john5211

Hi Guys,

So I recently got my first roadbike - a Giant OCR-3 - and so far I've been loving it. However, I've noticed that it makes a noise, and I wonder whether this noise is normal or an indication that something is wrong.

I first noticed the noise when I was riding, it's kind of like a clicking sound coming from the front of the bike (maybe more like a tic, it's not that loud but it is noticeable when I'm riding). After playing around with the bike for a while, I figured out that I can get it to make this noise by gripping the handlebars and pressing down either side (i.e. first pressing down on the left and then on the right ... both presses would result in a click, but pushing down on both sides with the same force does not produce a click). I haven't really been able to isolate exactly where the sound is coming from, except to say that it's definitely from the front of the bike (i.e. stem, handlebars, etc).

So my question is whether this is anything to worry about, or just a regular noise. The bike is about to go back to the shop for the 10-15 hour checkup and of course I'll point it out then, but I wanted to get some other opinions before I went as service at the LBS is a bit spotty (this being a college town they are *very* busy selling low end mountain bikes).

Thanks for any input!

John

Portis

Well, since you said "any input".... I might add mine. First of all, if you are planning to really get into riding, you might want to try and figure this one out yourself. I guess you basically have since you did make the post. I am a newbie in terms of bike mechanics but i have figured out that most of it is pretty simple.

ANother thing i have figured out is that a lot like most other types of service vendors, most LBS's will never care as much about your bike as you do. They might act like it for a second, but like i said, many don't really give a crap. If all bike mechanics were like flight mechanics and forced to ride what they worked on, they may improve a bit.

Don't get me wrong, i know that there are a lot of great bike mechanics, probably more on this forum than in most places. However, you will find your share of doozies. My LBS is OK. The guys there are super friendly and fun to talk to but really it doesn't bother them too much to have me break down in the middle of nowhere because of something they did. THat is why i have decided to start doing my own wrenching.

john5211

Thanks for the reply. I certainly do agree with what you say and plan to do as much of my maintenance as I can (after all, no one loves my bike like I do ).

On the other hand, Rome wasn't built in a day ... derailleur and brake adjustments, minor wheel truing, other 'minor' stuff, I'm all over it. Diagnosing strange noises from the bike ... not quite there yet .

So yeah, solid advice and thanks, but if anyone has any idea as to what might be going on and/or whether or not this is just a normal sound and I'm overreacting then I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

John

z_vim

That clicking is probably your stem flexing under pressure (I have an OCR 3 and I'm assuming you have one of those adjustable stems) it happens to me too and I can't seem to get it to go away without fear of overtightening something.

john5211

Thanks to everyone who looked and/or replied ...

The problem turned out to be that the stem needed to be tightened around the handlebars.

John