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Enduro / All Mountain Setup
With all this rain about I figured now's a good time to review my riding position and bike setup (rather than tear around the dam and BB after work).
Looks like much has been published on the net but hoping some of you can point me in the direction of some of the better info out there.
It's a part of my riding I have never given the time it deserves and keen to highlight inefficiencies and develop a more efficient riding position through better bike setup. I'm looking for the full works, cleat / pedal position right through to handle bar heights and stem angles and everything in between. If it can be adjusted, I want to know about it.
My prefered style of riding is enduro / all mountain and the bike in question is a 2014 Trance 2.
Thanks in advance.
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glad you decided not to ride the wet trails today, trail fairies will thank you!!!
not sure how far your budget goes with this quest, if money's no object this guy has a good rep: http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com
if like many of us you're and you're just a casual/weekend rider (disclaimer: and you have no major physiological deformities) then common theory seems to suggest that for mtb where rides are typically only a few hours max and you're moving around on the bike a lot then you just need to get the basics approximately right i.e. correct frame size and some other basic adjustments. if you have any sort of bio-mechanical issues it's a whole different discussion.
bottom line is that mtb setup isn't as critical as say that for a road bike where you're likely to be in the one position in the saddle for much longer periods and so every millimetre counts.
according to one of the AIS physio's (who spent many years looking after our elite cycling teams) many of the problems cyclists have can be solved by dropping their seatpost by 1-2 cms.
cue controversy...
I second Steve Hogg. I need to get back to him to finish mine off, after he sent me to a physio to get straightened out (yes I was that badly twisted up without realising it).
An other option is Blair at The Body Mechanic. He's not as comprehensive as Steve, but then you won't have to wait months to get in (such is the demand for Steve's time), and you will get 90% of the benefit.
Where Steve shines is if you have particular issues such as leg length differences or other asymmetries that are beyond the ability of most fitters, as he looks at you in three dimensions where most others limit themselves to two.
My session with Blair resulted in immediate power production gains and over the course of a few weeks as I got used to the new position, a reduction in back pain.
Interestingly, he put my saddle position *up* two centimetres!
Some interesting reading there on Steve Hoggs website but going for the actual fitting is probably a bit more than what i'm looking for. Alot of his info if based around road bikes, but I gather the majority of principals he discusses would transfer over to MTB?
Agree with what you're saying Spindog re alot of movement around on a MTB, especially Enduro / AM. To date I have just setup the bike to what feels good / relaxed on the bike but want to check that setup against 'rule of thumbs'. Seat height, sag and suspension I'm ok with, but looking for info and the relationship between seat position compared with BB, and then its influence or affect on stem heights / angels.
After readying a bit of Steve Hoggs stuff last night I have already identified my cleat position is too far forward, time for a few adjustments in this area
here's some more reading, it took me a while to find this again.... http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/...
I haven't been to see the man in person, but have been reading his website for a while and have asked him a few questions directly via his 'Prime' Q&A section. On a road bike I know that Steve will prioritise seat setback over cockpit length in order to achieve an optimal reach to the bars. I know this because I asked him.
On a MTB, however, Steve suggests and I believe most would agree, that position on the bike is mostly about safety and agility. Trying to centre your mass over the bike. Being able to move around, sometimes extreme amounts, as required in order negotiate the terrain you are riding over with confidence and stay upright.
In XC you would pay much more attention to things like seat setback than you would for AM, but still nothing like to OCD that seems to occur when considering road bike fit. A good climbing position, if you do a lot of it on the MTB, is probably the one concession you would make to freedom of movement/ability to change position rapidly on a MTB.
While specifically focused on road bike you may find this interesting http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011...
Check this out for MTB's if you haven't read it already http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2012... and
http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2014...
Steve's info is very good and even though most of it is about road bike fit he does do most or all of his racing on MTB these days so it is something he understands. Many of his blog posts or answers to questions are cross-pollinated with links to other posts or answers so he doesn't have to repeat himself when discussing the 'basics'. This means you do need to do quite a bit of reading before getting a reasonably complete picture of his methods, but it is worth the time to do so.
Thankyou all.
Looks like I'm doing a bit of reading and measuring of body parts tonight. Missus is gonna think I've lost it
Now keep sunning and blowing so I can test the fruits of our labour on the trail this weekend.
I am not quite sure if I got your question right but didn’t you ask about setting up your bike for all mountain/enduro riding? If so I feel nothing of the above will help you. While prof bike fits are awesome for road riding and maybe XC mountain biking they are pretty useless for the kind of riding you want to do. For all mountain its more about proper body positioning on the bike and before that the proper set up of your bike. First question would be how long your stem is and how wide your handlebars are to start with. Then we work out how high you run your stem (which has nothing to do with your body height btw) and see if you are able to apply proper pressure to the front wheel while descending and climbing seated. Your suspension set up if of course important to and you have to set your sag right. Do you have a dropper post? If not get one as you’ll need it. Breaking is important too
so look at the proper set up of your brakes on your bars. Set up for one finger breaking, reach, angle and that kind of stuff.
For the kind of riding you want to do or are already doing, think of a skills course rather than a bike fit. I’m happy to go riding with you to show you a thing or two and we can look at your set up together (I’ll soon be a PMBI instructor). Look at websites like Pinkbike to get an idea and feel free to ask me anything. I’m doing that kind of riding since 20odd years and learned a thing or two along the way.
Hi Marc, I resonated the same thoughts when I saw the above responses but after reading what was thrown up I took what I needed from the info. As the articles are published by 'bike physisits' they explain points pretty well and give you a good understanding of 'if you do this, it will affect that' sort of thing.
I also did some other reading too, which was more centred around enduro / all mountain. The net result was completely dropping my stem (bar one spacer) and sliding the seat forward. Other adjustments included cleat position which I took from the Steve's articles.
I've done some laps of our street and it feels pretty good. Looking forward to testing on the trail now, but I can already tell the changes are confidence inspiring. Thankyou for your offer and would love some first person input. Will be doing dam and BB tomorrow arvo if your keen. Otherwise, any evening during the week.
Hey Jimmy, I may be able to do tomorrow arvo but we can otherwise do an after work ride next week for sure. I'll be riding in Canberra next weekend for a few days but will be available afterwards any weekend pretty much. Happy to go riding with you, always nice when someone wants to get a bit more into it. Drop a line here when you go tomorrow (theres some rain on the forecast) and send me your mobile number so that we can get in touch.
Sent you PM Marc.