front wheel pulls left under braking

njmark

njmark

Professional Cyclist
I have a new (less than 10 rides) Giant Stance 27.5 and when I grab the front brake the front wheel wants to tuck in to the left, so much so that I've been almost exclusively using the rear brake. My question is, is it a mechanical problem or a technique problem? Never experienced this on my 29er except in instances where it would be expected like hard braking in a left hand turn and grabbing too much front brake.
 
I can't think of anything other than technique that would cause this. The act of pulling your left finger to squeeze the brake lever and inadvertantly pulling your arm towards you? Maybe.

Newer riders tend to brace themselves against the handlebars while braking. Instead, drop the heal of your forward foot and brace yourself on that forward pedal. (You do ride with pedals level when not pedaling, right?) Bracing yourself with you feet pushes the bike down to add traction, and keeps hands light so you can still steer and lean the bike effectively.
 
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I was thinking similar to @jdog - maybe the left fork leg is super soft in comparison to the right leg. BUT the bridge kinda negates uneven compression.. Maybe the left leg compresses / dives while the right doesn't
 
I suppose a noodle fork could cause this but I hope we don't have such poor quality stuff on a Giant Stance. If it is the bike, I'd suspect that something has broken or failed.
 
Very unlikely long shot here, is it possible the wheel itself is not seated correctly in the fork?

How's the tension on the spokes? The wheel can be true but flop all over the place under load if they are not properly tensioned.

It's an interesting one, I'll give ya that.

It's not a SID 120 is it? That thing is a POS. the 100 is great, but too weak and flexy for real use in the 120 length IMHO.
 
.on top of what everyone else said, check if your hub has play. hard braking might be pulling the wheel in one direction if there is play
 
It's a RockShox 30, I was leaning towards its something I'm doing wrong more than a mechanical issue but I figured I'd ask if this is a common problem. The wheel feels like it should as far as wobble goes, if the spokes are loose which may explain the sound I've been hearing out of the wheel I'll have to take it in for service, I don't have a spoke wrench and I tend to make things worse when I try and fix them myself. Thanks for all the advice.
 
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