New bike leans to right with no hands on bar
#1
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New bike leans to right with no hands on bar
Hello, I took home a new Trek 7.5 which is great except for the fact that when I sit up straight on the seat with no hands on the bar the bike leans to the right. I have to crook my back at the waist a bit in a counter direction to keep it straight. It's not the road crown, nor the front cables tugging it one way. Upside down the wheels do appear slightly unaligned but if they are it is so subtle I doubt the LBS is going to agree. My question is, is this a significant enough issue to justify asking for a frame swap? And how do frame builders compensate for the weight of the drive train being on the right side of a bike in terms of balancing the final product? Thanks
#2
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Check simple things first: Make sure the wheels are correctly seated in the dropouts, no brake is rubbing, stem is aligned with front fork, etc. I would suspect its something simple, but it may in fact have an issue, I'd think they're probably pretty good about QC from the factory but that doesn't mean a bike builder or summer LBS employee didn't do somethings silly.
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Check that the wheels are precisely centered. Compare gaps between the left and right sides of the stays or fork.
I had a bike that wouldn't track straight unless I sat "on the side". Seemed aligned and all - but turned out that the front wheel was slightly sideways: The right-hand side had slightly less space between the wheel and fork than the left side. I fixed it and it's been tracking perfectly ever since.
I had a bike that wouldn't track straight unless I sat "on the side". Seemed aligned and all - but turned out that the front wheel was slightly sideways: The right-hand side had slightly less space between the wheel and fork than the left side. I fixed it and it's been tracking perfectly ever since.
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I'd first check the wheel dish front and rear and if that's OK then I'd be looking at the fork to be sure it's not off to one side. Those are the two main causes I've seen for the 'lean'.
dave
dave