Re: Difficulty riding hands-off: I'd have to nominate overtight headset bearings as one of the 2 (along with alignment) most common causes, followed by brinneled bearings, geometry and a tilted-down and/or too-far-foreward saddle.
The adjustment problem is so common I believe because it's hard to get a sense of proper bearing adjustment with the bars, wheels and cables in place, and also because the most careful adjustments become tighter when the stem quill is finally tightened.
FWIW, I get by riding several bikes with headsets that have poor bearings and lubed only with an occasional shot of oil. The affect of bearing adjustment on steering though can be much more critical, and a slightly loose headset suffers no immediate hardship but mildly overtight can ruin parts fast.
David Snyder Auburn, CA usa
> John Wood wrote:
>> For what it's worth (not much), my opinion has always been that ease or
>> difficulty of hands free riding is mostly due to frame alignment. I have
>> had both new and old bikes that were either hard or easy to ride no
>> hands,
>> and I have not been able to correlate it to a specific geometry trait.
>
Morgan Fletcher replied:
> Consider fork trail; http://www.phred.org/