Pinkbike Poll: Has Your Fork's Crown Ever Creaked?
In the PB comments section there have been rumblings recently of forks creaking at the crown-steerer unit (CSU).
The CSU is made up of the steerer tube, crown and stanchion tubes in a single-crown fork. These components are all machined separately before being pressed together in the production process. But sometimes, this happy union can go the way of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie when either the stanchion tubes work loose inside the crown, or the crown starts to wobble free of the steerer tube, resulting in creaking and a phone call to the warranty department.
This is not so surprising when you think about it. Now that 29" forks with up to 180mm travel are common, the axle to crown measurement can be very long - around 595mm. The forces that act on the crown when braking come from the contact patch, which in such a fork is around 90cm from the crown, so the forces act over a very long lever, and these aren't small forces. If you pull the front brake hard on tarmac, you could generate close to 1g of deceleration. That means the rearward force at the contact patch could be equal to the weight of the bike and rider.
Because the crown is furthest away from the contact patch, it experiences the most torque of any part of the fork. Yet the distance over which the stanchions connect to the crown is only around four centimeters, while the connection between the crown and the steerer is even shorter. In contrast, with a dual-crown fork the torque is transmitted from the stanchions to the headset over the distance between the crowns.
Dual crown forks virtually eliminate the twisting force on each crown, along with any possibility of creaking. This allows for shallower crowns and therefore a shorter axle to crown length.
As you ride through rough sections of trail, the crown is subjected to stress in different directions very frequently. Landing to flat (as in the industry-standard Huck To Flat Test), causes the fork to flex forwards; braking or riding into large bumps causes it to flex rearward. It's easy to think how years of this repeated stress could lead to failure. When watching the Huck to Flat Test in all it's gratititous slow motion, it doesn't take much imagination to see how ever-slackening head angles can increase the load put through our CSUs.
Despite this, I've never experienced a creaking crown, and most Pinkbike staff members either never have, or haven't for a while. But the trouble with testing bikes for a living is that we rarely get to put as much ride time on one bike as a consumer would.
So it's over to you. Let us know if this is a problem you've faced. We're keen to gauge how common this is.
Have you ever had a confirmed case of creaking crown?
It's important that you only count forks which creaked while you owned them. Your cousin's buddy's dad's fork doesn't count.
If yes, how old was the fork when the problem arose?
Multiple answers are allowed for multiple fork destroyers.
Was it covered under warranty?
A receipt can be worth its weight in gold.
Which brand was it?
Again, multiple answers are allowed if necessary.
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Actually
Just pull the light outta the dash and you don’t waste tape
But never had issues with the CSU.
But new 38 is in the house, so...not looking foward to it
If so its probs the headset & not the csu as there is VERY little stress on the csu when your not on the bike, but play in the headset reacts to the rapid change in loading an u hear the click.
Probs should have put this in the tech forums, but seems right to add it here; and I'm not a tech. . . (Weekend warrior).
This is what worked for me. Hope it works for u. Creaks drive me corona bat sh*t crazy.
Re-greasing only helps for abit. Does it need a full replacement typically or just swap the bearings? Curious as to the right move.
Awesome aftermarket company turns into OEM garbage fork company with terrible warranty and support. Kashima seems to be the only thing going for them with people buying the shiny bling.
Just my opinion...
Also;
Why can’t suspension companies put a simple key in the crown to steerer? Oh! It costs more to make and we wouldn’t want our products to last...
I've been a full time suspension technician for a decade. I work on literally thousands of forks a year.
From my experience it's pretty much an evenly divided issue between both Fox and RS. The rider often just won't notice it on an RS as the upper crown/stanchion interface is much stiffer and won't flex as much under smaller loads, meaning less chance if hearing a creek.
To compensate it's quite obvious that RS keeps their stanchions shorter, with less space between the bushings. This gives a great parking lot feel, but under dynamic load the Fox fork will be smoother thanks to longer stanchions and greater bushing spacing.
It's always a compromise.
Receipts aren't very heavy, esp screen shots. They could be worth more than their weight in gold.
I think the results suggest that there's no brand that's immune to having creaks. Also, that it's likely Fox and RockShox are at the top simply because they sell the vast majority of forks out there....right?
Therefore, I think all we can conclude is that any brand of fork may creak...but not that any individual brand is worse than another from this survey.
for ownership: 12% more riders have owned Rock Shox than Fox
for creaks: 45% more riders have creaks with Fox compared to Rock Shox
That said, it is an issue. I have had one serious CSU issue. I over-cleared a big jump to flat and bottomed out the fork. After that it creaked, though not too badly and the noise alone wouldn't really have bothered me. The real issue was that I noticed after hard riding my bar/stem would be out of alignment with the wheel. After playing with everything I could think of I remembered the bottom out and all these CSU stories. Pulled the for and put the steerer in a vice and I could literally get the steerer to rotate in the crown with frighteningly little force. Fox did warranty it with little issue though.
There's also the participation bias - if you have had a (suspected or real) creaky csu, you're far more likely to bother voting.
It was remedied easily enough by taking a nut that's slightly larger than the cage bolt diameter, laying that on top of the mount and holding it with a wrench, passing a cage bolt through that and threading it into the mount, and then firmly but carefully tightening it to cinch the mount back down. One of the most weird problems I've ever had on my bike.
Flip crown upside down and fill creaking gap with ultra low viscosity, highly penetrating locktite-like liquid.
Definitely don't use WD40 or any other lubricant, it won't work and will make fixing it with loctite later impossible, because nothing sticks to oil-based products.
You can "water down" locktite with acetone to make it thinner and more penetrative, load it in a syringe and apply droplet by droplet.
We had Rock Shox fork fixed with epoxy, but I would not advise doing it: if you have enough play in there to use epoxy, you're safer getting a proper warranty for it.
Andrew at NSMB has put the most miles into a SR Suntour fork that I know of. He knows rider on the North Shore that are riding forks for years after pro riders used them that they bought from them that still do not creak years later.
nsmb.com/articles/sr-suntour-durolux-eq
2 forks out of 5 in the last year have NOT had this issue after a year or less: Marzocchi Z1 and Rock Shox Lyrik Ultimate. To be fair the Lyrik wasn't ridden very long.
Currently running a Pike with the Loctite fix that seems to have worked (*knocks on wood)
Replaced a Pike (seamless warranty)
Replaced a Fox 36 (relatively seamless warranty)
All creaked from the stanchion crown interface and accordingly I currently expect any fork I get to creak at some point, but I'm a bigger guy.
sorry...TLDNR: sounds liek loctite works. they have lots of products. website is good. choose based on together or apart
This happened yesterday, so this is a timely poll! I’m really confused because I’m awful for noticing problems with my bike and find it really unlikely I wouldn’t notice the CSU creaking, if it’s as loud as people say. But they won’t do the damper under warranty without the CSU being replaced. I guess I should look at it as these two items being replaced at half price - but at full price the damper and CSU as parts add up to almost the full price of the fork, and it’s a bloody expensive fork.
I’ve had two Pikes before this Lyrik and didn’t have a problem with them, still have one of them. The Lyrik is a 160mm 29” and it’s on a Levo so under fairly heavy loads but I’m really not that gnarly a rider and it’s had a pretty easy life. Weird. And expensive.
Would be interesting to see breakdown by travel...as mentioned my guess is not many 120-140s are having this problem thus the high % NO troubles.
I guess you actually have a point in a way, since most "creaking csu" are actually neglected headsets.
- always run a full-coverage fender ( it would be in their best interest if every manufacturer included a quality fender with their fork)
- as you mentioned, make sure you are running your headset at correct torques and re-check it often
- run a bead of silicone gasket maker around the steerer/crown interface both on the underside and on the topside (under the bearing race) of the fork
- be prepared to disassemble the front end and clean after particularly sloppy days
Again, I do believe there is room for improvement in fork manufacturing, but we can't complain too much considering the conditions we slam our bikes through with only minimum maintenance.
Here is a shop RBC (Robbie's) South Africa using ND Tuned replacement steerers/stanchions if necessary.
The video is worth watching www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U5okPm9Sn8
Still wonder if something like a wicking grade Loctite would quiet the noisy ones...
Never had to replace a headsets in my older bikes,they were fine (Tange Seiki both stock in Cannondale bikes)
My 2020 RS Lyric is quiet but you can see it flexing a lot front and back,even a little twist.
Sad, because that Fox was way more plush on the rough stuff than the Ohlins, but I don't like death creaks/cracks.
Most my friends with 2019/20 fox 36 have now had there CSU replaced. Looks to be coming a more common problem.
On my own fork that creaks, which is a thoroughly battered X-Fusion Revel, I lube it once in a while when it acts up. I don't consider it a huge issue, annoying as it is.
That's what they said...
I just took my DVO Diamond in for a full service (just over the 2 year warranty) and I got a call that they found a creak and that they will not service it or tell me how bad it is. My only options were to fix or replace with a "crash replacement" (even though, no crash be had). Replacement was only a hundred dollars more (ouch) than the fix and service, but comes with a warranty at least.
Assuming that once it starts creaking you shouldn't be riding anymore. It also seems like such a waste because the rest of the fork was working well (like butter). I hate that it is causing so much garbage.
blueliquidlabs.com/tag/creaking-fork-creaking-csu
Looking at the poll results, I have to assume all the major fork vendors noticed this poll was up and then used a botnet to spam "never had a creaking CSU" submission.
Pressing out the stantions sounds crazy but it did the trick with no issues at all. Not sure I’d do it myself tho.
Looks like he has a video now describing the process:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFvPNWAH6Kg
I vote for DC forks for Enduro bikes. Give them 150mm front hub and then you can have the stanchions far enough apart to get a reasonable-enough turning radius for all but the tightest switchbacks. No more CSU creak, easier to maintain, no more stems slipping in crashes, etc.
Facts fox know well the issue and works weel with warranty , i thinks this is just a noise and does not compromise the safety of the rider
Put your bike upside down. Spray fork deo or silicon spray into the bottom of the csu. Especially in the edges where the two pieces meet. Let the bike sit there for 1 night and the creaking should be gone for a while the next day. My experience is that the creaking starts after your bike isn’t used very often and the weather is quite humid. My theory is that the creaking comes from al little corrosion between the two pieces. It even worked on a rigid (Kona rove) fork once
Tutn your bike over on a sidt surface as a thick blanket or so to not scratch your bar, get tge wheel out stand on the bars and now turn the fork s lowers forth and back, also the ride and left leg in opposite directions. This will show it it is tge steerer or even the stanchions in the crown.
Some companys offer exchange steerers that are put in place with screw tight or similar stuff which makes the fork calmer and the steerers are stiffer than the regular stuff
First was a RS Pike, one of the first of the newer generation that came out. Was fine for a few weeks but after I'd given it a beating on an uplift day twice it creaked all the time, was replaced under warranty and was fine until the day I sold it on.
The second is a Fox 32 that I've owned for 6 years now, started creaking early last year. Had the steerer tube pressed out and re-inserted with some Loctite glue applied and it's back to being silent, still in use now.
It can be really annoying when it happens and you shouldn't ignore it but it's an easy fix so nothing major to worry about.
Looking at the vid, a lot of the flex (at the initial impact anyway) seems to be coming from the bushing area. And as someone said, some of the forks appear to hit resistance as they go through the travel - bushings binding? The bushing overlap is so short on long travel forks while also dealing with increased forces. Bring on the inverted forks or extended lower legs ala the Sherman or Super Monster!
I thought I was cursed! Have had nine pairs of forks since from every big brand (and some small ones)and they have been flawless
I appreciate that RS is ahead of the curve on this one, and don't see nearly as many with creaks, the OG pike and Argyle even in the 1 1/8th steerer didn't make a peep. But simply not an RS fan because leaky Moco dampers and excessive plastic internals have left me with bad memories of shit quality. (Im sure the new stuff is more refined, but can't jump on the bandwagon). Also SRAM trying to do everything and can't make brakes or carbon cranks makes we not want to sign up to a mix match build. I love when things flow and you can pick niche parts from each group. RF cranks bar and stem / Hope Brakes / Fox suspension & Dopper / king hubs
Answer option: "no"
Who did check these polls, spoiler alert, you forgot something.
Anyways, both forks I owned creaked after about 1,5 years. Still work perfectly fine though.
Just missed the warranty on my dvo.
My friend in the suspension industry said ohlins are the only fork he has seen that’s not having this issue
I've just ordered (and will get this year) a new bike, with a Lyric ultimate on the front. I'm a little worried that I'll be heading into a replacement rodeo for it.
It would seem that the quality of bike parts kinda goes up and down. I've been lucky. I also spec/upgrade to burly.
I'd be of the opinion that most bikes, eventually, are going to creak. Be it the CSU, bottom bracket, headset itself, whatever, its gonna make noise.
I guess his friend is guinea pigging their jumps a bit too much
and in terms of creak I mean not the sound however structural failure of the fork crown;
luckily I walked away after few of those catastrophic failures of the fork
Wonder hoe many "creaky CSUs" are just dirty.
Actually, I never had problems with my old 32's. Maybe the 32s flex lower and don't focus all the stress onto the CSU?
-Fork creaks but I have not noticed it.
-Something creaks but I say its the fork to sound more gnarly.
Might be zebs
One on a red fork ( Hint came on a green specialized stumpy pre 2000 ). It didn't owe me anything.
Two on a black fork ( Hint came on a black Giant AC somewhere between 2002 and 2004 ) . It was a lemon for sure and pretty much the only such product I have even owned. It still owes me.
Three - Used XC hardtail bike for Wednesday beer race series. If you creep my photos its the 1 year bike experiment we have all went through. Noodle to the extreme. Oddly enough carbon steerer ! so creaking coming from somewhere else but certainly in the region. E.g. stanchions, cups/headset/bearings, stanchions ...
Everything since has been solid without a second thought. Like others my service schedule has increased as my experience/skills have to the point where I have reached poserville and now fiddle about as much as I probably ride.
Creaking CSUs is a weightweenie problem