front wheel wobble

[dick220369]

I've just left Aberdeen for Ireland where I will be cycling for a week. The bike is fairly well loaded with front and rear panniers. This is the first time I have cycled with front panniers on the Sherpa but it feels unstable. I have held the fork whilst shaking the front wheel sideways and there is some noticeable lateral movement. I'm on  the train now so I will try and reseat the wheel and tighten the skewer when I arrive at my destination. I must admit though I am not feeling overly confident about the trip if there is something wrong with the front wheel. This is a new bike which is just over 2 weeks old  

[jags]

are you cetain the QR is tight and seated in the drop outs properly.

[dick220369]

I must admit I only tighten the QR when I was waiting for the train. But it was tight and the wheel was still moving laterally. I'll take the wheel off when I arrive in Glasgow and see if that does the trick. The front wheel hasn't been touched since I got the bike so I'd be surprised that the Thorn mechanic that built the bike didn't fit the wheel properly. If this doesn't fix the issue I'll go to a lbs in Glasgow and see what they say.

[jags]

strange indeed ,could be something simple 

[Bill C]

probably just the front wheel bearings settling in as it's a new bike,
get the lbs to check it, should take minutes, check the headset while your at it as they can need tweaking after the first few rides

[Donerol]

Evans at 19 Bath Street, on the corner with West Nile St, is only a few minutes walk from Queen St.  It is almost certainly something straightforward.

[jags]

lets hope it's not another mystery shimmy experienced by Dan a few years back.
3 things to check
Quick Realease is it tight enough
is the head set rocking when front brake applied
tyre pressure to low and your asking for trouble.

[Danneaux]

HI Richard!

I recall you changed stems a short while ago. On a threadless headset, the stem (or the Thorn Accessory T-bar sometimes mounted below it) locks-int he headset adjustment.

It might be the headset is a bit loose, accounting for the lateral movement when shaking the front wheel sideways. This is what I would suggest checking first, as it seems most likely given the sequence of events.

Other things to check:
• Rack mounting bolts
• Front wheel q/r tightness (as already suggested). If it isn't fully seated beyond the "lawyer lips", it can appear tight but still be loose
• Pannier mounting hooks and tightness...*and* whether any sizing clips are missing (if your bags use the Ortlieb QR-2 mounting system)
• Front hub bearing adjustment (also suggested earlier)

All best wishes for an enjoyable Irish tour!

Dan.

[mickeg]

If you changed stems and if your new stem has less height along the steerer tube than the old stem, it is possible that you will need another spacer to make the stem cap push down on the stem hard enough to get the headset properly tightened.

[dick220369]

Hi All,

I had a bike shop mechanic in Glasgow look at it. He said that there wasn't anything noticeably wrong with the wheel which gave me peace of mind for my trip. He also made sure that the wheel was seated properly, QR/headset adjusted/tightened. All free of charge might I say. It still feels unstable but as long as the wheel/fork doesn't collapse on me all is good. It could just be that the hub bearings need settling in as someone has said. I'll see how it performs when I am away and take it from there.

Thanks,

Richard

[jags]

Hope all works out Richard .

[fast but dim]

I often suffer from paranoia when I've been working on my bike. If a bike shop has had a look I'm sure you'll be OK!