What makes a bike pull to the side?
#1
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 74
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From: austin, tx
What makes a bike pull to the side?
Both of my bikes seem to pull to the right when I ride with no hands. It's not so bad that I can't ride with no hands and it's not perceptible with my hands on the bars. It would just be nicer to be able to cruise easier sitting up sometimes.
#2
ouate de phoque
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,781
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From: La Prairie, Qc, Canada
Bikes: Bianchi, Nakamura,Opus
It's not the bike's fault. you can steer a bike without your hands, I don't recommend it but you can. You pull it to right by the way you ride it without your hands.
#3
Frame and or fork alignment, rider balance, headset adjustment... I am weaker on my left side and this can make riding no handed harder as I tend to lean that way when I take my hands off the bars and it does not take much.
#4
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 240
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Bikes: 2020 Trek Roscoe 8, 2016 Trek 520 Disc, 2013 Trek 7.2 FX, 2010 Trek 4300 Disc
My MTB was like that. My hybrid is balanced and no issues.
#5
genec
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 27,072
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From: West Coast
Bikes: custom built, sannino, beachbike, giant trance x2
I have a very twitchy older criterium bike I ride from time to time... it is very sensitive to any misadjustment... turned out that there was a flat spot in the headset bearing race that caused the bike to want to always pull to one side. Minor thing, I could only feel it when the headset was too tight... but a good mechanic pointed it out to me and replaced the whole headset, much to my satisfaction.
#6
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Joined: Mar 2012
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From: Furthest corner of NeverNeverLand(Cedar City, UT)
Bikes: '77 Raleigh Record Ace, '03 Trek 4300 drop convert
What type of road? Most roads are crowned, some more than others, that is why a good alignment on a car will generally have a touch(very, very small) of pull to the left to try to counterbalance this. If this happens on all roads , then what has already been said, but if it happens on only a few roads then more likely the crown. Here in our town we have a few highly crowned roads where you feel this effect, but it is mainly our "flood drainage" roads.
#10
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2010
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From: austin, tx
Thanks for the ideas. The bikes both pull even if I'm not pedaling, and if I go to the other side of the road where the crown should cause them to pull to the left. One bike has a dropout that will cause the rear wheel to be crooked if I don't pay close attention. But it's straight now and still pulling. I think the headsets may be where I need to look. One bike has "indexed steering" - a slight bump you can feel when you steer the front wheel back and forth. I thought it was intentional when I got the bike. Does this mean the front wheel took a hit and it made an indention in the headset bearings?
It is interesting that both bikes seem to pull the same way. That makes me think it's something I'm doing. Can it be that I'm sitting crooked on the bike and don't realize it? I can ride no hands and turn corners with no hands. It just feels like I'm always having to compensate to the left.
It is interesting that both bikes seem to pull the same way. That makes me think it's something I'm doing. Can it be that I'm sitting crooked on the bike and don't realize it? I can ride no hands and turn corners with no hands. It just feels like I'm always having to compensate to the left.
#11
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Raleigh, NC
Bikes: Downtube 8H, Surly Troll
Headset thing sounds like what Sheldon talks about here: https://sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html
Look at the Indexed Steering thing.
It's not intentional, and on a bike I had with that issue, I found it detrimental to riding/steering with no hands.
Look at the Indexed Steering thing.
It's not intentional, and on a bike I had with that issue, I found it detrimental to riding/steering with no hands.
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rockhoppernc
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06-10-11 08:23 AM






