Handlebars turn to the left on their own

jamin100
jamin100 Posts: 72
edited January 2019 in Workshop
So bare with me here ....

I upgraded my Cannondale supersix last week from sram force to sram red etap. Everything went to plan and the etap seems to be working great..

However ....

When the bike is in the stand, or just lifted in the air or being pushed forward by the saddle.. the handlebars swing left

Now, the only thing I can think of is that the shifter cables have been removed and the brake cables re-threaded (as they were pretty new anyway)

Anything that could be causing this ?

Comments

  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    there has been a disturbance in the force. Present it is not, on your bike anymore.
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    brake cables spring to mind. for the handel bars to turn, there must be a force acting on them. since it acts independently of being pushed along, i.e. in a stand, that force is either gravity, or tension from the cables or both and the bike is just finding a level. youve just removed two cables that would have been in the mix so a change is not unreasonable

    NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.

    Assuming youve inspected the fork for damage and there is none and youve properly adjusted your headset.

    I cant imagine why you'd do an expensive upgrade and only bother changing the brake inners and not the outers.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Can only really be the brake outers. One is exerting more force on the bars than the other. Could be too long or too short. If they are the originals and they haven't been disturbed, maybe the old mechanical shift outers were stabilising things?

    But if it doesn't affect the handling of the bike I wouldn't worry about it.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Obviously it's haunted.
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 17,423
    I will not bare with you. That would be a public indecency.
  • figbat
    figbat Posts: 680
    Swinging left is a common reaction to the Brexit situation - I suggest you keep an eye on it to see if it goes as far as communism.

    Or it could be the brake cables.
    Cube Reaction GTC Pro 29 for the lumpy stuff
    Cannondale Synapse alloy with 'guards for the winter roads
    Fuji Altamira 2.7 for the summer roads
    Trek 830 Mountain Track frame turned into a gravel bike - for anywhere & everywhere
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    figbat wrote:
    Swinging left is a common reaction to the Brexit situation - I suggest you keep an eye on it to see if it goes as far as communism.

    Or it could be the brake cables.

    I dress to the left but appropriate underwear prevents swinging.

    Brexit does not encourage me to share
  • jamin100
    jamin100 Posts: 72
    lol thanks for the responses...

    I should add, that the bike had new brake cables and outers about 3 months ago so didn't see the point in changing them so soon.

    i'll look at the outers to see if one is pulling more than the other - thanks
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Or pushing. That's more likely TBH.
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    jamin100 wrote:
    lol thanks for the responses...

    I should add, that the bike had new brake cables and outers about 3 months ago so didn't see the point in changing them so soon.

    i'll look at the outers to see if one is pulling more than the other - thanks


    un hook them and see if the problem disappears. (assuming you're comfortable setting your gears up again of course)

    If nnothing changes sell the bike. it has a poltergeist.
  • paulbnix
    paulbnix Posts: 632
    I have SRAM Etap on my Planet X Maratona while I haven't noticed the bars turning to one side I have noticed that they tend to flop to one side or the other when stationary. For instance if I'm just standing with the bike.

    Its worse in a workstand unless the bike is definitely pointing down.

    I put this down to a lack of gear cables to provide a bit of resistance.

    It has no impact once I'm moving.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    I can imagine that going from 4 cables / outers to 2 makes quite a difference, and the remaining brake outers behave in different ways. The front just goes straight to the caliper and doesn't interact with the frame, whereas the rear will offer some resistance as it's secured to the frame at the cable stop / barrel adjuster / entry port.

    With a conventionally cabled bike you have 3 different outers going from bars to frame
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,837
    The bike must think it's a track bike.
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    MrB123 wrote:
    The bike must think it's a track bike.
    An Australian one at that.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,589
    edited January 2019
    Vino'sGhost wrote:
    brake cables spring to mind. for the handel bars to turn, there must be a force acting on them.

    I looked through all of his manuals, even the Messiah. Couldn't find Jack Sh1t about the phenomenon. I can only conclude that the bars are Franz Liszt.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    :lol:
  • Vino'sGhost
    Vino'sGhost Posts: 4,129
    Pinno wrote:
    Vino'sGhost wrote:
    brake cables spring to mind. for the handel bars to turn, there must be a force acting on them.

    I looked through all of his manuals, even the Messiah. Couldn't find Jack Sh1t about the phenomenon. I can only conclude that the bars are Franz Liszt.

    :lol::lol::lol::lol:

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