2023 Felt VR 60.
I hit a bump while riding and now the front of my bike creaks. If I apply pressure on my handlebars, I can even hear it without riding. It sounds like the noise is coming from between the handlebars, so I’m thinking maybe it’s the headset? But I’m not sure.
Here’s a video of the sound: https://youtube.com/watch?v=7mbQVzI_Jj4?feature=share
I tightened my top cap and the creaking is gone!
I had my stem replaced at my local bike shop and I guess the top cap was just not tight enough, and the bump loosened it enough to creak?
If that’s the case I would suggest loosening your top cap, then loosening your stem bolts, then tighten your top cap and then finally tighten your stem bolts. The top cap should only be taking up slack to tighten everything in the headtube. If it was loose and creaking then your stem was probably loose and/or slightly too high.
Yeah, that’s the process I did, just cut out the parts about the stem bolts :)
If you were able to tighten the headset via topcat without loosening the stem first, the stem may be insufficiently tightened. Be sure to check that as a loose stem can cause the bars to turn without the wheel following suit.
Steps for tightening the headset would be: