Riding in a straight line

DavidBut

Hi,

I've had a Spec Camber Comp Carbon 29er for a few months now, and love it, apart from one problem, I seem to be incapable of riding it in a straight line when going slowly eg climbing, on mud or snow, usually off road.

The bike seems to have a mind of its own and will weave about, maybe I over correct. I've tried moving my seat forward a bit, getting my weight over the front wheel, leaning to the side I want to go, but nothing really helps.

I've been riding bikes for years, mainly a Roubaix on the road, and never had a problem with that, but then I didn't ride it in mud or snow!

And ideas?

David

cooldad

Straight lines are boring. Bends are where it's at.

cooldad

But unless your wheels or something are skew?.....
Have you tried just relaxing and letting it find it's own route.

Northwind

Might be worth checking the headset is right, either loose or tight can turn a bike pissed.

Riding in a straight line in snow is a sod, you've got a pretty unpredictable, resisting surface and lots of sliding. You can try riding more baggy and relaxed- sticking out the knees and elbows gives you a bit more autocorrect, I tend to drop the seat just a little bit, 10mm or so, to help with that. Rolling wrists down can help too. But it's not easy.

camerauk

I found this a little bit on my Camber 26" when climbing very slowly
I have now fitted a shorter stem with wider bars and it has really transformed the bike for me and I find it much more stable and controllable

miss notax

Don't forget also that riding in a straight line is one of those 'simple' things until you remember that you are meant to be riding in a straight line...

Which is why myself (and lots of others too i'm sure) can ride in a straight line 90% of the time until I try to ride along a skinny / wall etc at which point I will panic about riding in a straight line and fall off :?

cooldad

This is very true^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

miss notax

I am very wise 8)

DavidBut

Thanks for your responses. Relaxing and letting the bike go where it wants is what I do sometimes, but as I live and ride in the Lake District that is not always an option, as one side might be a steep drop!

I'm going to borrow an old 26in stumpjumper and try that on the same climb, see if it's me or the bike.

cooldad

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paulneenan76

When I got back on a bike after a long, alchahol fuelled lay-off, it seemed that the expression "never forget how to ride a bike" was completely true. That is until I tried to look behind me and nearly fell off - I just could not do it. Also struggle with riding "no handed@, something I did for miles when a kid.

97th choice

The more I try to be careful, the more likely I am to fall off. Concentrating too hard on one thing stops your body doing the 27 other things it does automatically to stop you ending up in a heap on the ground.