Cannondale lightweight compression top cap problems

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OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

Hi

I bought one of the ultra-lightweight Cannondale compression top caps when they first came out and have been running it without issue until recently.

I bought a Deda Superleggero/a stem and bar combo for my and for some reason the super light Cannondale compression top cap makes a nasty creaking / twisting sound when installed. I have since gone back to the regular Cannondale compression top cap. Anyone else had similar issues?

I noticed with interest that the Cannondale pro road team use the normal top cap unit and not the super light one, which leads me to believe it might actually be an issue...

I should add that the creaking noise only happens when I am laying down the God-Damn LAW in sprints, which is me effectively trying to twist the front of my bike off with my minotaur levels of power. :evil:

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Miller
Posts: 2768
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

No insight into C'dale compression top caps, sorry, that's niche knowledge, just wondering why you're so sure it's the top cap generating the creaking? Putting a big effort in generates force all over the bike and there are numerous interfaces capable of creaking. It's notoriously difficult to pin down the source of a creak just by listening.

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rijndael
Posts: 402
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:54 pm
Location: Haines, AK - Temporarily

by rijndael

Are you running the carbon fiber conical spacer? Mine creaks - and it's pretty annoying. If I up the preload, and grease the contact surfaces, it is greatly minimized.

lannes
Posts: 418
Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2007 9:51 pm

by lannes

have you used carbon assembly paste on the steerer tube and the bar / stem connection point

Danza
Posts: 134
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2013 12:41 pm

by Danza

Can't help but say that I've had no issues with mine on a CAAD10 w/ stock fork.

OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

Running a single 10mm carbon spacer under the stem.

No sound at all today while out training and sprinting hard - normal comp. unit.

Swapped back to lightweight one, with everything else identical - creak.

The fact the pro team opt for the normal one must be relevant.

mattr
Posts: 4671
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 6:43 pm
Location: The Grim North.

by mattr

OwenJames wrote:The fact the pro team opt for the normal one must be relevant.
not really, they can hit weight with the normal one, they ride ~10 times as far as you per year in all weather's, they probably adjust/swap the headset bearings on a far more regular basis so why opt for a super light top cap that will/may fail when you least want it to.

juanacity
Posts: 37
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2012 12:22 am

by juanacity

I had the same issue and tried all sorts of things to fix the creak on my stock Caad10 fork with the new lightweight compression/top cap. With the old one I had no issues. I am using a Thomson x2 stem and the creak only went away after I dropped my seat a little and correspondingly put a 5mm carbon spacer above the stem (previously the top cap was directly on the stem). Now issue seems completely fixed. Maybe you could try putting a very small spacer above the stem...

Also, I doubt it means much that the protour team is using the old standard assembly. I've read some on the team use custom solid steel spindles with their cranks just to get to 6.8.

sigismond0
Posts: 235
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:29 pm

by sigismond0

Putting a spacer above the stem is usually a good plan, and should always be done for carbon steerers.

5 8 5
Posts: 1315
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2006 2:36 am
Location: UK

by 5 8 5

This has come up before. Cannondale state that a spacer should NOT be placed above the stem.

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bikerjulio
Posts: 1900
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:38 pm
Location: Welland, Ontario

by bikerjulio

Perhaps OP (and others) should RTFM?
There's sometimes a buggy.
How many drivers does a buggy have?

One.

So let's just say I'm drivin' this buggy...
and if you fix your attitude you can ride along with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GekiIMh4ZkM

juanacity
Posts: 37
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2012 12:22 am

by juanacity

If I had to guess, the OP has read "TFM" and nothing he wrote would indicate otherwise. I have also read "TFM" and so has my great LBS. The fix for this specific problem, that the OP asked about, was to place a small spacer above the stem. It makes sense to not stack a huge amount of spacers above your stem, but...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/pho ... aix/260583
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=102926
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/pho ... evo/222701
http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/01/ ... evo_271418
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/pho ... mod/259369
http://www.cannondaleprocycling.com/csg ... -mod-team/
etc...

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Getter
Posts: 848
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2009 6:30 am
Location: So Cal

by Getter

Cannondale doesn't want you to use a spacer is because on stock Cannondales, they come with a cylindrical top cap that extends down into the steerer tube. That plus the expansion plug is about 40mm. That supports the area where the stem clamps. Who knows what setup is used on pro bikes.

Specialized also recommends that you not use a spacer above the stem on the stock setup.

OP can always swap out whatever compression plug he's using for one like this.

Image

This is what I use on my carbon fork bikes.

OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

mattr wrote:
OwenJames wrote:The fact the pro team opt for the normal one must be relevant.
not really, they can hit weight with the normal one, they ride ~10 times as far as you per year in all weather's, they probably adjust/swap the headset bearings on a far more regular basis so why opt for a super light top cap that will/may fail when you least want it to.


How dare you! I ride as far and hard as the next man!

bikerjulio wrote:Perhaps OP (and others) should RTFM?


What is with the attitude, mate? As the other guy pointed out, where does it indicate in anything I said that I have not 'read the f*cking manual'? I know how it work on a bike. It is not rocket science. Shall explain this all to you, so you can understand it properly, in simple terms? Here goes... I suspect that the lightweight Cannondale compression plug is not up to the extreme stress of sprinting, due to its' inherent fragile and minimal structure. The creaking sound I was getting, does not happen with the heavier, more solidly built original compression plug. I noticed that the pro team also use the original, and thought to myself, "Hey, those guys sprint extremely hard, and they are not using the lightweight compression cap, which is odd as one would have imagined they would use all the latest gear available, so I think that means this is not just an issue I was having, but one which is a problem with the nature of the lightweight compression cap itself."

I then posted this here to see if anybody else had experienced the same thing. Nothing was said about installing it upside-down, tightening it to 1,000,000nm by mistake, sawing it in half to save even more weight, or putting it in that machine Jeff Goldblum uses to teleport himself in the The Fly, but accidentally teleporting a creaking floorboard from a haunted house with it by mistake, thereby fusing the two things together into what looks like a regular lightweight Cannondale compression plug, but slowly goes through a twisted and disgusting transformation into a creaking compression plug - haunted floorboard hybrid, before installing it. You twat.

Causidicus
Posts: 320
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 11:20 am

by Causidicus

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Last edited by Causidicus on Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

by Weenie


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