Cold Weather Bike Setup.

geoff93

What tips and advice do you guys have to a relative noob to winter mountain biking in terms of bike setup. I've ridden several winters on the road, but this is my second season offroad. Last winter I was riding a lower end hardtail, this year I'm riding a full susser. Any tips for the riding such as different shock pressures etc?

Cheers.

nicklouse

no change other than tyres which need to be suitable for the conditions.

shock pressures, why would you change them? just cause it is winter you have not lost or gained weight.

Same rule set your air to what ever is needed to give the sag you want and the other settings are trail dependent.

The Northern Monkey

nicklouse wrote:

shock pressures, why would you change them? just cause it is winter you have not lost or gained weight.

.... I'll probably add a few psi after xmas

nicklouse

well that and maybe a bit more in the camel back...

jndb72

Sealskin gloves and socks and away to go....

Mental Mickey

Geoff93 wrote:

What tips and advice do you guys have to a relative noob to winter mountain biking in terms of bike setup. I've ridden several winters on the road, but this is my second season offroad. Last winter I was riding a lower end hardtail, this year I'm riding a full susser. Any tips for the riding such as different shock pressures etc?

Cheers.

I think you may have confused changing 'rebound settings' to something slower with adjusting air or spring pressure, if you slow the rebound down slightly, you might not get bounced around so much on hard, frosty trails, as explained in the video link below by the guy wearing DH kit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpYEsNqqO6A

robertpb

nicklouse wrote:

well that and maybe a bit more in the camel back...

Carrying a camel on your back will give extra traction, but will give you the hump on the ascents.

Shotsaway

In this weather the only changes you need to make are

Briggo

You need a heated seat.

Northwind

Only thing is, make sure the cables are well serviced and all the chain etc is well lubed- if the cables have water in they can freeze solid, and road salt (if you ride on the road at all) will go for your chain like you wouldn't believe.

bennett_346

And heated grips.

I think he means will the pressure in the shock significantly change due to atmospheric temperature changes. The air pressure in the shock will change but from personal experience i've used the same pressure in 25 degrees as i do in -11 degrees and it feels the same to anyone not trying to find a difference.

fatwomble

Shotsaway wrote:

In this weather the only changes you need to make are

Only trouble is that I would have been carrying on the road sections of my ride today as the ploughs have been very efficient.

Mental Mickey

I finding keeping whichever bike I'm using next day in my spare room overnight helps.

geoff93

Bennett that is roughly what I meant . Figured the temperature would affect the pressure inside. Cheers for the advice guys. Finding it difficult to ride at the moment with all the snow, finding my Mud X tyres pretty good though!