bjaspud

I ride a Trek 7300 hybrid. I've always been able to ride a bike 'no handed' but not this bike. It just doesn't feel stable.

Is it due to its geometry or due to its more narrow tire than I'm used to on my mountain bike.

Any theories?

Spud

1slowride

You answered you own question the fork rake and trail are probably reduced as compared to say a touring bike. Quicker handling but less stabilty.

stapfam

"Apparantly" it does depend on how relaxed the Frame geometry is. Thats why when I was young I could ride the Raleigh toure no- hands. But the MTB has relaxed geometry- Can't ride that no-handed. Giant OCR is the same. Race spec Boreas and I can but only if I make certain that I am way back on the saddle and I am fully upright. Same with the TCR so perhaps I have the relaxed Geometry bit wrong. May be down to weight distribution so that is probably why my Co-rider scares the living daylights out of me by attempting to ride the Tandem No-hands. I say attempts as I don't know if he can. I only find out when I ask him if he is going to start steering properly as the bike is weaving a bit.

DGlenday

It's the geometry. Short wheelbase / straight forks / upright steering angle - can all contribute to this.

I can ride almost any bike no-handed for long distances, around corners, even weaving around objects etc. But my CAAD9 has racing geometry and I'm very uncomfortable riding it without hands. Its handling is as twitchy as hell, but it's very quick to react to steering inputs, and although it took a while to get used to it, its a dream to throw into fast corners.

ericm979

I find that bikes with quick steering are easier to ride no hands. My old Vitus with a super steep head tube was easy to ride no hands, as are my current race bikes. Old school mountain bikes with super slack steering angles are more difficult. But it's still possible. You just need to adjust how far "ahead" of the bike you are.

BikeWNC

As stapfam mentioned, moving back on the saddle should help improve stability (to a point). Perhaps the saddle is a bit too forward on the bike? A cm might make a huge difference.

Triode

I own a Trek 7.3 FX.

Can't ride it but a few yards with no hands.

Seems twitchy to me.

Moving the saddle _forward_ reduced the twitchyness dramatically and increased stability and gives better handling and control.

Note: decided to buy a road bike with "relaxed geometry" - handles much better. at least for my setup.

Gyro

Same with mine, but "isn't there always a but " my friend has this year 7.3, he can.

AzTallRider

It could be that your head tube is too tight. That can prevent the bike from responding well to your weight shifts.