If you’d asked me a couple of months ago, I’d have said “Yes! Very important!” for lots of reasons…..
Now I have a bike that, if I sit and analyze it, has soft forks, too-narrow-for-me bars, a slightly low front end, and cheap plasticky shifters and brakes.

And you know what? I’ve just spent the weekend riding it pretty hard and as soon as I point it downhill I simply don’t notice any of that…..It just works.

Which is very odd. I like a well set-up bike. I like to faff. And I must resist it this time because it’s pointless…. (Save for a stronger fork spring for t’Alps…maybe….I’m not even sure about that)

Or have I been barking up the wrong tree for all this time?

Probably not but its a good way to justify extra spending.

It just works.

Then it’s well set up for you.

Have I missed something ?

Which spring do you have in the forks at the mo? I will be getting rid of an x-firm Pike spring pretty soon hopefully.

I changed the shifters, tyres and saddle on my Pitch, nowt wrong with the brakes though imo.

Then it’s well set up for you.

No, it’s not. That’s the thing. Fork is waaaaaaaaaaaaay too soft and I like wider bars….

But then again maybe you’re right.

I dunno any more.

Help.

Grumm – Just the standard medium, whitch with me well over 15st in riding kit is silly soft. In theory. Arrgghh.

Exactly trailmonkey.

Just sounds like you (PP) didn’t know what was best for you. 🙂

PeterPoddy – Member
and I like wider bars….

Obviously not!

Set Up has nothing to do with being sold/buying products either, its’s simply how you set them up, e.g saddle angle/height, brake lever position etc, and IMO is the most important thing once you have a reasonably capable bike, more important than the branding on individual components.

Hmm well I found the x-firm too firm for me at around 16 stone without camelbak. The recommendations seem way out to me.

I did notice the steering felt a bit sharper when I got the stiffer spring though, and the front end seemed to pull up a little easier.

Depends where you’re riding, what you’re riding and for how long. If you were hammering alpine descents all day, or doing a solo 24 hour race, then things that might not annoy you so much on a blat round your local woods will become really important.

Psychologically, it’s also really nice to ride a bike that’s set up how you want it, and well-maintained. My bike has a creaky bottom bracket at the moment which really annoys me as I feel like something’s not working properly, even though it makes naff all difference to the performance.

IMO – If you just leave it alone, you get used to the way it is and adapt your riding style.

It amazes me how much adjustment you get on a set of forks, surely you just need two setting – ‘fat’ and ‘skinny’.

You quickly get used to pretty much anything. The only thing is that getting stuff just right can make the bike ride better though more often than not, it’s just our perception that affects the way that we ride stuff…

Obviously not!

Yes, I’m beginning to think that now…

Set Up has nothing to do with being sold/buying products either, its’s simply how you set them up, e.g saddle angle/height, brake lever position etc, and IMO is the most important thing once you have a reasonably capable bike, more important than the branding on individual components.

Egggg-zakkkly.

(Come to think of it, I haven’t got the saddle position right either, but that’s no matter)

But that’s the thing. There’s things that I KNOW aren’t set up right, but it’s not bothering me….That’s the odd part

Try having kids – then you never have time to get things just right and learn to ride your bike pretty much however it’s set up – at least, that’s what I’m finding 🙂

in 90% of peoples hands it wont matter , they will fall off none the less

in the 10% window set up can be the difference between winning and loosing

If you were riding a grand tour, then set up would surely be crucial. Just for playing in the woods though……as long as the bike is the right size and it all works, then no probs.

what trail rat said but more like 98-2%

My take? If you think it’s good now, think how much better it’ll be once it’s *right*.

As above, you can get used to anything, and if you’re not noticing it when riding, then it means you’re simply concentrating on what you’re doing, BUT, the every fact you’re asking the question means it ain’t right, and it will begin to bug you.

I’ve long thought that way too many folk are really anal about their bike setup. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve had to listen to my fellow riders whine on about how a tiny issue with their bike has “ruined their ride”.

Stuff along the lines of
“that last climb would have been easy but I think my saddle is a couple of mil too far forward on the rails”
or
“I had a bit of a crap ride today, think my rebound was a bit too fast”
or
“the topout clunk was putting me off on that last downhill”
or
“I would have kept up with you on that last bit of singletrack but the anodising on my cable end caps isn’t an exact match for the colour of the aftermarket bolts on my brake levers”.

Occassionally it comes across as if the bike itself is the only thing that one can enjoy out in the hills, and if everything isn’t just so there is no possibility of succesfully extracting any reward from the act of riding.

And internally as I listen to it, all I can think is “cease your foul whining and just ride your sodding bike.”

If you were riding a grand tour, then set up would surely be crucial

That’s very true, and I’ve got some experience of that, but 2 40k+ rides over the weekend were fine.

The thing is, there is no ‘right’, the magazines don’t know how to set up YOUR controls, there’s no scientific way of creating the perfect set-up, you say it’s not bothering you, which suggests that you have in fact stumbled towards the most comfortable setup for you!

oh but it could be so much better 😉

grumm – depends how you ride! I find an X-firm too soft at times and weight 2st less than you.

you say it’s not bothering you, which suggests that you have in fact stumbled towards the most comfortable setup for you!

Yes!
And that’s why I’m trying to resist changing too much just because “I like it like that and I’ve always had it like that” if you see what I mean.
But it’s soooooooooooo hard. Muuusssssssssssssssssttttt fiddle.

I will get the harder fork spring though.

lets put it that way do you have this problem with the duke???

simple answer to all that worrying re bike set up

‘ shut up and ride ‘ !

paul

Do you have the rear set up similary soft?

Maybe its not trying to kill you on the downs is because you have a good bike and the balance is about right..

Soft front and a hard rear would, I believe notice more.

Don’t worry. This is just a temporary aberration and you will be back to faffing in no time.

Bike set-up is critical. If you’ve changed it and still find it good, then that’s still a good setup for you.

I’ve transformed bikes from dogs into inspired trail machines by just rotating the riser bars forward or back, or moving the saddle. One previous bike was a handful on the descents – kept going over the bars, was really slow on the descents; 20mm shorter stem and riser bars, and it was utterly brilliant.

So I think riding position makes a huge difference.

As stated above you can pretty much get used to anything, that said I too can be over fussy with set up.

Although a bike that is well set up for it’s purpose is a joy to ride, I’ve just put flat bars and bar ends on my Rush primarily to help with climbs during my solos this year, climbing is my biggest weakness as far as XC go’s and having the flat bar / bar end set up is a revelation on the climbs it’s a tad naggery on steep descents but as above I’ll get used to it.

Do you have the rear set up similary soft?

No, it’s an RP2 air shock and is spot on according to the ‘sag gauge’ supplied with the bike. It feels prefect.
I think the reason why I’m OK with the soft fork (It a Pike) is that it’s really supple and I do have the damping set correctly, so I’m just using all of the travel a lot of the time, which is no biggie in the UK, well at Afan anyway!

I’m off to the Lakes in a couple of weeks so I’m going to stick a harder spring in for that and see how it goes. I reckon I’ll probably keep 2 springs and switch them over depending on the riding….

lets put it that way do you have this problem with the Duke???

The front end of that is a bit overdamped, yes. I’d like to get it revalved by Maxton or somebody, but it’ll do!
🙂

perhaps your previous view of a ‘good’ setup was in reality pretty bad but you didnt know any better.

and now you’ve realised what a good setup actually is?

Be nicer when it is right I rekon…

Is the Pike a 2 spring fork ie spring in both legs (sounds stupid question doesnt it)? Could try one hard and one medium if the hard springs are too stiff…

grumm – depends how you ride! I find an X-firm too soft at times and weight 2st less than you.

Yeah I guess so – but even doing jumps (not massive ones admittedly) I only seem to use about 2/3rds of the travel. I wonder if the stiffness of the springs isn’t completely uniform and I have just got an expecially stiff one?

Having read the rest of this thread I find myself agreeing with Jackthedog. 😉

Are you bottoming the fork every couple of hundred metres or going over the bars on every descents. If not then their not too soft. Most people run their forks far too firm with far to much compression damping IMO.

perhaps your previous view of a ‘good’ setup was in reality pretty bad but you didnt know any better.

and now you’ve realised what a good setup actually is?

I was beginning to realise that my last bike (Yeti 575) wasn’t all that great in certain areas, hence the new bike.

But I’ve been riding long enough to know what good set up is, thanks!
🙂

The point is that I know the set-up isn’t perfect, but for this bike it simply doesn’t seem to matter anywhere near as much as on others. The Yeti was a bugger to set up…..

Are you bottoming the fork every couple of hundred metres or going over the bars on every descents. If not then their not too soft. Most people run their forks far too firm with far to much compression damping IMO.

No, but then with a well designed fork like a Pike, you don’t really ‘feel’ the bottom of the travel. Compression damping doesn’t make a fork ‘firmer’ it just slows the movemenet down.
I know it’s a bit too soft because I’m running too much static sag. Compensating for that with extra compression damping won’t work, the fork just begins to feel a bit harsh. (Yes I have tried it) The only way to change the sag is to get the spring rate correct
🙂

90% rider,10% bike.