Today I opened up my Torker DX and after setting it up and lowering the seat post, just by riding it on a flat surface I constantly feel my body jerking to the right. I have made sure EVERYTHING is tight and screwed on and I cant find the problem. However, my friend who isn’t a unicyclist thinks that the fork is slightly bent the the right. That is the part that holds the post might be bent slighlty after it comes out of the fork part. I am no positive it is bent it just seems it might be slightly. Is this defect possible and should I just contact Unicycle.com ASAP? Also to make the day worse I went home to jump on my Torker CX and the thing that tightens the seat post snapped! Can I even replace this on the CXs?
It may just take you a while to get used to a fat tire, how long have you been riding it?
It’s possible that the frame is bent slightly, but that shouldn’t make you veer off to the side. My friends unicycle is bent way sideways in the middle, but it’s still perfectly ridable.
You can probably buy a replacement seat post clamp at you local bike store, but you have to make sure you get the same size as the one you have now. Bring in the broken one, or better yet, you’re unicycle and you should be able to find what you need.
Is the tire centered in the forks? I had to lean to one side to get my new Torker DX to ride straight on perfectly flat ground. I noticed the centering problem and I added shims to my fork end on one side to get the wheel centered (equal gap on each side between tire and forks). It was a pain to do it but made all the difference.
If your tire pressure is low that could effect your riding. Not that it would cause you to go way to the right or left but it could make it a problem.
Some dirt tires don’t ride well (track straight) on pavement, especially at the “wrong” tire pressures. For example, a 3" Gazzalodi with 30 or more PSI in it, is very annoying to ride on pavement. But it’s fine on the dirt (especially if you let out some of that pressure). In fact, I’d dare to assert that a 3" Gazz is probably the best tire you could have had for riding the MUni/Downhill (expert) course at Unicon 13. It was, by far, the hardest one we’ve ever had, and muddy too!
So, the big question: Have you ridden it on dirt yet?
I had the exact same problem when I got my dx. I would have to like lead with my right shoulder to avoid turning. I got used to it, then bought a new duro fat tire and then I started veering off again…Then got used to it and now I ride straight.
So just ride a lot and you’ll stop turning to the right.