You’re descending at 60mph and your front wheel begins the death wobble. How do you stop? Watch the video below.

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Uncontrollable Handlebar Wobble

How to survive when it happens to you.

You’re tired and sweaty. You just climbed 1000 feet. Your jersey is wet and your legs are tired. Your head, neck and shoulders ache. But, you’re at the top and are relieved that the descent is now in front of you.

You pedal faster, pick your speed up, the wind feels so good! Sweat wicking away faster and faster with each wheel rotation. Increasing speed.30, 35, 40 miles per hour. Damn! This is starting to feel really fast now compared to the 6-8 mph you could barely sustain on the way up. The white lines are snapping past you. Curves in the road are presenting a challenge. 45-50 miles per hour.

This is beginning to feel really fast. You’re not hot anymore, perhaps a little chilly now. The wind noise is fierce. How the hell can those skinny tires be safe? What would happen if I get a flat at these speeds? Is this worth it? You hesitate and move your hands from the drops to the hoods to take a less aggressive position. To slow it up a bit.

Then it happens.

The bike starts to wobble, the front wheel starts to shimmy. Uncontrollably. A bend in the road is approaching. The wheel is shaking violently. You’re trying to brake, slow down, take control, but, the more you fight it, the more the wheel wobbles. You no longer have control of the bike. The corner approaches. You won’t make it around. How steep is the embankment off to the side? “I love my children.”
What do you do?

Frighteningly, this happens a lot. Many cyclists crash and burn on descents. Even experienced ones. Not because the speed is too great, not because the corners are too sharp, but, because of out of control front wheel oscillation.

Living here in Colorado, I am not immune to this condition. While I am a very exprerienced cyclist, sometimes you just lose focus. You’re exhausted and dehydrated and sweaty from the climb and all of your blood is in your legs and not in your head.

While descending Haleakala, this happened to me, but, I edited it out 😉 It was 50 degrees at the top and I was cooked after that heinous 7000 foot climb.

It happened again whilst descending from the top of Deer Canyon

Descending Gibraltar Road in Santa Barbara freaked me out pretty good too.

There are others, but, I dont want to inundate you with links. Suffice to say, I have lot’s of experience descending, I like to go fast, and have had many opportunities to figure out how to counteract handlebar wobble.

I have read lot’s of theories on why this happens. I don’t want to say that they are all wrong. But, most of them are. These include:
* center of gravity issues.
* wheel imbalance
* improper fit
* tire under- inflation
* wind vortexes
* unfamiliarity with the bike.
I don’t want to say that these have nothing to do with this phenomena, but, if you are riding a time tested bike and have this problem from time to time (and that’s the way it usually goes), chances are, the issue is not a mechanical one.

So what is the problem?

The problem is you (or in my examples, me).

Part 1 – you’re exhausted and not thinking clear. Solution – stop, rest, recover, rehydrate.
Part 2 – you’re wet and sweaty. Solution – dry off, pack a windbreaker and wear it.
Part 3 – you’re uncomfortable with your speed, not acclimated to the speed. Solution – start out slow. Ride within your limits.

These 3 factors contribute most to uncontrollable wheel oscillation. Why? If you’re cold, you tense up. Perhaps you shiver. If you’re scared you tense up, perhaps you shiver. Tensing up is the imputes. You’re muscles freeze, lock, and the wheel begins to shimmy under this restricted motion. If you’re cold and shivering, wheel oscillation happens even faster and more violently. Once the shimmying begins, you attempt to gain control by counteracting the wheel shimmy. The problem is, your brain and your muscles are not fast enough to acomlish this task and what really happens is your attempt to forceably stop the wheel from shimmying, actually assists it in increasing the shimmy. You are actually contributing to the wheel wobble because your muscles are applying force in the opposite direction from what you want! And, then, you begin braking and your hands squeeze the brake levers tensing up your arms even more and the shimmy increases and — it gets ugly from there.

My good friend had this happen to her on a descent. She couldn’t control the bike and couldn’t make the corner, hit a patch of gravel and bit it hard. She’s fine, but, afraid to descend now.

Professional Cyclist Kasey Clark and I discussed this phenomena in 14,265 Feet, Mt Evans Colorado. Even the pros have to deal with this. This is why they stuff newspaper in their jerseys to slow the evaporation.

So, the million dollar solution, the cure for your inevitable crash, the means of my survival in similar situations like the 50 mph descent in Moab Utah is to…

Relax, think,  remove your hands from the bars. Watch the shimmying stop. Touch the bars lightly with your fingertips. Take a deep breath and slow yourself down.

This will save your life, or, at the minimum,  a serious case of road rash.

Paul Gallas
www.cyclingvideosonline.com
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