smooth ride

I’ve been having some speed wobble issues on the front wheel of my bike for a while now. For a long time I thought it was a worn out front tire that was causing some sort of vibration to move up through the forks to the handlebars. I ended up getting new tires and the problem persisted. Then I thought the neck was loose. (Is that what you call it? It has the older style threaded fork – nowadays I think they call it the stem/headset.) I tightened the neck and the problem persisted.

I didn’t mind too much, because it was only a problem when I let go of the handlebars. But, I do like riding hands free sometimes. A few days ago the problem got even worse so that even at low speed the wobbles would be too much to control.

Luckily, I found another problem in the front wheel, too. The front hub was loose. So I tightened up the washer/nuts around the bearings and then slid on the outer rubber bushings and the second set of nuts with just the right amount of magic touch – that’s a tricky give-and-take procedure. And voila (pardon my French), two problems solved, a front wheel that spins freely and safely without speed wobbles. Lucky guess. Now she rides so easy and straight and true (um… no, never mind… I’ll let you think what you think about that paragraph.)

And now I think I’ve stalled myself quite long enough on this Saturday night. So I’m off to the pub. I promise I’ll be good.