Front end violently shaking

nearly came off speeding down a big hill. the whole front end of of my bike was shaking. its an old frame but in excellent condition. is it going to be just tightening up or will this keep happening

It was an earthquake. Shouldn't happen too often.

cattle grid?

I would suggest holding the handlebars next time.

Tyres at correct pressure?
Headset ok?
Spokes tight enough?

This..

..needs tightening, it'd probably be worth giving it a clean.

I would suggest holding the love handles next time.

o rly?

If it's an old frame and forks, have you checked for cracks in the forks?

I had some forks crack right below the shoulder of the crown and the crack was invisible until I noticed the steering wasn't quite straight and the fork was being held together by the axle and some paint!

Deranged or epileptic rat stuck in front spokes? Off balance London pigeon?
S.

Maybe old age has caught up with you and hit you like a brick (a brick holding a smaller briack that is)

maybe it needs a cigarette or some sugar.

Just die.

case of bad wind?

case of bad wind?

front end.

Queefing?

front end.

Queef?

This thread is a fuckin let down.

really? i thought it could kick off.

Nah looks pretty tepid to me.

nearly came off speeding down a big hill. the whole front end of of my bike was shaking. its an old frame but in excellent condition. is it going to be just tightening up or will this keep happening

Light EDDed, this will have been speed wobble or shimmy:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/shimmy.html

speed wobble on a push bike! what the hell, never heard of that before...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXLJElH_OR4

I think bikes have a sort of resonant frequency. I used to love rolling down this big hill near me on my hybrid - on a bike lane, hands off the bars. I used to pick up loads of speed and there was always a patch halfway down where the bars started shaking side to side really violently. A couple mph more and it stopped dead. Always the same speed.

It scared me the first few times, but I realised that I didn't even need to touch the bars, it would just die off. Your results may vary...

Front wheel need truing?
Fontyre need realiging?
Headstset needs adjusting?

Carrying weight on a rear rack?