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Got a large fatty with imported Chinese carbon forks fitted. I find that at lower tyre pressures self-steer becomes a big problem.
I was wondering whether swapping to the OO Fatty carbon fork with its increased rake would help? Any owners able to comment on what the steering on theirs is like with a floater fitted?
Cheers.
What tyre are you running?
I'm running Floaters on my Dune at 7psi and they self steer a little on the road but the feeling goes away once I'm on the trails.
Try a Bud, zero self steer on that tyre.
Running Floaters F&R
So more likely to be tyre causing it than forks then?
Tyre pressure is most likely the culprit.
My Hodags are fine at 8psi but I rode it this week without checking tyre pressure. It steered horrible and when I checked it was 6psi back up to 8 and no problems.
As zippykona says, most likely to be tyre pressure. Given the generally low pressures that fat tyres are run at then any change whilst low in numerical terms is actually pretty big in percentage terms. When I got my fat bike I was getting understeer and generally weird handling especially on roads - checked the pressure 7.5psi. Pumped up to 8psi and the problem went away.
Get a decent pressure gauge, one that is for low pressures, start with 1psi for every 10Kg of rider and kit weight then adjust from there in 0.5psi increments/decrements until you get the behaviour you want. If you change tyres then start again as every model is different.
Ok thanks all.
From reading it appears that the floater has a pretty decent reputation as far as self-steer is concerned. Any other tyres I should consider as well as the Bud?
Jumbo Jims seem to be getting more expensive with every blink of an eye, but they are generally considered decent all-rounders except in the winter sloppy conditions. Get the biggest size your fork and frame can manage, I suspect my unfitted (so far) Carbon Fatty fork could fit a 4.4" variant if not the 4.8", not sure if I could go any fatter than the 4.0" I already have on the Wazoo rear.
My floater only self steers below 5psi & its only annoying on tarmac, off road, mud, snow & sand it's unnoticable. you soon get used to the self steer & compensate & it's worth it for the increased grip off road.
I'd persevere for a bit before splashing a lot of cash on another tyre that'll only do the same if you use it at the proper tyre pressure
I'd agree with the 'get a decent low pressure gauge and experiment' recommendation.
As mentioned 0.5 psi can make a big difference in fat bike tyres.
As does tubeless
Had steering issues when i changed to a Bluto and was sent the wrong race crown. The right one made huge difference, floaters were fine.