[SOLVED] Folding handlebar stem making cracking noises
 

Hello,

When riding uphill, ie. pulling on the handlebar harder, the folding stem on this folding bike is making annoying cracking noises.

Dripping a bit of oil on the hinges made no difference.

Any idea what else I could try?

Thank you.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7800a4a2bf.png

Try putting a little grease on the slot shown in the left side of the image. Also, remember that there's a long lever arm on that handlepost, and it's not really designed for vigorous pulling.

Yep, they all do it. No remedy outside of clean and grease on a regular schedule. There was a company called Tranz that had one and it was the least offensive squeaker.

Thanks for the infos. I'll see if greasing the slot solves the problem.

And the corresponding slot on the other side of the hinge, and the flat mating surfaces where there is evidence of fretting.

Tern and Brompton seem to be the least offensive but they are also ones of quality but none of these bikes were designed for hard efforts.

Can confirm that the Tern (Verge S11i) handlepost is quite rigid. Mine has about 15,000 miles on it after 12 years of commuting. I don't crank on it, though.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a7b44848bc.jpg
Handlepost is quite stiff in spite of the lever arm.

This ^^, and also make sure the hinge adjustment is correct.

This part?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0731eed562.png

Yes, but it would be easier and less messy to put it in the slot that the clamping mechanism engages... I should have said "in the image on the left", not "on the left side of the image". It's the horizontal "trench" in the middle of the screen.

I rode it uphill, and just applying grease in the slot seems to have fixed it.

Thanks all.