Is this my imagination?



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Paul

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Recently whilst riding I've been getting the feeling that the rear wheel is 'drifting' slightly to
the left as I ride. I've checked that both wheels are secure and aligned correctly, which they are,
and have no play in them. The hubs were checked out recently during the bike's last service. The
tires are also fine, the tread and sidewalls are in good condition. The frame is also good. I've had
a mechanic give the bike a quick look over and there is no obvious problem.

I took a fairly heavy spill recently and so have been a bit edgy recently when riding so I could
well be imagining it. It's pretty windy and I also have rear panniers.

I know this sound a little daft but before I consign it to a sensitive imagination I thought that
I'd ask whether there's anything I should check out.

Thanks in advance,

Paul.
 
Paul scribbled:

> Recently whilst riding I've been getting the feeling that the rear wheel is 'drifting' slightly to
> the left as I ride. I've checked that both wheels are secure and aligned correctly, which they
> are, and have no play in them. The hubs were checked out recently during the bike's last service.
> The tires are also fine, the tread and sidewalls are in good condition. The frame is also good.
> I've had a mechanic give the bike a quick look over and there is no obvious problem.
>
> I took a fairly heavy spill recently and so have been a bit edgy recently when riding so I could
> well be imagining it. It's pretty windy and I also have rear panniers.
>
> I know this sound a little daft but before I consign it to a sensitive imagination I thought that
> I'd ask whether there's anything I should check out.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Paul.

As you've had a spill, get the front forks checked over .. I had a set once that 'tweaked' so that
the wheel was a couple of degrees off vertical .. certainly not enough to notice purely by eyesight
easily, but enough to notice a 'drift' while riding .. ;)

--

My house is FOR SALE ... http://tinyurl.com/69r0
 
Paul wrote:
> I took a fairly heavy spill recently

Check forks by visual examination and by riding with no hands (or just light finger-tip hold). Bike
should not consistently steer off to one side and steering should not feel strange.

The rear of the frame could have got bent (or maybe has been out all along). Get a good bike shop to
check frame alignment properly, not just a quick look over, but actually take measurements.

--
~PB This week, I am mostly eating Marmite
 
If you want to check the frame alignment yourself then try these this; thread some string or elastic
from the inside of the left rear end, round the head tube and back to the inside of the right rear
end (where the extra tubes in a 'mixte' frame would go.) If you then compare distance from the seat
tube to either string you'll see if the rear triangle is bent. To check the forks there are a couple
of things that you can do. One is simply to stick two similar fingers in the gap between the rim and
the fork blades. The other is to take out the handlebar stem and remove the tyre and front brake (if
it's a calliper) and mudguards. You can then look down the steerer tube from a distance, through the
valve hole and to the rim on the far side. It's surprising how good the eye is at detecting
alignment.

--
Roger Thorpe

My email address is spamtrapped. You can work it out!
 
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