New to trail riding, keen to have a fettle

Mattharrier

I've been told to play around with the positions of shifters and brake levers, look into a shorter stem/wider bars and so on, to get a feel for what works, what doesn't and so on. I'm new to mountain biking and me being me I'm keen to get stuck in and fiddle with stuff, but I'd like some idea of what different changes will do to the way the bike handles before I actually muck around. Also any common simple changes to the default layout that are worth it.

Or should I leave it as it is and learn to ride it for now?

rockmonkeysc

Levers should ideally be inline with your arm when riding so angled down.
Short stem sharpens up the steering, this is usually combined a wider bar to give more leverage and offset the reduced stability. You can also experiment with spacers under the stem. You can move them on top the stem to lover the bars. Lover bars gives better feel for the front end and increased grip but you can go to far and its a compromise with comfort.
If you really want to improve the handling, nothing beats a good skills coaching session to improve your riding.

Mattharrier

Oh bother, I posted this in the wrong forum, it was supposed to be in beginners...

Thanks for that - I'll have a play with the angle of the brake levers before I go out tomorrow. I've got a mate who has a wider set of bars that I can borrow, so I'll look for a shorter stem on ebay. Cheers!

cooldad

Mattharrier wrote:

.... I'm new to mountain biking and me being me I'm keen to get stuck in and fiddle with stuff, .....Or should I leave it as it is and learn to ride it for now?

Leave it until you know what you want. Random fiddling is pointless otherwise.

And the fashion might change next week to 26er wheels and narrow bars.

kajjal

cooldad wrote:

Mattharrier wrote:

.... I'm new to mountain biking and me being me I'm keen to get stuck in and fiddle with stuff, .....Or should I leave it as it is and learn to ride it for now?

Leave it until you know what you want. Random fiddling is pointless otherwise.

And the fashion might change next week to 26er wheels and narrow bars.

Give it long enough and it will be 26" wheels, narrow bars, bar ends and rigid forks to get the feel of the trail back

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Lover bars gives better feel for the front end and increased grip but you can go to far and its a compromise with comfort.

But only if you're riding through a brothel.

rockmonkeysc

Angus Young wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Lover bars gives better feel for the front end and increased grip but you can go to far and its a compromise with comfort.

But only if you're riding through a brothel.

What the hell was on my mind when I made that typo??? I best phone the wife and tell her to be prepared with a tub of hand cream and a stick of lard.