Odd rubbing/creaking noise

[cortinamarque3]

Hi all
When I stand up on the bike to pedal there is an odd noise which appears to come from the front fork area. It is when I press down hard on the handlebars. It sounds like something is rubbing against something else but I can't determine what. The wheel is true so it is not a brake issue. The bearings look OK too. Any ideas?
Thanks Matt

[DaveM]

The front wheel could be flexing enough that your brake pad is hitting the rim. If so, you may want to have the wheel checked for loose/under-tensioned spokes. Handlebars and stems can also make a lot of sounds under stress, but they tend to be creaking/crackling sounds.

suspension fork?

[Joe_W]

you wrote that "the bearings look[ed] good", so there is no side-to-side play?
How much tyre clearance do you have under the fork crown? On my cyclocross-turned roadbike there is not much space, so when mounting anything larger than a 33mm tyre I get some rubbing when pressing down: The bottom of the tyre gets flatter, the air is displaced to the rest of it and makes it more plump, thicker, leading to rubbing...

[cortinamarque3]

That's a great response thank you. I will look into both those and report back!