Can you guys give me an idea how much to torque the stem cap? Trying to chase out an annoying click that occurs on occasion while riding, definitely happens more under load (climbing) and all the time when the front of the bike is held off the ground and the handlebars turned from side to side (same exact click).

Thought as a possible fix to try I'd loosen the stem and cap and "reset" things, see if that helps-

First you must loosen the stem's steerer clamp bolts. Then tighten the stem's top cap only enough to remove all play when the bike is on the ground with the front brake applied and rocked fore-and-aft. A very light preload (3 to 5 inch-pounds ) may be used if the headset has cartridge bearings. Then center the stem and tighten the steerer clamp bolts to spec.

I had a tick like that. Dropped the fork, regreased the bearings, installed fork/stem and it was gone.

scott s.
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do this I’ve had the same issue and a relube sorted it also if you have an expansion bung instead of a star nut reseat it I have found they are invariably under tourqued from the shop and pull out of the steerer

You can remove the top cap and put it in your pocket while troubleshooting. It doesn't do anything while you ride down the road.
Check for cables or housings loose, hitting or not under tension.
I had a noise and found it was the brake housing loose and bouncing around cause the brake cable was not under any tension when not applied - disk brake. Tightened the cable a tiny bit and it went away.

Possibly similar one. I had brake cable housing that sat on top of the bottom steering cup. Turn left and it would ride down on the cup. Centre bars and would ride up the cup and 'click' against the head tube. I took an inch off it so it was always on the head tube and the 'click' went away.

I'll probably be wrong but would take a guess that when you are climbing you are rocking the bike and its handlebars and may be suffering a similar problem.

Threadless headset stem cap can be loose, or even removed....

.. after it finishes setting the headset bearing per load adjustment.

and the bolts on the stem , that grip fork's steerer tube are tight.

Thanks guys, fixed the problem by greasing the stem bolts