cajunpedaler

Steering drifting.
this is a nashbar frame. I’ve put this bike together. And it was fine. I loaned it to an idiot. Now I’m trying to get it right.
when I ride it, the front end wants to drift or sometimes outright dive to one side or another. There seems to be no center balance. I’ve replaced the cables thinking maybe before cables too short and affecting steering. Headset is good. No play.
I turned the tire 180*, thinking maybe tire was pulling. It wasn’t. It has an adjustable headset that I had pretty straight up, I brought it down some.
I don’t know if the drift is a rake issue. Forks seem true to each other.

Crankycrank

Is the front wheel loose from: Bent or broken axle, bearings not tight or too tight, axle not fully seated in the dropouts? Is the center tread of the tire flat from wear which can give a tip over effect when slightly leaning? If there is no play in the headset it could also be too tight causing this. Check carefully for frame cracks.

cajunpedaler

I’m thinking it’s headset. I tightened it a bit. Seemed better. Started raining, will continue tomorrow.

Andrew R Stewart 

Not all steering inputs are from the front end. Chasing down this type of issue with little understanding of how bikes steer will prove to be challenging. Headset adjustment is not about reducing the forces that try to pull the bike from straight to turning, but providing a solid and consistent rotation of the fork. If this were my bike I would perform alignment checks of both the frame and base line the wheels (dishing and such). Andy

Kapusta

Sounds like it might be the headset slightly binding. I had this happen with a Fog Cutter Frame I build up. After about a month it kept pulling to one side or the other. Turns out the head tube needed facing and it was causing the headset bearing to bind a little.

I got the head tube faced and all was good.

dsaul

That sounds like a tight or binding headset. When everything is right, the front wheel turns slightly back and forth as you pedal and it self corrects. When the headset is binding or too tight, the wheel is not able to self center, so you have to keep physically turning it back to straight. It's a very weird feeling.

andrewclaus

If this is predominantly a road bike, there may be some indexing in the headset, also called brinelling. The best solution for that is a new headset (though I once "cured" mine by rotating the cups 180 degrees, at a time when I had more time than money).

It's best to check the headset bearings with the bike in a stand, with as much mass removed from the fork as possible--wheels and handlebars. Check for smooth rotation as well as zero play.