So I really love my Salsa Vaya 54cm. But it has a death wobble that I don't love.
It used to happen more and now it seems only to happen when heavily loaded. I don't know what changed that made it stop occurring when I go on recreational rides or commute to work (with a pretty respectable load due to glass Tupperware, water for the whole day as well as the ride, change of clothes, a heavy fabric bike cover, etc – all in rear panniers).
If I knew, I'd change whatever inadvertently changed even more. Because it still happens when doing a heavily loaded tour, and I'd love for it to stop.
I can "control" it by 1) "stretching" the bike from the seat to the handlebars and 2) moving more outboard on the bars. 3) Speed up considerably (20+ mph) (diminishes but doesn't erraticate – kind of nerve wracking).
I can recreate it when: loaded x 4 panniers and 1) holding inboard on the bars OR 2) riding one-handed OR 3) riding no handed (less problematic, surprisingly, than one-handed).
I've tried adjusting the front panniers back toward my feet (I have no tow overlap with the bags). I'm going to try moving the rear bags forward toward my heels (I have a good bit of heel clearance, too).
I also thought I'd try tightening up the headset /steerer tube connection via the headset cap and then the stem.
But does anyone have any other ideas or, better, a story of success?
Thanks!
Has anyone successfully motivated a death wobble?
byu/No_Effect9358 inbicycletouring
by No_Effect9358
22 Comments
That was supposed to say “mitigated”
Too heavy up front. Spread the weight of bags out more.
I only ever have a wobble when the front is too light…
I’d try using a steering damper. [Velo Orange](https://velo-orange.com/products/vo-wheel-stabilizer?srsltid=AfmBOopNzZSx0rnfT1VAajyATdBlvzXjqRDOdIXaHKf9zylMFmPDMiC_) makes an affordable one. I ride with a Pizza Rack that I sometimes have pretty heavily loaded, and it does help.
If it has been happening more often recently it’s possible your headset has loosened up over time.
Swapping to a needle bearing headset will help a lot.
How’s your side to side balance on the bags?
If you end up with heavier bags on opposing corners of the bike you can encourage wobbles. So heavier front left and back right combo will cause a wobble.
Is the load on your bike too high above the ground? I had a similar issue because of this reason, I guess it affected the center of mass of the whole setup and that caused the wobble, I switched to panniers and the problem was solved.
I’d start by making sure that front tire is perfectly secure in the dropouts. Make sure the wheel is true and also check roundness!! Regardless of anything I’d make my handlebar bag strictly the essentials—this bag with anything of substantive mass in it turns the bike into a slug to handle at best and at worst, maybe the cause of a wobble. If still no luck, then I’d distribute weight so the heaviest items are lower and I’ve had more success when behind the axle—I’m not sure if that’s just my bike tho. It’s also very important they’re balanced side to side. And I swear, once you have your “ah-ha!” moment and the (big) wobble dissipates, you really will have a lot of flexibility in your setup. Good luck!
Thats not really a death wobble, its just a wobble. Death wobble is when you’re at high speed and it starts then, usually on a steep decline.
This is most likely weight balance. Take some weight off the front end. I only put clothes and other light items up front. It could also be a wheel out of true, but I assume you would know that already.
Can you measure the space between the rim and the inner side of the fork legs on both sides? This fork uses a QR or 12mm axle?
I haven’t seen “low tire pressure” commented yet.
Along with the weight dispersed equally, I’d check the fork alignment. Check that the fork blades are perfectly parallel and square. I had a fork that had a slight twist, the wheel looked like it was square and centered, but the wobble like yours started about 15mph and progressively got worse as the speed increased. Once the twist was taken out of my fork (steel fork) it rode true and straight again without wobble. Still no idea how it got that way.
Just something else to possibly check out.
Sure. 3/4″ from rim side (where rim brakes would brake if this weren’t a disk bike) to inner fork surface.
It’s a QR.
That was happening to me on a tour. I adjusted weight for numerous days and it kept happening. I also noticed a creaking noise on accents. Then after further inspection, I found a Crack in the lug below the headset
Bulldust. Take the front panniers off & I bet the wobbles will stop.
Try getting wrapping a strap around the pannier and cinching it down tight to the rack. The plastic (probably) clips of a pannier on a heavy fabric bag don’t offer a ton of support. Securing it down to the rack for each pannier should help A LOT.
It could be many things and it’s very dangerous. Wobbles like that are typically caused by bad weight distribution and unwanted flex that sets up an oscillation. Easiest thing to do is redistribute weight. Shoot for as low a CoG as possible. Also, check that headset bearing. If it’s loose, it’s going to contribute. Check your frame, fork and wheel alignment. Any shop worth their salt will know how to do this if you need help. It’s possible you’ve overloaded your bike. Frame, fork and wheel flex may be excessive. What wheels are you using? If they lack the necessary stiffness, they will contribute. Get them looked at. If they’re out of dish/true/round they can be a problem. Are you using quality tires? Are they deformed in any way? Is anything else loose on the bike? (Pannier/bags, their load, and mounts.)
Take this seriously. I was witness to this poor guy who hit a pothole loaded down like that and went into a death wobble. He and a friend he made along the way were finishing a cross-continent tour, East to West USA at the end of summer. It was really hot and as they were coming back from the coast into Portland when it happened (20 years ago now). Maybe they were dehydrated and fatigued. They were going 35-45mph when he crashed. He hit his head so hard he went into convulsions. (Not sure if he made it, honestly).
Working in shops and riding all my life, I’ve seen a few bikes with speed wobbles that couldn’t be resolved. I’ve owned over 50 bikes and none have had wobbles. (Ok, maybe a couple shit kids bikes I had in grade school, but not one quality bike.) So, if you sufficiently check and correct all that I mention and it doesn’t can fix it… time for a new bike, IMO. I regularly go 40+mph on bike rides, so anything like what you’re experiencing is unacceptable.
So many possible causes. Beyond the headset, tire pressure, and load distribution, are your wheels true and tires properly seated so that if you spin them on the bike in the stand there is no tire wobble?
I bought new tires for our last tour. Did not notice that one tire had a manufacturing defect and was pretty imbalanced. This caused an occasional wobble around 25-28k/h.
I usually take the wobble while riding by gripping the top tube with my knees and loosening my hold on the bars a little.
Had the same problem with my Cannondale tourer. I now tour with a Ortlieb handlebar bag up front & their XL panniers on the rear. You could try only putting light stuff up front??
When I have had that wobble with front panniers it almost always meant I needed to adjust the weight balance. Start with side-to-side, making sure it’s even, and then if that doesn’t cure it move weight back on the bike off of the fork.
Hadn’t considered that! Thank you! I’ll look!
Looks like a headset problem.
Tighten it up on the cup.