Mountain Biking - Messed up Handle bar.

As most of you all know I just got a new closeout 08 stumpjumper since the one bike felt little off as in little twichy so I just thought well...it was a new bike and it made to be more responsive then I started to pay more attention to it and sure enough it was pulling to the left so decide to find out what would cause bike to pull to the left? I played with the stem (no funny jokes here) I turned to the right a bit and it seemed to help but now stem was facing to the right. So I straightened the stem and moved handle bar to the right and bike started to get better so I moved to the right until bike stopped pulling, and now if you look at my handle bar it looks waaaaay off to the right but bike tracks a straight line and when I mesured it, it's only half an inch to the right more. I am going to purchase a new handle bar next week and see it if does the same thing.

Oh and yes I know Specialized sucks.:D

Sorry guys I am having a hard time posting pictures they are coming in a minute :D

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/ALWAYSFIT/Handlebar.jpg[/IMG]
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/ALWAYSFIT/Handlebar.jpg
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/ALWAYSFIT/handlebar12inch.jpg

How could you not tell by just looking at it:lol: JK

That's pretty far off, man.

This is the right side picture above of course is the left and sorry for the double shot. :D

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/ALWAYSFIT/Handlbar13inch.jpg

How could you not tell by just looking at it:lol: JK

That's pretty far off, man.

No this is after I fixed it. it was pulling when it was centered.

Sounds like you spending money on a new bar is money that your LBS should spend.

Yep I am gonna talk to them tomorrow.

I am not sure what you mean when you say the bike 'pulls' to one side. Is that while you are riding? On pavement or offroad? Hands off the bars? How were you testing/experiencing this? We need some more info.

It doesn't make sense that moving the bars off-center as you did would make any significant difference.

My guess is that you haven't ridden the bike offroad yet, and that the 'pull' you are experiencing is the grabby-ness of new rubber on pavement. Aggressive (and especially new) MTB tires indeed feel quite twitchy and 'pull' to the side(s) on pavement- it can be disconcerting and appear as if something is wrong. Try riding the bike offroad and see if you come back feeling the same way about the pull thing.

Just my guess.

not trying to be funny, are your arms the same length?

You need to learn to use the other hand more often.

Maybe your arms are different lengths?

Edit: Someone beat me to it

OK here we go guys...:D
Kenhill this is not my first bike nor I am a beginner so I know how a bike should feel I got the bike on June 1st and I already put 200 miles on it was on 90% single track 8% fire roads and 2% asphalt. If you don't think moving the handle bar should change the way bike handles give it a try and see what happens. Sorry if I came off a bit harsh didn't mean to. :)

Bustedknuckles and pork...yes my arms are even.

And yellowjeep I don't use either of my hands any more because I have a fiance :D

Actually guys if you look at the pictures with the measuring tape which were taken after I moved the handle bar now it actually is almost even from the center of the stem it's only half an inch off(more to the right) so it's obvious that something is up with the handle bar. I'll let you guys know how it feels with the new bar.

Maybe one of the LockOn's isn't slid all the way on.

OK here we go guys...:D
Kenhill this is not my first bike nor I am a beginner so I know how a bike should feel I got the bike on June 1st and I already put 200 miles on it was on 90% single track 8% fire roads and 2% asphalt. If you don't think moving the handle bar should change the way bike handles give it a try and see what happens. Sorry if I came off a bit harsh didn't mean to. :)

No offense taken whatsoever, you stated the facts.

OK, so this is kind of a weird thing and I know it would drive me crazy, too. I think changing out the handlebars is a good idea to nail down the problem. I hope it works for ya.

And yellowjeep I don't use either of my hands any more because I have a fiance :D

:thumb:

Maybe the stem wasn't machined 'center' ?

It seems to me that the "pulling" would be caused by the brake or shifter cables. When you move the bars to one side, you change the forces that the cables exert on the bar.

Undo your fork a little bit and move your tire to the opposite direction that the pull is just a little bit then retighten everything up. Don't slide your handlebars to the side that just looks stupid.

Undo your fork a little bit and move your tire to the opposite direction that the pull is just a little bit then retighten everything up. Don't slide your handlebars to the side that just looks stupid.

I know it looks stupid but I don't think moving the tire would fix the problem because when I had the bar centered if I was on a left hand switch back bar would touch my knee while I was making that turn now on the the right hand switch back bar wasn't even near my knee in fact it wouldn't even turn enough to clear the switch back I had keep dismounting but now distance between my knees during the turn are perfectly even and I can make the either side on the switch backs with no problem.

Anywho I am on my out the door to the bike shop I just wanted to type this before I left the house, I'll have the update in a bit.

Center the bar bends around the stem (ignore the outboard ends of the bar for a moment. Now take off the grips and measure center-to-each-end. Did someone lop a half-inch or an inch off only one end of the bar? Sometimes stuff gets swapped out on the showroom floor (higher/loewer rise, etc) and maybe someone had taken those home and only lopped one end. Hey, I'm wild-guessing here.

Oh, and I'm not here. You didn't hear it from me.

Update from the bike shop they swapped the handle bars and it made no difference guys in the shop are baffled they just took the headset apart we'll see what they come up with.

Hmmmm . . . OK, stand in front of the mirror. Can you tap rhythm on one kneecap without bending over? Scratch one armpit without getting a cramp in your wrist? :D

Swap the stem.

Does it happen on any other bike?

Ok guys problem solved they took everything apart and couldn't find anything wrong with it so they put it all back together and magically bike tracks perfect. I just came back from an 8 mile single track ride and I couldn't be happier with the way that bike handled. Oh and I ended up keeping the new handle bar and installed a new WTB Laser V saddle. Man those things are comfortable. :D
http://www.bikeforums.net/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/ALWAYSFIT/newbar.jpg%5B/IMG%5D
http://www.bikeforums.net/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/ALWAYSFIT/newsaddle.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

Here is are the pictures of the new bar and the saddle. :Dhttp://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/ALWAYSFIT/newbar.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/ALWAYSFIT/newsaddle.jpg

Hey...good choices, man:thumb:

Hey...good choices, man:thumb:

Thank you Ed, I didn't pick the bar they just put it on for me but I did pick the Saddle. :D

I still think the original problem was the cables. Notice the difference between the original picture and the new one as to the positions of the levers and the routing of the cables.

I still think the original problem was the cables. Notice the difference between the original picture and the new one as to the positions of the levers and the routing of the cables.

Makes sense, at least I've experienced something along that line, altho I don't really see it in the photos. Who knows now? Glad it got sorted out.