Hvac

Looking straight down at front wheel while riding I see more of the right side of the wheel. Am I asymmetrical? I think my bike is not the cause. Wheel straight, same for handle bar. I might be off on foot placement on pedal but I try to keep them symmetrical.
Biomechanics isn’t the same as mechanics but I don’t know where else to start. I’m thinking most humans are different right to left if not just because of right or left hand dominance. Baseball pitchers certainly are bigger on the throwing arm. Maybe we weigh more on the dominant side. Cut in half and measure?
What say you?

Steve B.

Might be. If the rear wheel is asymmetrical they might have re-purposed the same rim for the front rather than manufacture a separate rim. I have some carbon wheels from Ibis that are exactly this. At first I was upset that the front was the same asymmetric rim, then I realized it really was no issue.

tyrion

If you have disc brakes it will be asymmetrical in a sense - you'll see more of the spokes on the right side.

79pmooney

Yes, a wheel built for disc brakes will be spoked asymmetrically. (Like a rear wheel.) Or maybe the wheel isn't dished properly. An easy way t check that is to flip it around and see if the location of the rim and tire changes. (Make sure the fork is sitting solidly on the axle. I don't like putting wheels on bikes while they are on the stand and always set the bike down, open the quick release and re-close. This may not be an issue for thru-axles. Don't know. I"m not there yet.) Also the fork can be out of true (blades off to one side) or the blades of different lengths.

You may be asymmetrical. I didn't sight down proper front wheels for 40 years until a PT pointed out my left leg is 1/2" longer than my right. 1/2" (12mm) heel lifts and a 1/4" plate over my right cleat have been life changing. And now, I sight down both my frames and front wheels!

Crankycrank

I read an interview years ago of a bike fitter for pro racers who claimed he never saw a symmetrical body during his career. That's all I got, and mines certainly not symmetrical, especially my head.

Hvac

I don’t disc brake. I know disc wheels are dished.
The idea about body asymmetry seems likely. Is there a way to set up the bike to even things out. What is the cost in terms of efficiency for asymmetry? Will yoga, tai chi or Pilates even me out? Why can’t I be like the cool kids? Just kidding.
Seriously, TDF riders and trainers must be aware of this. Not that I’m in any way comparable but I’d like to know I’m not the only one and what I can do about it.
HVAC
PS: Can wheels cause asymmetry if they are properly trued and aligned?

Crankycrank

Many ways are available to deal with a non-symmetrical body. If you just have some minor issues, you can setup all your contact points slightly different to get more comfortable i.e., twist the saddle slightly, position one brake lever different from the other, position pedals or cleats different, pedal shims for one leg, etc. etc. There are different types of body work that might help such as deep tissue or skeletal (chiropractor), sports medicine specialists and the list goes on and on. First try adjusting the bike differently to see if any of that helps and leg length differences are very common so pedal shims can help. There are some good bike fitters that can help with this too but fitting is kind of the wild west with some fitters completely unqualified to some that can work magic. One of the weirdest setups I ever saw was a guy that had been touring around the world for the last year and his Brooks saddle looked like it had been run over by a truck...or several. I asked him how he could stand to ride with that crappy saddle and he said it took him a couple years to get it that way and it was just "perfect".

SoSmellyAir

Even if you work out so that your body is perfectly symmetrical, you may still have a dominant eye: Dominant Eye Test: Find Your Dominant Eye | Warby Parker

Having a dominant eye slightly skews your perspective, such that even if you line up your perfectly symmetrical nose perfectly with the stem of your perfectly symmetrical bike, it would still look off to you. Is your bike tracking straight? If yes, stop worrying about it.

mpetry912 

Exactly right. can you ride no hands and the bike goes straight ? Great

if not, then check the dishing, maybe frame alignment, etc.

A voyage of discovery

/markp

SoSmellyAir

To be fair, OP (Hvac) only said that his/her front wheel looks off, not that his/her body is asymetrical.

Crankycrank

Read post #6. Also, I'm not saying he is, but he asked.

Hvac

I’m pretty sure it’s my body not my bike. I’ll look at the bike again.
As previously stated above, I don’t see any answers except to keep looking. Mightn’t we all be asymmetric?
HVAC

FBinNY 

Many of us, if not most cant the bike slightly.

Obviously you're still keeping the center of gravity directly over the wheel track, otherwise you'd fall. But you may be favoring one leg, have a slight spine curve, one leg longer than the other, or simply compensating for the road crown.

But, it doesn't matter. If it did you'd have known before noticing the front wheel.

FWIW I'm also asymmetrical, riding slightly left of center. Been that way for at least 50 years. I used to wonder about it from time to time, but gave up caring decades back.

79pmooney

I've twisted my brake levers in different amounts. I set my cleats at very different levels of toe-in and skew my seat nose 2 or 3 mm to the left. (I believe quite a few men do this and usually, like me, to the left.) Leg length is the one I would see a PT about. (You can do a crude check with a tape measure; hip bone socket to the floor. This won't tell you if your legs are scaled copies of each other or whether most of the difference in in your thigh or calves. If they are not simply scaled, it isn't as simple as my 1/2 the leg difference shim.)

Edit: I didn't go to that PT for cycling issues. I went for a torn Achilles. First 5 minutes, she had me walk the length of the room away from her, then back. Her first words were about my right leg being sorter. Sent me home after the session with a pair of $5 lifts.

All but the leg length I did and do by feel. I actually guessed that a cleat shim of 1/2 the heel lift would improve my cycling. Made one and reported back to my PT (a very good cyclist). Response? "That's exactly what I would have told you to do." The other changes I've made are minor improvements. The cleat shim - big!

Bill Kapaun

If it's not a disc wheel, flip it and see if it still looks the same when riding.

Hvac

Like you I don’t want to belabor the asymmetrical rider. No PT or fancy bike fitting for me. The mechanical and physical stuff changes such that a correction today wouldn’t last. I have too many bikes and too many other activities to render any attempt at correction evasive. The answers are split between bike mechanics and body mechanics. Thanks, I know I am not alone in this.
HVAC

Iride01 

It's very likely your stereo vision and a dominant eye.

Crankycrank

I'm not sure what information you're still looking for? Not being snarky, just a legitimate question. As already stated be me and others, a non-symmetric body is by far more the norm than exception and making your bike work for you starts with making adjustments to what you ride. Most of us can just make small adjustments and will be fine long term but others may develop long term damage to their bodies by not making the right corrections but there is no way we can determine that for you here. We all have limits as to how much effort and $$$$ we want to spend on this so you have to set your own limits. You have to take it one step at a time so let's start with your wheel that appears to be off. Do some measuring to determine if it is, or isn't, and go from there to correct the wheel or your setup or something else. Lots and lots of info available on the net about solutions and body symmetry.

wheelreason

Assuming the bike is symetrical, it's a combination of sitting off to one side, head tilt, and/or eye dominance. Very few (like almost none) folks are perfectly symetrical, both physically, and functionally.

wheelreason

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urbanknight

I figure most people are at least slightly asymmetrical. My dad's rear bike tire used to wear more on one side than the other until it looked like Gumby's head, on different tires, wheels, and bikes. Baffled the heck out of us.

Hvac

I’m beginning to think this question belongs in another sub thread regarding biomechanics. (Not mechanics”) My reluctance to fiddle with my bike is because the bike likely isn’t the problem. Perhaps the moderator should move the discussion elsewhere.
HVAC

Trakhak

This topic came up many years ago on this site. Back then, someone mentioned as a possible factor the fact that most roads are crowned (i.e., higher at the center line, lower at the shoulders).

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