Bicycle Mechanics - Steering Pulls to Side

Hello,

My Name's David, First time posting here so you'll have to bear with me. I have a question about Steering. I've been riding my bike to work for the past year and a half now, it's alot cheaper than gas. The other day I came off a curb and my handle bars turned one way and my wheel went the other. I rode the last two miles like that and used some tools at work to tighten the bolt after I realigned the handle bars. When I went to ride it home I realized it was pulling to the left side. I verified that I hadn't put the handle bars on backwards and than replaced the tire rim in case the rim was bent. With the new rim it's still pulling. Fork doesn't look bent but I'm lost as to what the issue could be. It feels like there is a cable that is tight on the left side and pulling the bars in that direction. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thank You

If you hit the wheel hard, you may have bent the fork side to side, which would account for the steering problem. Hard to measure this without special tools. But check to make sure new wheel is centered in the fork, if its off to one side, this will cause it to steer to one side. And, try another wheel that you know is good, could be wheel problem.

A bike shop should have a fork alignment gauge and tool and can determine if that's the problem. If you bent the fork, and it's steel, it can be realigned. If the fork is aluminum or carbon, you will have to replace it.

If the fork is aluminum or carbon, you will have to replace it.

And do so immediately without riding it anywhere.

Could be a slightly bent fork or even the frame, you should take it to a shop that has a rig to check alignment.

Before you do, also worth checking that the wheel axle is seated correctly in the dropouts, i.e. it should be seated fully on both sides with no gaps. If the axle is not horizontal this could cause a pull on the steering even if the frame and forks are aligned correctly.

You say you tightened the "bolt" on the handlebars. Do you have a quill stem? If so, do you have horizontal dropouts on the back? If you have them, you may want to check to see if your back wheel moved a bit as well.

My fork, which is steel, is bent very slightly from a crash the bike experienced (not by me). As a result, I cannot ride the bike "no-handed" because the wheel pulls immediately to the left. However, with hands on the handlebar, this pull cannot be felt. I've been riding this bike for a long time with this pull, and it presents no problems for me. My point is that if your bike is steel (or cro-molly), and rides fine as long as you have hands on the handlebar, there is no concern about the pull unless it is severe.

Another thing to check might be the headset- the impact could have exaggerated a worn condition so that the handlebars want to pull away from pointing straight ahead.