preferred-google-button
log in
register

Speed wobbles

  • Creator
    Topic
  • June 26, 2011 at 11:33 am #13704
    Cooks

    I’ve just had an utter heart-in-my-mouth moment during a 35mph speed wobble. Are there any tricks to avoiding these wobble? why do they happen? Or am I wrong is it even a speed wobble that I had? All I know is that I was coming down a hill and my front end started to go. Managed to correct it by slowly braking, but bloody hell did it scare me.

  • Creator
    Topic
Viewing 7 replies - 16 through 22 (of 22 total)
1 2
  • Author
    Replies
  • June 26, 2011 at 3:37 pm #646645
    0
    KirinChris

    There is a certain descent
    There is a certain descent going south from London – I forget the name of the hill, but it is the main road going from Wallingford. If you go left it takes you down to Westerham but if you go straight it crosses the M25.

    The first and only time I went down it I was sure my bike was about to fall apart. There is just something in the corrugation of the road that plays hell with the bike. It isn’t even visible, it’s just something there.

    Sounds like it might have been something similar.

    June 26, 2011 at 3:02 pm #646643
    0
    dave atkinson

    i’ve heard lots of theories
    i’ve heard lots of theories as to why they happen over the years, and there’s probably more than one reason for them. One i’ve experienced and been able to cure is an unbalanced wheel. check your front wheel to see if it’s unbalanced, ie it always returns to the same position when you spin it. If it is, the difference in mass can set up a wobble if the movement of the mass corresponds with a resonant frequency in the front of the bike.

    If you do have an unbalanced wheel, then you can balance it by weighting it like you would a car wheel. a bit of extra inner tube inside the tyre can be enough to balance things out.

    June 26, 2011 at 2:21 pm #646641
    0
    oldgit

    A heavier bike might I supose
    A heavier bike might I supose be a little more stable, and if it’s heavy because it’s old it might have slacker angles.
    That said Boardman bikes are well sorted. See if it occurs again, it shouldn’t, but if it does then a liitle investigation work needs doing.

    June 26, 2011 at 2:02 pm #646639
    0
    Cooks

    could’ve been the road I
    could’ve been the road I suppose, some slight imperfections got exaggerated through the bike/poor handling by me. It probably didn’t look that bad or anything, it may have felt much worse than uit actually was. Everything else is fine. It’s a Carbon boardman, btw. I’ve gone much faster downhill on heavier bikes without a problem. Would that make a difference?

    June 26, 2011 at 1:49 pm #646637
    0
    Simon_MacMichael

    Couldn’t have been something
    Couldn’t have been something caused by our less than perfect road surfaces could it? I slammed into a pothole in a descent at speed last year, no time or room to avoid it – okay there was no mistaking what that was (and luckily all I got was a puncture out of it) but a smaller blemish on the road could cause a wobble?

    June 26, 2011 at 1:38 pm #646635
    0
    oldgit

    You shouldn’t be getiing them
    You shouldn’t be getiing them at all, let alone at that speed.
    What’s the bike, tyre/pressures/wheels got the right length stem etc. And is your headset tight?
    Some bikes wobble a bit at that speed when you take your hands off. And some are ultra stable i.e a cross bike with road tyres or a tourer.

    June 26, 2011 at 1:25 pm #646633
    0
    IOM Paddy

    Had one a couple of weeks ago
    :”> Had one a couple of weeks ago I had even picked which bit of the hedge I was going to try and land in as I did not want to fall in the road.
    It was my own fault as I was pushing it and I knew I was on my own limit of control

    Been going down the hills a bit slower for the past few weeks #:S

  • Author
    Replies
Viewing 7 replies - 16 through 22 (of 22 total)
1 2
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.