How To Fix A Handlebar Rattle

Last night Mezda bought a new bicycle. The Psynyde from Pune. It's a general commuter bike. I think they call it Cycletowork. He took delivery from Stay Tuned. After a short ride he thought he would prefer the handlebar raised a bit. Rito said he had a spacer that came with the bike and added it to the handle. Mezda was satisfied and rode the bike home. 

Later in the evening when I went to his house he said there was a rattle from the handle. Indeed there was a play there in the head/steerer tube. Since he does not keep any hex wrench or any tool at home I asked him to come to my house the next morning, which is today.

I had read or even seen video about how to do this but since I never personally faced this issue I didn't bother to look very carefully about all the minute steps. Generally I knew in such a situation you just tighten the top cap of the head. Because the cap's job is to keep the spacers etc compressed down and tight. 

So that was the first thing I did. Tightened the screw on the top cap. It didn't improve matters at all. I took the screw off and tightened it again. Nothing much happened. The rattle was still there. Finally I learnt from a youtube video that you have to do a few things step by step. It's not just plain and simple tightening of the bolt. I am going to write them down lest I forget later. 

1. First loosen the pinch bolts attached to the stem but you need not take them off.

2. Now, tighten the top cap screw. 

3. Hold the front brake and try to move the bike forward. Does it rattle? Tighten more till it stops rattling.

4. Tighten the pinch bolts back. You are good to go.

It solved Mezda's problem. I also felt a sense of accomplishment to learn a new thing and help someone out. 

I did not take the handle out of the steerer tube. That is something I will learn later.

Today I also realised why my bike is so many times more expensive than an average bicycle (many people ask me and I cannot really answer this). I really saw, for the first time why a cheap bike is cheap. The head, for example, including the spacers, is completely plastic in Mezda's bike. I was pretty stunned by this. I never knew heads could be made of plastic. These are perhaps not toy plastic but some technical plastic like my mudguard is but plastic is plastic, regardless of what type of plastic it is. I realised why they say - steel is real. 

The steel head of my bike, whose photograph is there on the top (only the top cap) is from Cane Creek. I have no idea who made Mezda's bike's head. It's pathetic.

The four bolts that attach the handlebar to the stem come out from the other end on the rider's side in this bike. I have never seen this before. Of course I haven't seen too many such bikes very closely.

The screw that I drove into the head cap is of very cheap quality. You realise this the moment you touch it or try to screw it in, provided you have touched something that is well made. 

The pedals are nice. Thin but wide. They are made by Psynyde. The carrier they have given is also nice quality, given that it came free with the bike. The pedals were free too. Mezda got all the attachments for free :-) The carrier, mudguards, side stand and bottle cage.