Originally Posted by
dglevy
Thanks, everyone, for your comments! Thus far, though, the impression I'm getting is that riding no hands, if the bike won't ride straight or is too unstable--that tells you there's a problem, bent frame or other problem. But what if the bike rides straight and is not unstable. Does that tell you the frame is not bent? Let me put it a better way: Has anyone had the experience of riding a bent frame that did ride straight?
It is possible that more then one issue is at hand (pun) and they cancel each other out. So the bike tracks straight but isn't straight. No handed riding is just one sort of check and not at all specific. Now how the bike handles with no hands can suggest some stuff if the rider knows what to sense. A too tight headset as example, the bike tends to not respond to hip movements at first then react a lot and not come back "straight" easily. A too loose headset won't do much unless it's so loose that the fork is really rocking all over the place, which is easy to check for by doing the clamp the front brake and rocking the bike fore and aft.
Most of the bikes I've owned and made have had me have to slightly lean to the left to track straight. I consider the likelihood of all those bikes all being off in the same direction rather slim. Instead I assume it is me that is not even side to side (leg length, spinal curve, overly dominate side).
I would also consider removing and reinstalling the front wheel "backwards" (if no disk brake) to see if it settles into the fork symmetrically. Andy