Creaking stem

what order are you tightening the bolts? and parts are you using greese on?

you want greese basically most places, but NONE where the stem clamps. Not make sure when you do the bolts, you tighten the compression bolt first (not mega tight, just to the point where its just starting the bind, remember this bolt is just to keep your headset pressed together nicely. after that, then tighten your pinch bolts, evenly, and tight as you can.
You wanna make sure the top of your steerer tube on your forks comes to about 5-2mm BELOW the top if the stem, if this isnt the case, your compression bolt will either do nothing, or if its too big a gap, you risk damaging your stem.

Do all this after taking it all apart and cleaning everything, following EVERY instruction. if you still have problems, we can take it from there.

Instant karma. Talk shit on Eclat and it starts to talking back haha.

Check for any tiny cracks on your stem, bars, frame, hs bearings, forks, etc. Also make sure you are riding the appropriate amount of spacers. Too little could result in slipping or even crushing your steered tube.

Also check your bars, I had an older burns stem and it literally crushed the clamping area on my bars.

HardBMX_Tim wrote:

Instant karma. Talk shit on Eclat and it starts to talking back haha.

Check for any tiny cracks on your stem, bars, frame, hs ...more

HardBMX_Tim wrote:

Instant karma. Talk shit on Eclat and it starts to talking back haha.

Check for any tiny cracks on your stem, bars, frame, hs bearings, forks, etc. Also make sure you are riding the appropriate amount of spacers. Too little could result in slipping or even crushing your steered tube.

Also check your bars, I had an older burns stem and it literally crushed the clamping area on my bars.

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you can do that with any stem, my mate did it with an ody classic fl. although he's hopeless with working on bieks :L

Haha fucking karma! Seems to support my claims on eclat! Oh well just gotta deal with it..

Okay I greased everything. Even the steerer tube I just wiped the part where it clamps obviously! Lol
Did the pinch bolts up like you said, evenly.

Now, is there such as thing as overtightening?
Also, my top cap I did do fairly tight.
I'm guessing the spacers are there just to achieve the 5-2mm that you mentioned? Currently just running the one it came with.

Not sure if this is related but after a massive ride the other day one of the bolts in the top of the stem was pretty loose. Far more than I would have left it?
I'm riding atm so I'll check for cranks when I get home

Make sure your tightening the top cap before you tighten your stem to your steerer tube so you can get proper compression on your headset. Are your bolted your stem in a cross pattern? If not that could be the issue.

Anchorsaweigh wrote:

Make sure your tightening the top cap before you tighten your stem to your steerer tube so you can get proper compression on ...more

Anchorsaweigh wrote:

Make sure your tightening the top cap before you tighten your stem to your steerer tube so you can get proper compression on your headset. Are your bolted your stem in a cross pattern? If not that could be the issue.

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the cross pattern is for the face plate, and im 99% sure the burns stem doesnt work like that, you tighten the 2 top bolts fully first, then the bottom ones. Different way of clamping.

You can over tighten the compression bolt, but you can easily tell by spinning your bars. Like said, make sure you do this FIRST otherwise it wont work.
Spacers are there to adjust the gap liek you thought, if youve not added or taken away, then it should be alright as is.
Which bolts came loose? pinch bolts or the ones on the face plate? Its new remember, bolts may come loose till theyve bedded in nicely. cranks bolts do it quite often from my experience

Tighten bolts in a cross pattern (like an X), make sure there is no paint or anodizing in the clamping around and rough it up a bit (I use a box cutter and cut horizontal grooves where the bars rest into the stem CAREFULLY) and my bars haven't moved.

Make sure there is NO GREASE in clamping areas. NONE. Also make sure everything is snug. And when you pull it apart, clean out ALL GREASE, and put fresh in.

Likely it is things bedding in/adjusting to stresses of riding. Make sure your chain is lubed, and pedals/cranks are snug as well. You said it was when you crank down, maybe it is coming from somewhere else?

^that. for AGES i thought my bikes creaking was due to my shitty chain... then i took my cranks off one time and my bb was FOOOOOKED. never over look anything in bmx haha

dave lawrence wrote:

Tighten bolts in a cross pattern (like an X), make sure there is no paint or anodizing in the clamping around and rough it up ...more

dave lawrence wrote:

Tighten bolts in a cross pattern (like an X), make sure there is no paint or anodizing in the clamping around and rough it up a bit (I use a box cutter and cut horizontal grooves where the bars rest into the stem CAREFULLY) and my bars haven't moved.

Make sure there is NO GREASE in clamping areas. NONE. Also make sure everything is snug. And when you pull it apart, clean out ALL GREASE, and put fresh in.

Likely it is things bedding in/adjusting to stresses of riding. Make sure your chain is lubed, and pedals/cranks are snug as well. You said it was when you crank down, maybe it is coming from somewhere else?

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I went to the extent of greasing my seat post and clamp just in case the sound is resonating from somewhere and I'm just hearing it in my stem... I'll straight swap the stem tonight with a colony front loader I have laying about, see what that does..
It sounds like slight metallic movement.. Crank bolts were all loose before when I serviced it.. Everything bolt is tight that I can think of..

I did think it might be my handlebars like micro-moving but doesn't really explain the sound leaving temporarily after greased stem and tube.

I'll score the stem with a knife and tighten in a x pattern.. The top plate of the stem doesn't quite reach around the entire bar.. So one side seems to be closer to the stem thAn the other. Might be a cause?
It definitely gets worse the more I ride (should probably stop)

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

I went to the extent of greasing my seat post and clamp just in case the sound is resonating from somewhere and I'm just ...more

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

I went to the extent of greasing my seat post and clamp just in case the sound is resonating from somewhere and I'm just hearing it in my stem... I'll straight swap the stem tonight with a colony front loader I have laying about, see what that does..
It sounds like slight metallic movement.. Crank bolts were all loose before when I serviced it.. Everything bolt is tight that I can think of..

I did think it might be my handlebars like micro-moving but doesn't really explain the sound leaving temporarily after greased stem and tube.

I'll score the stem with a knife and tighten in a x pattern.. The top plate of the stem doesn't quite reach around the entire bar.. So one side seems to be closer to the stem thAn the other. Might be a cause?
It definitely gets worse the more I ride (should probably stop)

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Could be. Try to tighten it down so it is more evenly spaced.

Switched stems.. No creaking..
So that's solved. I'll take my stem back to the shop and hopefully they can airbag a replacement, though I have a feeling it will be the same Considering there were no cracks or marks of any kind.
Now there's a new problem (of course)
On the way home I had a massive high speed loop out.. Bike flipped down the road a way.. Now the freecoaster won't engage until like two cranks and it's randomly slipping, causing knees in stem-itis, my favourite condition... I have absolutely zero knowledge on freecoasters.. Any suggestions on that one lol?

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

Switched stems.. No creaking..
So that's solved. I'll take my stem back to the shop and hopefully they can airbag a ...more

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

Switched stems.. No creaking..
So that's solved. I'll take my stem back to the shop and hopefully they can airbag a replacement, though I have a feeling it will be the same Considering there were no cracks or marks of any kind.
Now there's a new problem (of course)
On the way home I had a massive high speed loop out.. Bike flipped down the road a way.. Now the freecoaster won't engage until like two cranks and it's randomly slipping, causing knees in stem-itis, my favourite condition... I have absolutely zero knowledge on freecoasters.. Any suggestions on that one lol?

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Chances are something moved internally.

It had the blind on it, right? I would look up how to take it apart and reassemble it in the correct order. I'd bet something shifted.

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

Switched stems.. No creaking..
So that's solved. I'll take my stem back to the shop and hopefully they can airbag a ...more

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

Switched stems.. No creaking..
So that's solved. I'll take my stem back to the shop and hopefully they can airbag a replacement, though I have a feeling it will be the same Considering there were no cracks or marks of any kind.
Now there's a new problem (of course)
On the way home I had a massive high speed loop out.. Bike flipped down the road a way.. Now the freecoaster won't engage until like two cranks and it's randomly slipping, causing knees in stem-itis, my favourite condition... I have absolutely zero knowledge on freecoasters.. Any suggestions on that one lol?

...more

dont say of course when its because YOU flipped out, making it out as if its another problem with eclats parts. my mate FUCKED his axle on a simple looping out.

But yeah, take it apart, inspect all the parts for damage, then reassemble

Get a new headset. Sounds like its creaking because of that. Sometimes they go a bit wrong. Or it's overtightened.

Or there is a little sand in there. It'd be a number of things tbh. i'd fix it for you if i lived by you. I specialize in solving things like that.

Go to a busy street and throw your
Bike into traffic , if it bounces out ok your good, if it crumbles then it was never meant to be

eskimojay wrote:

Go to a busy street and throw your
Bike into traffic , if it bounces out ok your good, if it crumbles then it was never meant ...more

eskimojay wrote:

Go to a busy street and throw your
Bike into traffic , if it bounces out ok your good, if it crumbles then it was never meant to be

...more

^ this.
Except I'll be attached to the bike when that happens.
As if you can seriously fuck up and axle looping out? the more I read here the more I realise bikes are like human bodies. Some break a leg falling 10,000 feet from a plane. Some get out the car step on a tiny rock and shatter an ankle
Strong but fragile
Shane Weston throws his blind all day and he's sweet.. I accidentally loop ONCE and it's gone
I'm not even going to bother with an attempted fix
I don't really want to ride coaster but you need to try something before ypu knock it

Took the stem to the store I bought it from and it magically fixed itself.
Also the blind hub managed not to slip the entire time he rode it and basically made me look like a dick. The distribution centre was happy to send me and brand new wheel and blind laced, but I'm too scared to ride coaster now so I told them not to worry about it .. Just waiting to smash my knees into the stem with each pedal..
I'll just go get a decent cassette laced up and be happy pedalling backward

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

^ this.
Except I'll be attached to the bike when that happens.
As if you can seriously fuck up and axle looping out? the more ...more

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

^ this.
Except I'll be attached to the bike when that happens.
As if you can seriously fuck up and axle looping out? the more I read here the more I realise bikes are like human bodies. Some break a leg falling 10,000 feet from a plane. Some get out the car step on a tiny rock and shatter an ankle
Strong but fragile
Shane Weston throws his blind all day and he's sweet.. I accidentally loop ONCE and it's gone
I'm not even going to bother with an attempted fix
I don't really want to ride coaster but you need to try something before ypu knock it

...more

not really... looping out and, as you said 'bike flipped down the road a way' can easily fuck things up. it only takes one weird angled force to fuck shit up. my mate was unlucky enough to have his peg land first, and transfered all the stress to the axle and bolt and stripped his axle near the centre. could of easily not happened, it depends how the bike falls. Maybe you were jsut unlucky.



and now youre saying you cant be bothered with an attempted fix even though its functioning fine and just sounds like a reassemble might do the job...

sounds like youre too lazy for bmx kid, bmxs dont last if you dont take care of them.

I also had a stem problem from a WTP complete.It turned out that the thing was dry. If your creaking comes back, have a look at this. BMXPlus!'s response to my problem.

The headset is a totally common issue. This sounds like (and we cant say for sure without the bike in hand) the headset is just dry, and not the bearings but the tapered top and bottom races that the bearings ride on. If your fork has a built in race then no worries there, but the top is a separate piece that slides over the fork and held in place by pressure put on the top cap when you adjust your preload bolt. Many of these top races have a cut in them to allow them to spread and fit micro variations in steertube diameters. Now, pressure wants this ring to stay, but friction wants it to move and the click is the end result. Try a lightweight liquid lube, like Triflow and drip two or three drops into the thin gap between your top cap and the headtube. Ride around for a few minutes to let this soak in and it should solve your problem. Your bike is awesome and will handle a lifetime of bumpy trails and some of the toughest street, park and dirt riding you could dream of. It is a full chromoly frame, fork and bar packed with top of the line parts. Tough to go wrong. We have said it before and we will say it again, WTP bikes aren’t the least expensive bikes out there but they are very well designed and spec’ed. As for the freecoaster, it will wear out faster then the average cassette hub, but there is no need to ride or treat it any differently. The only thing you will want to try and avoid is locking it up when you half cab out of the every day fakie. Work on getting your cabs smooth and without the need of loading up the cranks and chances are it will last you a lifetime. Save the front pedal throttle for when you are doing cabs up stuff and need a little more pop.



Just in case...you never know...

Then, for your free coaster, I just recommend taking it apart and have a look inside. Learn how they work, and fix the thing yourself. Get down and dirty with your bike on the floor. And dude, free coasters are just awesome!

yeah gotta say the problem with everyone jumping on coasters, is that you should know how a coaster works, and more before you even think about getting one, but now we have bare kids saying that the x, y and z are shite and its because they dont have a clue how to use them.

^ exactly
I don't know thing 1 about coasters. (except that Karl looks awesome riding one)
I know that my fakies are gone since switching so my riding just got worse. And though I'm sure I'd get used to it, it difficult to convince myself to keep it when not only my riding gets worse but even if it didn't I don't know how to properly maintain it..
Like now for instance, the slipping stopped and now when I stop peddling I get an odd grinding and vibration once every few metres..
Might just get a cassette and leave the coaster for future advancements in maintenance.
Damn! Really enjoyed being silent!

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

^ exactly
I don't know thing 1 about coasters. (except that Karl looks awesome riding one)
I know that my fakies are gone ...more

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

^ exactly
I don't know thing 1 about coasters. (except that Karl looks awesome riding one)
I know that my fakies are gone since switching so my riding just got worse. And though I'm sure I'd get used to it, it difficult to convince myself to keep it when not only my riding gets worse but even if it didn't I don't know how to properly maintain it..
Like now for instance, the slipping stopped and now when I stop peddling I get an odd grinding and vibration once every few metres..
Might just get a cassette and leave the coaster for future advancements in maintenance.
Damn! Really enjoyed being silent!

...more

You can make a cassette pretty quiet. Just lube your driver properly and they aren't angry bees loud anymore.

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

^ exactly
I don't know thing 1 about coasters. (except that Karl looks awesome riding one)
I know that my fakies are gone ...more

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

^ exactly
I don't know thing 1 about coasters. (except that Karl looks awesome riding one)
I know that my fakies are gone since switching so my riding just got worse. And though I'm sure I'd get used to it, it difficult to convince myself to keep it when not only my riding gets worse but even if it didn't I don't know how to properly maintain it..
Like now for instance, the slipping stopped and now when I stop peddling I get an odd grinding and vibration once every few metres..
Might just get a cassette and leave the coaster for future advancements in maintenance.
Damn! Really enjoyed being silent!

...more

dave lawrence wrote:

You can make a cassette pretty quiet. Just lube your driver properly and they aren't angry bees loud anymore.

dave lawrence wrote:

You can make a cassette pretty quiet. Just lube your driver properly and they aren't angry bees loud anymore.

...more

Bought a BSD and asked them to grease it to make it quieter, wheel will be built tomorrow so we'll see how we go!

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

Bought a BSD and asked them to grease it to make it quieter, wheel will be built tomorrow so we'll see how we go!

Tom_Davis197324 wrote:

Bought a BSD and asked them to grease it to make it quieter, wheel will be built tomorrow so we'll see how we go!

...more

Laced to?

Am I the only one that knows that the Blind can be switched to cassette? Or....?

If the creaking stem persists, take the stem off and take the bearings out, and grease the bearing seats. Not a lot, just a lick all the way around both bearing seats and then put it back together.

Chances are the bike shop didn't do that when they assembled it because the headset comes pre-installed and usually bone dry, so they probably just let it go. Greasing it should fix the problem.

Try to loosen the compression bolt after loosing the pinch bolts… worked for me

HardBMX_Tim wrote:

Am I the only one that knows that the Blind can be switched to cassette? Or....?

HardBMX_Tim wrote:

Am I the only one that knows that the Blind can be switched to cassette? Or....?

...more

Fuck I seriously can't believe this eclat thing.. It's driving me insane! So I take the Envy to my SPECIALIST BMX STORE and say I don't want a freecoaster. I picked the BSD after chatting about the supposed indestructiblility. He tells me the spokes can be reused cause the Hub shells are similar size..

Now before I go any further let me reiterate that fact that this store SPECIALISES in straightening buckled wheels.

He tells me come back tomorrow it'll be done done.
I get there late this afternoon and he tells me the wheel cannot be laced.. He himself has like 20 years experience building rims, right. Says he hasn't come across a wheel that physically couldn't be built by him since '96! Apparently the cross lacing is opposite to like gsports, the way it's been drilled and the rim is so light that even micro tension on the any given spoke creates buckles somewhere else in the rim.. Like the ones that need to be tightened to straighten it were already tight toothed point of breaking (some did) and the others were like uber loose, not holding any tension! I watched a pro rider, a 40 something year old master wheel builder and some other rider all attempt to true this thing and it couldn't be done! They said they spent 6 hours in total on it (2 of them I was there For)
At least they gave me a spare wheel to ride in the meantime, while they try to figure what to do next.
They were hinting I buy a new wheel but I really don't want to considering I brought in a perfectly straight wheel and they fucked it essentially.

And the reason I didn't just switch the blind to cassette mode is because I asked the bike shop to get one but the distributor said they didn't have any and had no idea when they'd be getting them.

Also, to make matters even worse, on the ride home I get a flat.. I'm thinking 'bet ya these dicks gave me a wheel with spokes too long and they pierced my tube'
Nope. Good ol eclat and Stevie's tyre has a nice bit of wire protruding from the inside.
Is it eclat finger pointing time yet?

Their wheel building experience sounds just like my experience with my Brother's Eclat Phantom rims. Mind you I've built dozens of wheels that are still going strong after YEARS of abuse and I've never had so much trouble when trying to true a wheel. Literally spent hours trying to get it straight only to have given up at good enough. Which bugs the shit out of me.

And to think I get to redo his back wheel all over again since he got a new hub, but he can't wait to get a decent rim. Joy!