Bicycle Mechanics - Wobble of doom?

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.



PDA

View Full Version : Wobble of doom?

Zan
08-04-08, 01:26 PM
Went out for a ride today for a few hours. Not my usual road loop.

Was riding at speeds up to 55km/h. While descending one hill i noticed that my handlebars were wobbling sideways slightly, back and forth. Like a vibration, but more of a wobble than a vibration. This prevented me of riding down the hills at 60+km/h :(. I wasn't pedaling; it wasn't ME who was causing the wobble. It really made me feel uncomfortable on the bike (the "oh, i'm going down!!!" uncomfortable feeling).

It only really happened when i was riding over 45km/h. Under 45km/h, it wasn't noticeable at all.

I'm not riding a bike with high quality parts.

Any idea what it could be? Or... am I just being a ***** and imagining it when I bring it up to speed?

I was in a crash a while ago + haven't ridden over 40km/h since then (that's why i noticed it now). I'm wondering if something might've been knocked out during the crash, or something got messed up since I last went that fast.

Thanks!

DeadSailor
08-04-08, 01:29 PM
yea id be a good idea to get the bike checked out at a shop

may be something as simple as your skewer not being tight or maybe your wheel isnt straight...or it may just be that your not used to going that fast

keep it safe!
U.V.
08-04-08, 01:29 PM
did you check the bike over after your crash?

operator
08-04-08, 01:49 PM
Went out for a ride today for a few hours. Not my usual road loop.

Was riding at speeds up to 55km/h. While descending one hill i noticed that my handlebars were wobbling sideways slightly, back and forth. Like a vibration, but more of a wobble than a vibration. This prevented me of riding down the hills at 60+km/h :(. I wasn't pedaling; it wasn't ME who was causing the wobble. It really made me feel uncomfortable on the bike (the "oh, i'm going down!!!" uncomfortable feeling).

It only really happened when i was riding over 45km/h. Under 45km/h, it wasn't noticeable at all.

I'm not riding a bike with high quality parts.

Any idea what it could be? Or... am I just being a ***** and imagining it when I bring it up to speed?

I was in a crash a while ago + haven't ridden over 40km/h since then (that's why i noticed it now). I'm wondering if something might've been knocked out during the crash, or something got messed up since I last went that fast.

Thanks!

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/shimmy.html
StanSeven
08-04-08, 01:57 PM
If you regularly ride the bike and this happened for the first time, did you have the front wheel off? My guess is you don't have the wheel/skewer properly secured.

Another thought is a loose headset.

If you haven't been up to that speed for a while, it could be the tire or tube.