Hi,
I have had some serious creaking on my 2020 Expert myself. Turned out to be a bit of two things. On hard landings from big jumps etc, landing a bit front heavy I could actually feel the play from the headtube area through the handlebars while hearing the creak.
Tried with a brand new (stock) headset, tried with both just-the-right-tension on the top cap / OneUp, and over-torqued as well, and could not get rid of the play and the creak. Read here on the forums something about the split crown race not holding tension as well as a solid crown race. Seems logical since this can be somewhat demonstrated just by pressing down real hard on the bearing towards the crown. Googled and read about it, and seemed to be backed up by some other claims and personal experiences as well, but mostly it seems that a split crown race should work well on most headsets and setups. BUT as I have a Chris King headset on my Megatower paired to a Fox Factory 36 with a solid Chris King crown race I thought I would give it a try and see.
Mounted that lower CK bearing and that Factory 36 on my Levo and the play and creak is gone! At least 95% good. Can still feel a very slight play under heavy load.
Checked the 36 that was previously on my Levo and it creaked when twisting the fork legs when the bike was upside down, but no play from the bushings in the lowers etc. So some of the creak was from the fork, then the play and some more creak from the headset.
I emailed CK about a headset that will fit the Levo, and currently they do not make a complete headset that fits the dimensions of the upper bearing area of the Levo, but please send them a request, so maybe they will make one, haha! Anyway CK could also tell me that the main reason the stock FSA headset does not hold tension very well is mainly because of their upper bearing tension system - under heavy load it does not hold tension very well.
So my conclusion is that when you combine that upper assembly together with a split crown race (and poor lower bearing) it gives it even more room to play and creak in the frame. I had the same problem on my Comp Alu 2019, but the creak was not that bad, probably because of alu vs carbon frame. On the carbon it sounds like the frame is about to snap when the headset moves.
I have heard and read many of the same experiences with Levo headsets, so hopefully Specialized will address this with a better headset, OR follow proper standards so you can fit any headset like a CK, CC etc.
Anyway I will continue using the CK lower bearing and crown race, just too bad you have to buy a complete CK and only use half the set, but if it´s what it takes, then fine - no more play, no more creak! And King bearings are always superb. Also the bottom interface looks a lot better sealed in terms of water and dirt around the bearing / crown area. This is also a big problem with a split crown race.
So either change the lower bearing and crown race to another brand, or order a FSA solid crown race and test that first.
At least one of the solutions should help you out!
