Bicycle Mechanics - Front Wheel Pulling Left When Braking

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
richard4993
11-18-11, 01:58 PM
About an hour ago I was on my Trek Utopia moving at around 20 mph when I hit the brakes the slow down my front whhel pulled left toward the brake. This continued until I got home. This bike has mechanical discs does anybody know what is causing this or how to fix it?

DCB0
11-18-11, 02:14 PM
Are you saying the wheel actually moved in the fork? THen the problem is that your wheel was not properly fastened into your fork.
If you mean the wheel and fork actually turned to the left with the handlebars, then this is something usually caused by a misaligned fork and frame. Perhaps the wheel was not properly fastened into the dropouts and the brakes made the wheel shift slightly and this cause misalignment and caused the bike to pull to the side.

The first thing I would check is that the quick release is properly tightened.
dsbrantjr
11-18-11, 02:22 PM
Also check to see if you have a broken axle.

richard4993
11-19-11, 03:51 PM
I have Pinheads on the bike so the forst thing I'll do is try tightening it and go from there. Thanks for the help.
FBinNY
11-19-11, 04:23 PM
I have Pinheads on the bike so the forst thing I'll do is try tightening it and go from there. Thanks for the help.

I sold thousands of sets of Pinheads over the years. IMO they're not secure enough for disc front wheels, especially if there's any slop in the axle fit within the dropout.

As DCBO said, of the wheel is tight in the fork, any pulling when braking is because the front and rear wheel tracks aren't in line, so front end braking is creating a torque or pull.