Hideous Bike Handling - Please Help

keezx

Do have the bike at home?
Take a close look at the gaps frame/fork and frame/top part headset.
Any fork will work if not rubbing anywhere.
In my expierience the head angle + rake have far more influence on the handling then stem lenght.
Weight distribution is also to be considered.
A very long stem+ forward saddle position may couse your problems.

cycleclinic

more rake should help make the bike more stable though. head angle length maybe partly the issue. wheel flop is curable but no one can say for certain that a particular fork will do the job as how much wheel flop is acceptable is subjective. you need a fork with longer trail and higher rake. the rake angle is important. Look for curved fork blades. Straight blade forks on some frame can cause this problem. Had a similar issue with forks supplied with my traitor exile. Had custom ones made with more rake and trail and the bike handles perfectly now.

here is an explanation that will help although some of the explanations are a bit dubious (no such thing as centrifugal force for one that is an apparant force) but it does have a useful way of comparing various forks.
http://rolobikes.com/about/research

More trail and rake in you fork is what you need not less.

keezx

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19768476#p19768476]thecycleclinic[/url] wrote:

more rake should help make the bike more stable though.CUT

More trail and rake in you fork is what you need not less.

More rake=less trail....
Besides that, a slack steering angle with low rake makes the bike unpleasant unstable at low speeds.

meanredspider

I'd be looking for the fault somewhere on the bike - bent/cracked frame, loose wheel/hub etc. It sounds like there's something fundamental wrong rather than a minor tweak needed. Certainly more trail will help steering stability but, if it's already quite slack, it's unlikely to be the root cause of your issue. Standing shouldn't really make the issue noticeably worse. Good luck with solving it.