G
Gary Smiley
Guest
Here's the story:
I have a road bike (853 steel frame, carbon fork). I had a bike-rack mishap-
the skewer on my car-top bike rack released, causing my bike to tip over and
bending (thereby ruining) the aluminum dropout on my carbon fork. I found a
replacement- an Easton EC30 fork that I bought from Nashbar, and I had it
professionally installed. Here's the problem: something is wrong- when I
ride the bike, it veers slightly back and forth, similar to a car with a
misaligned front-end. It's kind of like a gyroscopic force is pushing my
front wheel from side to side. I checked the wheel for trueness and it's
true. So, for example, if I feel a slight force pushing my wheel to the
right, I will apply an opposite force to the left, and vice versa. I can't
ride "no-hands" any more. I brought it back, and the mechanic said that it
had a different rake, and that the front wheel was now closer to my
downtube, and that the bike would now be more "twitchy", more like a real
racing bike. But I disagree- the rake is the same (based on the fact that my
wheel is in the same position (relative to my downtube) as it was before.
Any ideas? Is my (threaded) headset screwed up? (It turns freely). Something
is "off". Should I take it to a different mechanic?
I have a road bike (853 steel frame, carbon fork). I had a bike-rack mishap-
the skewer on my car-top bike rack released, causing my bike to tip over and
bending (thereby ruining) the aluminum dropout on my carbon fork. I found a
replacement- an Easton EC30 fork that I bought from Nashbar, and I had it
professionally installed. Here's the problem: something is wrong- when I
ride the bike, it veers slightly back and forth, similar to a car with a
misaligned front-end. It's kind of like a gyroscopic force is pushing my
front wheel from side to side. I checked the wheel for trueness and it's
true. So, for example, if I feel a slight force pushing my wheel to the
right, I will apply an opposite force to the left, and vice versa. I can't
ride "no-hands" any more. I brought it back, and the mechanic said that it
had a different rake, and that the front wheel was now closer to my
downtube, and that the bike would now be more "twitchy", more like a real
racing bike. But I disagree- the rake is the same (based on the fact that my
wheel is in the same position (relative to my downtube) as it was before.
Any ideas? Is my (threaded) headset screwed up? (It turns freely). Something
is "off". Should I take it to a different mechanic?