Quote:

---

bfd wrote:
Jobst Brandt will disagree:

# The shimmy that concerns riders the most occurs with hands firmly on
# the bars. This is rider generated by muscular effect whose natural
# response is the same as the shimmy frequency, about that of Human
# shivering. Descending in cold weather can be difficult for this
# reason. The rider's "death grip" only enhances the incidence of
# shimmy. Loosely holding the bars between thumb and forefinger is a
# way of avoiding shimmy when cold.

---

I'm a newbie to the road things so please excuse my greeness.

Where exactly does the rider factor come in?

When I first got my 02' Vortex in May (ouzo pro fork, ksyruim SLs) every now and then out of the blue I'd feel a strong and distinct "wobble" from my front wheel. I had a ticking headset and got that replaced. The ticking is now gone, but I've also noticed the front wheel is WAY more stable. I could sit up with no hands on the bars before, but now it tracks way better. Very stable bike. I've gone around a curve with no hands at about 28mph (slow, I know) with no problems totally steady ride.

However, every now and then I still do feel a shake in the front wheel. Although much less distinct with the new headset. My thinking is it's my bad technique. That I'm leaning forward too much, all my weight on the bars, almost resting my whole upper body on them. Probably a combination of too much of my weight forward on the bars, and probably uneven force pressing forward between left and right arms, left and right side of my body. If I'm sharp and quick enough to tune into this, I can make it go away by relaxing my upper body, grip and getting my weight a little further back. I think it happens when I notice myself "leaning" too much onto the bars.

So Nev's theory:
Maybe there's something to rider induced wobble. I'm not a pro so I'm light years away from being focused on my technique and body position throughout my entire ride. Maybe some riders get lazy (not an insult here, there's a better word somewhere) or simply every now and then not pay attention to their form and they just kinda find themselves holding themselves up on the bars with weight going to far foward and the shakes happen. I've noticed the same on my mountain bike during long rides or 24hr races, I kinda get lazy and realize I'm too far forward, like I'm pushing the front end into the ground, I'm gripping the bars too hard and it totally affects steering and the fork. I losen my grip and sit up a bit and the bike feels free again. No real wheel wobble issues with mtb bikes though.

Just wondering,
Nev

Post Extras