bike veers to the right
 

i've been riding my orbea onix for about 10 months now and for the most part it's an awesome bike. i recently brought it into a bike shop because i've been having a pretty serious issue with my bike veering to the right. it started out with the bike only wanting to veer while going down hills and now it's doing it even on flat road. the bike shop mechanic rode my bike for about 10 mins and even rode without hands and told me that he felt nothing wrong with the bike, none of the veering that i described. he checked to make sure my wheels were true which they were. he inspected my bike and only found that my shifting was not as smooth as it could be which he then tweaked for no charge. this problem is really getting out of hand, the verering gets so bad sometimes that it feels like im going to lose control of the bike and just fall over. anyone here have any idea what might be wrong? has anyone encountered this problem before? thanks for any help.

With your hands controlling the handlebars, it still veers?

yeah, still veers.

checked the alignment of the rear triangle ? fork straight ? steerer tube straight ?

one of the fork tips or rear drop outs could have become unbonded, but then you would get wheel rub.
Maybe the seat stays when they join the seat tube has cracked,that bit above the rear brake, where its bonded to the seat lug, I've seen this happen on a Felt.

How is your grip around the handlebars? It may sound dumb, but if you hold the bars really tight or lock your elbows (especially when nervous going down a hill), it can cause you to lock up your upper body and make it veer.

It would make sense as a recursive problem. You hold tighter because you're worried about veering because you hold too tight.

Just one more thing to consider.

no, im pretty relaxed. on straight-aways, i would have my hands just resting on the flats of the handlebar not even griping at all. and still....it seems to veer as if the bike were trying to slide out from under me.

new tires ?

Head set problem?

Road crown?

Az

Slow leak in your front tire causing pressure loss during your rides? Does it get worse the longer you're out?

Could it be you? Have you seen a doctor?

When my mother had brain cancer it affected her perception and caused her to walk/drive to the right; although she perceived it as straight.

This is so odd. I thought this only happened to cars.

ITS NOT A TUMOR!!!

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j7...ardenCop16.jpg

seriously though, maybe you have something going on in your ear

are your arms the same length?

I know the mech checked the wheel, but see that the rear TIRE is centered in your chainstays and beneath your brake pivot (not centered in the pads -- but the bolt). Check that the front is also centered in beneath the brake pivot.

I'll just about guarantee that one of them is off. If not, you've got one heavier leg, you're not riding centered, or it's the road crown getting you (try riding on the wrong side of the street for a block or two).

Is your balance off? Can you stand on one foot with your eyes closed?

Believe it or not, the saddle has a lot to do with balance. Check to see if that's off. Also check your shoes, maybe your pedaling style is causing a bias.

Maybe your 'wedding tackle' is pulling you to one side. Have friends nick-named you tripod? Do you carry it in a wheelbarrow?


;)

uh....i just did that and all i can say is "am i supposed to wobble at all or should i be stable as if i were standing with both feet on the ground?" i seem to be having some issues with standing on one leg with my eyes closed.... i wobble quite a bit.

i think you may be right....im going to the doctors. thx

I wobble a lot too, but if you don't fall to the right, that's a good sign!

Don't let it watch Fox News.:p

Doubt it. When it happened to me, I had some worn out headset race or something*.

*Sue me, I'm not a mechanic.