why??

i recently acquired a 2011 specialized langster. the bike had very few miles on it when i got it. i have a terrible habit of riding with no hands. the first time i let go of the handlebars on this bike, it immediately started to lean left and i had to grab the bars to regain control. ive had a bike to this to me in the past, but it was an old crappy bike, unlike this new one.

what could be causing it? everything - the wheels, the bars, the seat - appear to be sstraight and flush. there is nothing else in there that would make it obvious. i have been able to ride it no hands since, but i do have to counter balance a bit.

help me understand...

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Permalink Reply by igz on July 18, 2012 at 8:46am

that would hold true if all my bikes leaned while riding. everything else stays upright. i cant say its the crown, becuase it happened on any surface, in any position in the road. i was riding on armadillos, newer. no sign of particular wear. when i returned from starved rock, it still rode straight in the city.

this was the case on both fixed and single speed. once on a 13t, mostly on a 16t, and the remainder of time on a 16t freewheel. the wheels were true, wheels on as centered as could be detected by the human eye in all instances.

but i am much more happy to be on my more solid, less squirley, steel KHS solo one. love this bike!

nik was here said:

I think a little lean is natural and I have experienced it before. If it didn't "steer" left, but only leaned left, it could be the way you naturally position yourself on the bike. This often involves upper body weight shifted to one side and our knees aimed in or out to aid in balancing. When our hands are on the bars, we have two points of contact for balancing input making things easier. However, when we ride no handed, our body has to apply more english to keep upright and may develop a lean and counterbalance to make staying upright eaiser. Another thought is that there may be no such thing as balance (unless you're a rock). Balance is the perception of ourselves becoming more comfortable with being out of balance. While riding, our bodies make thousands of minute adjustments to keep ourselves upright. Our bikes probably very rarely ride directly upright as it moves underneath us.

My hypothesis to leaning left, if we all had perfect center of balance, or non-balance, like a Yogi, would be the crown in the road. We ride on the right, the road slants to the curb, forcing us to lean, or adjust our bodies, a little to the left to keep the bike vertical. I have seen this lean change while riding down the left side of a crowned one-way. Also, take a look at your tires. As most people maintain a natural lean when they ride, due to road crown or not, their tires will possibly show wear consistent with that lean. It's possible that duiring your trip to starved rock, the limestone trail was made with little crown, fairly flat compared to the city streets we're used to riding on, allowing the bike to be perceived more vertical.

I'm not trying to doubt your experiences, Igz, just providing food for thought from my own experiences incase you havn't discovered them before. The whole discussion is further skewed by whether we are on a fixed or freewheel bike.

Safe, vertical, rides to all!

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Permalink Reply by Chris C on July 18, 2012 at 8:55am

Maybe it was the angle of the dangle?

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Permalink Reply by igz on July 18, 2012 at 9:45am

possibly! i'll just leave it at that. best answer.

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Permalink Reply by James BlackHeron on July 18, 2012 at 9:50am

I think maybe it was the steel bars being effected by the offset between the True North and Magnetic North combined with the curvature and spin of the Earth with regard to the Coriolis effect.

I suspect it might have leaned the other way had you been in Australia or elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere.

No worries, mate!