Creaking + Nitto Noodle stem compatibility

[Matt D]

Hi all,

I'm having some issues with creaking from the cockpit area of my Roadini under side-to-side force. I'm using a Technomic at the moment adjusted very low, 3cm or so above minimum, and I think the play caused by the friction point being so low is causing it - there's a very little bit of visible motion between the stem and steerer tube when I wobble it.

Two questions:

1. Have any of you experienced this creaking issue with tall quill stems adjusted low? I think that may be the issue but I'm not 100% sure. RBWOB is the place to ask about tall quill stems anyway...

2. What shorter stems is the Noodle compatible with? Obviously Technomic but I tried to thread another 40cm (this creaky one is 44cm) into a Nitto Dynamic stem with a wider clamp and found the curves are too tight to fit in it. Is the clamp of the Technomic the same as that on the Pearl/NP? Is anyone else running Noodles successfully on other stems shorter than a Technomic?

[Hudson Doerge]

Creakiness with my noodles has been solved by a couple drops of lube around the sleeve of the bars. This has been a reliable fix for several months running. Sorry I don’t have further info about nitto stem/bar compatibility.

Hudson in ATX

[Joe Bernard]

Raise that stem until it's out of the butted area at the bottom of the headtube. That bit of wiggle tells me you're clamped into the narrowed area at the butt with only the bottom edge of the wedge actually making contact, you need to get it flush with the tube walls.

[Matt D]

Hudson - now that you say it I looked it up and it turns out that can be an issue. I'll try it and report back.

Joe - You absolutely sure? Sorry I forgot to mention this is a 61cm roadini, head tube is 260.8mm on the page + 50mm of headset + spacers + stem is 30mm above the lowest you can adjust it. Technomics have a 225mm quill so the butting would need to begin 115cm above the fork crown for that to be an issue. The wiggle is barely perceptible anyway, if I had to guess I'd say it's 0.2mm at most.

[Joe Bernard]

Not absolutely sure, and less so now that I know how tall your headtube is. The wiggle seems unusual to me, but I suppose the diameters of stem and headtube could be out of wack on that particular frame.

[Ed Carolipio]

> 1. Have any of you experienced this creaking issue with tall quill stems adjusted low?

Yes! I've slammed a Technomic in two different Rivs, and got the creaking both times. To verify that's the case, just move the stem up about an inch or so and ride the bike that way to see if the creaking goes away.

> 2. What shorter stems is the Noodle compatible with?

I ended up just taking a hacksaw to mine. The cut can be made with the stem laid flat, and I tried to match how the end is formed, i.e., at an angle with a flat portion at the tip. I've had no issues with the stem on the Roadini running 44cm Noodles and a robust rider weight of 215 lbs.

--Ed C.

[Evan E.]

Matt D wrote: "Is anyone else running Noodles successfully on other stems shorter than a Technomic?"

Yes. I have Noodles attached to a Technomic Deluxe stem. The quill on the Technomic Deluxe is shorter than on the Technomic Standard (190mm total height versus 225mm).  

http://boulderbicycle.bike/Nitto-Technomic-Deluxe-190-stem-26-0-various-extensions.html

[Luke]

The quill of my technomic creaks in the head tube when it's not lubed, or hasn't been lubed in a while. It happens at wide enough intervals that I forget where the creaking is coming from and let it drive me crazy for a while before I remember it's the quill ha ha.