Plainsman

I've taken my recently built road bike out twice now, and cannot identify the rattle I hear at the front end. It only occurs when I hit a bump, but I can replicate it by simply picking up the front end of the bike very slightly, and then dropping it back down. I'm using a 1" Cane Creek headset, if that helps. Where should I start looking for the culprit? My ears can't quite pin down the source.

Stacey

Check your headset adjustment.

mycoatl

Might be cables and housing. I've had strong clicking noises from housings clicking against the headtube when I hit bumps.

HillRider

Could be the rim. Mavic Open Pros have a long standing reputation for rattling due to little bits of Al left in the rim when the spoke holes are punched and the eyelets inserted. My Mavic CXP-33 front rim also had this problem.

Wil Davis

I found that when I used tubes with threadless valve-stems, they rattled in the rims which annoyed the hell out of me, so I went back to using tubes with threaded stems and nuts.

I notice in your pic that there are no nuts on the valve-stems…

- Wil

soloban

+1 check the headset,

1. start by loosening up the stem so it can freely move
2. have a buddy pull upwards on the fork
3. retighten the stem and try to tighten up the hex nut on top

HillRider

Why not use the starnut and top bolt or the compression plug if it's a carbon steerer to adjust it? That's what they are for.

Plainsman

I'm going to try this tonight. I'll report back. Thanks for the advice. I consider this the "bike that BikeForums built."

soloban

Knew I was leaving something out.

froze

Make sure the Skewer has tightened the wheel enough so it's not moving in the dropouts. You can check the headset without taking it all apart and redoing it simply by holding the front brake tight and then moving the bike back and forth, then try to move the handle bar up and down while holding the frame down, if it's loose it will make noise and that will be your problem. Sometimes the valve stem as one poster mentioned could be making that noise, but thats not a clunking sound but rather a clicking sound that could be a thought of as a rattle. Rattles can also be caused by cables as another poster mentioned. Also make sure your front hub is adjusted correctly by flipping the bike upside down or place in a bike stand, and check for smoothness and then grab the wheel and try to wiggle the hub up and down and in and out, there should be no play.

I_bRAD

+1 and it's the least effort to try first. My housings rattle on the headtube in certain situations and it sounds like something worse than that.

Andreasaway

if it's your headset, you should be able to feel play, when grabbing the front brake and rocking the bike fore and aft, while holding the headset in your palm. If you look at the top headset cup, you will notice a seam, with one side fixed on the frame, the other moving with the steering. Its there you will feel headset play.

vpiuva

I had a weird buzz that ended up being a front brake pad holder/tire guide/caliper arm interface. Very odd, but it went away with a little piece of electrical tape used as a shim.

tellyho

If your wheels were pre-assembled, you could be having trouble with cone tightness. It has to be set with a little play left over that the QR skewer will remove when tightened. If too loose, even with the QR tight, you could be getting a little wheel wobble on the cones. Push the rim side-to-side while holding the front end off the ground to check.