How To Dial In Your Mountain Bike Fit | MTB Set Up Tips & Tricks

There are a lot of adjustments on your mountain bike that affect comfort and performance. Things like wrist pain; saddle pain and even handling traits like the front end feeling too light can all be resolved by getting your bike set up correctly. Here's Doddy with all the details 🔧

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[juliandlamb]

I'm torn between watching the rest of the video and racing out to my bike to tweak a couple of things. Thanks Doddy, greatly appreciate your videos.

[arcadia]

I learned the hard way about seat height causing knee pain. This year my wife and I progressed from shortish 30km 300 height-metre total-ascent few hour trips to more serious 50-600km 800 height-metre total-climb trips in the Bavarian/Austrian Alps. It started as a light way to get fitter but ended up as an exploration of the Alps which is still ongoing. One of the mistakes I made was not taking carried weight seriously - I had 5kg in a rucksack on a 60km trip, and a high saddle and boy did I get knee pain! I just finished a short therapy for it but the "cure" was reducing the saddle height by centimetre/half-inch! I also reduced my backpack to about 2.8kg! All knee pain gone and we are back on the mountain trails up to the meadows where the cow bells ring! :)

[charlieine]

I spent a lot more time setting up my bike this season than I have ever before. Details do matter.

[H_Oscarsson]

The problem, atleast here in Sweden, is that all bike shops I've ever been to is not willing to put the amount of time it takes for a proper bikefit. Most of them just look at you, ask for your height and say "You're a size medium". That's why these sorts of videos are awesome! So thank you GMBN/GMBN Tech for all the hard work your doing for all us riders out there.

[stephen_]

I've found on group rides / days out, most people complaining of hand, arm and neck pain had their saddles way too high - often over an inch too high. Lowering the saddle tends to take excessive weight off your hands and stop the tingling / numbness and soreness.
Start off too low and work your way up 3 to 5 mm at a time, it's fine to experiment.

[brettsmith]

"You can do this quite accurately in the privacy of your own home".

Bollock naked on the work bench later it is then.

[pawedaniewski]

This material should have appeared 10 years ago, I'm glad that you translate so clearly and in an understandable language.

[nomarbulalakaw]

When Sir Doddy's presenting, expect to learn lots of useful tips.
Many thanks sir! More power to the channel and the GMBN!
Watching from the Philippines. 😃👍

[Fearmylogic]

I'd really like an in-depth guide on setting up the front and rear shocks, what each adjustment does in terms of how the bike handles, and why certain people want stiffer shocks, or a faster/slower rebound..etc.

[youtubeviewer]

Great timing as I am getting my new bike on Wednesday!

[snbsmtb]

Really indepth about everything as always Doddy it really helped me

[Alexandros_Patsialidis]

Sooo much value for a lot of us riders, right in this video!
Thanx mr. Dodd 🙏🏼🤙🏼

[JohnySeen]

Proper detailed. Love the emphasis on the tailoring it to the individual, great stuff.

[XN]

Always love Doddy explaining stuff like this. I think I watched him talk about deore/slx/xt/xtr so much I can almost dream it.
Also watch gcn and other roadie channels talking about fit and setup and it's so fun to see those perspectives. Shout out to Martyn Ashton for his trial exp/stories

[Knask]

Might be the best video on the platform, period.

[TheDustyShredder]

I've found that a 70mm stem really puts my weight right where it needs to be. I run my saddle neutral with a slight upward angle, since a flat angle has me slipping forward. My 680mm bars are a little too narrow, and don't offer me optimal control, so I'm going to go to 720mm. The bars I had before were 750mm.

I run my brake levers at a slight downward angle, with my rear brake at a higher leverage ratio than my front to make it harder to lock up when panic braking. I do run avid levers with adjustable leverage, so that is helpful. Because my brake calipers are zoom hybrid hydros, I can adjust the bite point on my brakes by turning a screw connected to the master cylinder, further fine tuning the travel at my levers. I have small hands, so I also have levers set to a short reach.

My pedals are large and close to the cranks, so the bike feels superbly responsive without feeling unstable, and I can always move my feet a bit to the outside if I need to. I ride with tennis shoes, so the large platforms are necessary to allow me to use the full power of my legs. My shifter levers are at the same angle as my brake levers, and I run them both rather far inboard. Keeps the shifters out of the way of my fingers, while still allowing me full one finger brake control. I've never liked feeling my brake levers touching my fingers.

[youngstadan]

Ive been riding 40 years and i found this a great video

[johncox]

Doddy this is one of the most useful videos out there. Super informative and helpful. Thank you!!

[ashtonmariefranklin]

I hasn't riden a bike in 20yrs. The last time I really used to ride was BMX. But recently I've gotten into riding again bought an XC style bike large frame with 27.5 tire. Been watching these tips and tricks vids and slowly getting my bike dialed in for myself, and upgrade changes to give my bike a better fit and personality.

[simon__]

Really nice video - it is nice to get those on the channel from time to time. You can think that this will be next video with the same information but still it is presented in a way that is informative and helpful. I enjoyed watching it.