Front wheel wanders a lot | Thread profile

My front wheel tends to wander a lot, especially when on long climbs. I had about a 5 mile climb on the road yesterday and I was swerving back and forth quite a bit, and I tend to do it on trails a lot as well, which can get a little sketchy. It seems to happen more when I'm getting tired, but not sure if it could have anything to do with my position on the bike. Maybe my weight might be back ...

You might be back a little too far. it might tht you're not in great shape yet? as you become a stronger rider, you'll find that things like that becoem easier, as well as balance. When you get tired, you wander more because you don't have as much energy as when you're rested.

Klaus is wise...

Here is what usually happens: 1) On climbs the weight naturaly shifts back a bit. The steeper the slope the more the weight shifts to the rear. The unweight front wheel starts to wander as it bounces off of the smallest bumps. As long as the rider is fresh this is usually compensated for by leaning forward and bending the arms. Once the rider is tired typically this compensation stops ...

29ers don't lift too much on climbs either. You always need a new bike anyway.

It could be that the fork on the bike is too long for the geometry of the frame. The effect of a fork too long is that it jacks up the headtube thus slackening the head tube angle which increases steering "Trail" which makes for vague steering. This "wandery" feeling shows up more when going slowly uphill.

Being tired leads to sloppy technique. Take a rest and eat+drink at that point.

Quote: Originally Posted by KingCrimson 29ers don't lift too much on climbs either. You always need a new bike anyway. I like the way you think. Actually, a hardtail 29er with lockout on the fork and some road friendly tires might take care of my desire for a more versatile road/light trail bike, and my interest in a 29er. Could ...