard to spot)

Try applying a little grease on the handlebar and/or steerer tube under the clamp.

okay, how is this for weird. I lowered my bars yesterday, and the squeaking went away. this is with a threadless setup, I just put a spacer that was underneath the stem overtop of it, and adjusted the headset, and whatnot. no squeaks weird, eh?

The spacers can cause the creak as they move against one another. They don't move a bunch of course, just a little rocking back and forth. This is more likely to happen with a taller stack

well, I certainly had a big stack, like maybe an inch or a bit more.