Mountain Bike Cockpit Setup | GMBN Tech MTB Essentials Ep. 9
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 16. 06. 2024
- Join Doddy in this tech essentials episode as he takes you through setting up the cockpit on your mountain bike. From stem length and handlebar rise to brake lever and shifter position. It's all about finding what suits your riding style, the size of your bike, and your own personal preference.
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Cable routing, lever position and angle, finding a dynamic position for your shifter and dropper post, as well as the tightness of the actual clamps on the bar are all important things to consider when setting up your cockpit đ§
How do you prefer to run your brake levers? Flat or at more of an angle? Let us know!
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The first time I rode on 780mm bars, I came down a steep drop and at the bottom I chest bumped the stem.
My arms were so far apart I couldnt resist the down inertia force.
A few weeks of wide stance pushups cured that
My Siskiu T8 came with the brake levers pre-assembled to the handlebars. They were positioned between the dropper lever or shifter lever and the hand grips. This meant they were pre-assembled such that you had to put most of your fingers on the brake levers. It took me a while to work out that I had to put the brake levers inboard of the dropper post lever and gear shift lever if I wanted to comfortably have just one or two fingers on each brake lever.
Just as Iâm setting up my bars with new grips and looking at my brake positions Doddy comes out with an impeccably timed and informative how to. Nailed it Doddy! đ€
I realized that at lot of people ride way too large bar for nothing, the general consensus seems to be 800mm is the best on enduros. Just cutting your bar to 780-790 can make a huge difference on the control you have over your bike. Great detailed video man
Very useful, thanks! Doddy is the best.
Very interesting video. Especially, the part about stem length and handlebar width.
Great vid. Im just starting to make cockpit adjustments on my new build. Wow I would love to have a shop like his. Every Park tool imaginable. Sweet.
The only topic I missed was bar roiling. Beside of that, awesome video! đđœ
I feel Brake levers blades close to the bars helps reduce arm pump.
Single finger for sure. Modern brakes are so powerful.
Best advice yet from this channel. Set up is everything on the trail, and if its not done properly then you could be in for a very long day indeed. Great video.
There are certain things in this video that ARE MANDATORY for feel for serious trail riding. This ranks as one of the absolute best mtb setup videos out there. Doddy knows setup like a master race mechanic and this video is serious info.
21:12 this will prematurly wear the cables down... but I also do this.
15:55 wee
bell, flashlight mount, phone mount, gopro mount, gear shifters, dropper post. swag out with a compass... ;P
good stuff.
Building a new bike soon and planning to do all the work myself, been watching these videos non stop and they've been a huge help already đ
Great plan. I did, too. With the result that I spent more time in preparing, reparing and changing parts than in riding. I love it. Hope you will enjoying to build your bike.
I went from a 760mm bar and 50mm stem to 780mm bar and 35mm stem. Feels good man.
tried a 780 bar with 35 stem, felt a little cramped, went back to a 50 stem, it's all preference, my bike reach is 472mm, i like to get weight on the front more.
@@stevebennett3587 Nice.
Currently riding an 800mm bar with a 45mm stem, had a 35mm on there, but I found that in the snow it was hard to control and now the ground has less leverage over my bars.
My bike's reach is 510mm and I have no trouble weighing the front-end even with the 35mm stem and high stack-height when using proper technique
@@th_js I've noticed 45mm is popular, i think i may try a 45mm next time, i doubt the 5mm will make a lot of difference on my rigđ
@@stevebennett3587 You might be surprised, the thing that led to my decision of buying the 45mm stem was actually testing a 40mm stem and comparing it to the 35mm one and this might sound exaggerated but it's not: the difference was absolutely huge, I couldn't believe it myself either how it completely changed the handling of the bike only 5mm!
Now I know to not underestimate any small differences between components/bikes.
@@th_js đ€it's finding that sweet spot ain't itđ đ
Nice work Doddy ! Thx
Amazing canât thank you enough!
đ watched this last night and the brake lever part stood out for some reason. Just got back from a crashing session where I lost a brake lever. Wouldn't you just know it, my lovers were solid no movement at all. New levers ordered and wont be done up as tight đ
Love my xfusion dropper joystick lever. You can actuate it in 360 degrees so it has multiple positions it can be in. I love to see this lever on other droppers like the reverb.
As always, GMBN-Tech have what you need. Time to experiment and get to know the bike. Cheers folks!
Thanks for watching Guy!
Doddy, Excellent presentation here. Your speed and tone were perfect. Good stuff! Keep it coming!
very thorough ! nice job ! Cables long enough but not too long :-)
Love me some Doddy!
These are basics... and soooo many people need to see this because they're not doing the basics. Great video.
Ive been considering changing my stem and handlebars for quite a while now. I will probably go from my 670 handlebars and 100m stem to a 760mm handlebar and a 70mm stem
This helped my alot
Good info and very helpful for me to come back to as i'm just getting my new bike adjusted to fit me better. Mechanical advantage, I've not heard anyone say that since I was an apprentice at college about 35 years ago. Nice work as usual.
Light clamp force is a cool old school trick I learned from moto guys.
Great video
Terrific info, as usual, Doddy. Thanks.
On the cable discussion, make sure the cables are long enough to rotate the bars fully in EACH direction (so as not to restrict the bar motion), and then remove the excess if any. Learned that the hard way unfortunately!!
I get them so I can do 3/4 of a turn in either direction and find they never make it past half way in a crash but each to their own
Doddy, take the tether that came with the garmin and install it on the computer. Wrap the tether around the steer tube under the stem, putting the computer through the mood of the tether. Adjust it so itâs snug around the steer tube or stem between the two bolts, then lock it in the mount as normal. I hit mine with my knee or body often enough where that will save you from losing it.
Yes doddy
Thanks for this vidĂ©o đ
Mid 90s the fashion was 120+mm girvin flex stems and bars cut down super narrow ~400mm, drop bars too, to the point our bikes were barely rideable. Over time it's evolved to the complete opposite, the shortest stiffest possible stems and bars approaching a metre wide so you can barely fit your bike through some doorways, haha!
Love that crash you had with blake where you disappeared into the ferns. The brakes thing is great for stopping arm pump. Top vid again fellas.
Nicely done.
3:50 I strike the crown of fork & bars, but my bike is too short, for me no matter which setup I would run it would be bad, I need way higher bars, and much longer reach.
but I had to get a bike, and eventually upgrade it, but now I think I can get a bike that fits me.
I think I will go For Nicolai G1, keep my parts swap over, and change what needs to be changed, and will probably get a nice handling bike that fits me.
probably a Large, my current bike has 430mm reach and use 50mm stem with 800mm bars.everything is perfectly setup on my bike apart from,
cockpit height and reach, and geo, also I prefer a less twitchy bike, my fuel ex is not optimal, also it's 2014 model so plenty of issues, too flexy.
but Nicolai ticks all of the boxes.
I am 181cm quite average.
11:52 nice, great you mention this, I use color pencils, I have not tried markers yet.
I switched from two-finger braking with an in-line angle (which I was used to from motorcycle riding) to one-finger braking with levers tilted up. Previously I found that on long descents I had trouble holding on to my bike and controlling it, both because my thumb was getting tired (when you have levers in-line the position means you are essentially supporting your body on your thumb) and the ring- and little finger were also getting so weak that I was occasionally losing grip. This is catastrophic when descending, and where I ride you will be descending hundreds of metres at a stretch over rough terrain. Switching hand position meant I can simply lean on the bars most of the time (instead of clawing them with my thumb), I have one strong finger more to hold on to the bar, and I also find that braking with one finger only, from a hand that's not cramped by trying to desperately hold on, gives me far more control and feel. Being able to lean on the bar relieves the fingers, having more of them relieves them even more, and the brake finger is essentially hanging loose and ready to brake.
The fly in the ointment is that the Shimano shifters are designed to be mounted inboard of the brake levers. Brake levers themselves being mounted far inward pushes shifters even further inward and forcing you to stretch out a bit to operate them, which is uncomfortable and requires more force than it should. I tried mounting them outboard of the brakes but that just didn't work at all. However on the whole, I feel more capable and safer with my new setup and am quite ready to live with suboptimal shifter position.
Exactly. Still see far too many bikes with levers pointing to the ground, a recipe for sore hands and over the bars crashes.
Going from 735mm to either 705 or 715mm. Thanks! Not sure about the stem though, seems to be good for now.
Quite far down is also a BMX/freestyle and dirt jumping thing at least it is from back in the day!
What about rolling your bar how does that change things or did I miss that đ
Great video, very informative, like always. I have Scram R brakes, but only because they came with the bike, Santa Cruz Tallboy. The bike on the video has Scram R bikes, would use upgrade them to another Scram brake if you could? Do you use carbon or aluminum handlebars?
I've been playing around with brake lever height. Used to ride super flat, then tilted them down a bit more to encourage myself to ride more in the center of the frame as opposed to hanging off the back. I feel more in control, but now my thumbs have been going numb a bit. I am going to try tilting them back up again a bit based on your tips re hand position. I think I am putting too much weight on my thumbs now.
Not sure what you mean. Aren't your thumbs wrapped under the grips?? Do you mean your thumb joints?
What are your thoughts on a "Steer Tube Extension" also known as "Stem Riser"? Is this a good way to increase body position?
Hi Doddy, great video once more! If you do have a torque wrench, how many n/m would give you the crash proof (movement) you talked about for levers on a carbon bar? Cheers
It's like only 2 NM. For me, my brake, gear and or dropper post clamps are separate, so it's less than 2NM each. In order for my brakes to rotate, so do the other clamps. If I set mine up to 2NM each, it feels like the NMs add up and is too much. Going by feel is most accurate because everyone's setup is different and a quick check by hand will tell you if it's too tight or loose.
Just upgraded from al to Cf stem and bars, whatâs the best assembly paste ? Iâm scared Iâm going to impale myself when both sides of the cf snap :p
I have currently rode my 2019 Giant Anthem Advanced 29 1 for a year now and would like to upgrade all the parts. The stem is 90mm and bars are 780mm. The bike feels great but in order to upgrade my bike to start racing, i noticed ENVE only makes 65mm as the largest stem for MTB and 760mm bars. The bars seem like they wouldn't be an issue but the stem seems like it would be a bit short... Any suggestions? Great video! I appreciate that Doddy is 6'3 as I am 6'2 1/2 so the video does help more than the feedback i've received. Thanks again for your time. :)
The brake set up in the UK makes the most sense, who adjusts the brakes on a scooter so they are swapped?
Thanks for another great video but I have one question that may sound dumb, but i am pretty new to mountainbiking. I have a sram shifter and I feel like the two levers are too far apart. The âshift upâ lever feels perfect to reach but if I reach the other one - my right hand feels like I am loosing the grip to my handlebar. Is there a way to move the levers further togetherV
#gmbntech I have a question for dropper posts, can I retrofit a dropper post or does it need to be frame ready?
On my dirt jumps bike i run huzzefelt 680 mm long 50mm high
Hey, I'm just recently becoming a mountain bike enthusiast and i was hoping you would do a video on your recommendation for a bike that i could start with.
Buy a bike brand that is common in your country make sure it has hydraulic disc brakes and air forks. Buy from a real bike shop not a Warehouse. If spending less than 2K NZD then get a hardtail
@@clintontopp898 cheers mate!
But what do I do if my geometry is too slack for my wicker basket Doddy? Can't do enduro without a picnic for the half way point. đ
Any excuse to use the "Doddy goes flying" footage, eh? : )
I tried riding my levers up higher for a better grip but I really can't ride my levers higher up cause it starts to hurt my wrists when I'm doing longer runs, I NEED them in a extended position of my arm, just feels more comfortable and less pounding on my wrists because it extends on through into my arms
Hi, Whats your best way for making sure the handlebar is perfectly in the center of the stem clamp... OCD kills me in this area. Bar markings can be confusing if any at all. Thanks. #AskGMBNTech
Dear Doddy!
Hope you can help me on this one! I'm buying a 2016 alloy Mondraker Summum and have the option to chose M or L size. I'm 1.77, with 1.80 ape index.
Today I ride a 2014 Mondraker Summum M size. Changed from a Trek Session 88 2012 also M. Everyone tells me to go for L size, by the way i'm a bit concerned about cornering, jumping and also sending some whip, as I like a lot. Tracks are steep, fast and curvy. What you think will be better?
Would be neat if they had rear and front shift levers for either side of the bar to go with moto or non moto style brake lever setup! Also regarding brake lever position I'm under the impression trails riders on push bikes have a very extreme downward tilt to the angle as the most common position where as perhaps with motor trials the levers point quite a bit higher up as a more common average. Wonder why though. Personally I prefer a Downward tilt.
The levers on a motorcycle are a bit different than on mountain bikes typically in there curvature and design. The higher up you have the levers the more chance you have of catching the rest of your fingers that aren't on the lever and pinching them against the bar.
Plus the higher up you have the lovers the more unnatural position it is for your wrists
I think the extreme downward tilt is seen on inexperienced riders,which there are many. People don't know they need to change the angle.
LOL I went from a 630 mm bar and a 90 mm stem to a 740 mm bar and a 35 mm stem. It feels great honestly, I felt like a roadie at first.
I have on my full 760 +110mm stem :-)
@@danielstormy3660 WTF????? Do you really? On a mountain bike?? WHY?
@@Windband1 bcs frame is from 2013 26'' (ghost amr 9500 2013) and in these times frames werent builded with short stem in mind, on orig. bike is 90mm at XL size and i got longer arms a bit than normal so its perfect for me, tried 70mm stem and it was tourist sitting as old grandfather :-)
@@danielstormy3660 LOL. I understand. Well i hope that 110mm doesn't make the bike too hard to handle! Maybe time for a new bike? ; )
YOOOO that sharpie idea is KILLER. i am always measuring with a tape measure and then trying to reset my angles. i F with my bars a lot so its so annoying.
Don't forget to mark your bar roll (bar-stem) as well!
that's another great idea!! how do you roll yours? i was thinking this AM if i should try another roll.. may even lower my stem.@@geemail369
@@MatroniFitness Just try and test ride, make it fit your preferences.
You can get pvc pipe, paint it and put it between your grips and your shifters/breaks so your cockpit looks cleaner.
It is also good for traveling.
Iâm 5ft 9â and 760 is plenty wide. 3 spacers under the 50mm stem and a small rise and sweep on the bars feels just right. Nothing in the extreme.
#askgmbntech So I've got a bit of a conundrum for you. While installing a new dropper on my Vitus Sentier, I also wanted to rejig the positioning on my brake levers & shifters (2 x 10 with Shimano Deore SL-M610 shifters). I wanted my brake levers set for 1 finger braking ie moving them inboard but doing so, with the standard mounting order working from the middle out, of shifters then brakes meant the shifters were too far away so moving my shifter outboard of the brakes, so they mount between the brake lever mount and the grip, allowed me to get the brake lever right but the shifter isn't the best fit due to the indicator on the top of the Deore Shifter stopping me butting it up to the brake lever clamp. So my shifters now sit a bit too far into my hand space which isn't ideal. So is it possible to use a different set of shifters with the Deore front FD-M618 and rear RD-M615 derailleurs, which don't have the pointless gear indicator taking up space? Thanks, Mike :) Good tip on the clamp force by the way!
Wil it fit a 6â3 man?
Im having trouble choosing a new bike I have never brought a new bike myself I have found 2 one that has a low 25mm rise handlebar and 31.8mm stem shorter wheelbase and the other 45mm rise handlebar with a 60mm 10 degree rise longer wheelbase.
It says on the info for the longer one it improves the grip on the rear when climbing and front when descending.
Could you help me when you are available to please?
Thank you.
Does anyone make a short aftermarket brake lever? I have shorter fingers, and moving my brake lever in to where it won't hit my other fingers puts my shifter too far away
740mm bars high brake club
Everything functions properly czcams.com/users/postUgkxHL1v1R3NE5x4KiYfyt8dnQmyNYz7qi5L Nothing was damaged in the box aside from a decal on the fork. The decal was missing a piece of a corner but I ended up peeling them off anyways. Assembly is easy BUT make sure you tune up the derailleurs. Both the front and rear need adjusting. I'd advise going to a bike shop but I opted out and put in 10+ hours with the help of CZcams. Ended up fraying a shifter cable but all in all I learned from the experience. The Brakes work well but the front caliper needs adjusting or at least mine did because the rotor was rubbing against the pads. Make sure you swap out the seat, grips, and pedals. For the short run you'll be fine though. I've read that this bike isn't built yet for hard trails but I just need it for the city. PA has some of the worst roads and being in a mountain this was a great choice. Worth the investment!
Im 161cm tall and my bike is for heights 164cm to 173cm. I have a really hard time lifting the front wheel more than just a tiny little bit. What are the main things that would make this easier for the least amount of money?
Just got my first real mountain bike and the bars feel way too wide. I come from riding dirt bikes as a kid and motorcycles as an adult. I guess I'll see how I do on my first couple of trails. Also, the front brake is on the wrong side where the clutch lever is on a motorcycle.
He
Doddy,
My question is
Whats the difference between organic, metal, cinterd ect ect pads its always confused me ive always used cinterd year round. Whats the best pad for year round use?
Thanks in advance
Organic aka resin pads take less time to heat up and begin to be effective at braking, this means they'll work well immediately rather than taking time to warm up. Metallic aka sintered pads take a little more braking to warm up and become effective but when they do they're a bit more powerful. Also they last a lot longer in mucky wet conditions (organic pads can wear out in a few rides in bad conditions), are less likely to get glazed over by over heating, they also wear out the discs out a bit faster. All in all, metallic is generally better for winter because of durability and in summer they're both very similar and it depends what characteristics you want from your pads.
Hope this helps
@@michaelstewart9308 yes my metallic pads felt like they were eating the discs in the dry the other day when it was sunny. Back to resin for summer.
is there a difference between these two theoretical setups: flat bar with 20mm spacers under the stem or 20m rise bar with no spacers under the stem? In theory, the hand positions/locations should be exactly the same.
No they won't because as you move the stem up it travels slightly backwards as well due to the head angle.
I ran my brake levers angled high for a number of months and it ended up giving me muscle cramps and some tendinitis. It was causing me to rotate my wrists under too much. I lowered them back down and the situation immediately improved.
@@noahyudkin5458 Glad you caught it quick.
Doddy makes the bike so minuscule
A bit more of light would have shown us how you actually tied those cables together.
1:12 I have pretty wide shoulders and I find a wider bar way more comfortable to ride with. I have 2 bikes a hardtail XC bike and a full sus trail bike. They both have 760mm bars with 30mm+ rise (I think the hardtail is 32mm and the full sus 38mm). The hardtail has a Ragley 60mm flat stem down from the stock 100mm and the trail bike has a Nukeproof Horizon 50mm stem with 5 degree rise. It's the same length as the stock one but with 3 degrees extra rise. It makes it soo much easier to get the front end of that 15kg monster up. Both have DMR DeathGrips
18:11 or break a leg (seriously not joking)
90mm stem and 700 bars
Obvs an XC guy! ; )
Can those steering stoppers be purchased individually? I wouldnât mind having one, I donât do bar spins so have no need for my bars to spin 360 degrees
The problem I have is with the brake lever positioning in relation to the gears.
When the brake levers are setup for one finger braking, I need to loosen my grip and shuffle my hand to reach for a gear change.
It's physically impossible to have the gear level closer when the brake level is pushed so far away.
My gears and brakes are on separate brackets with the gears on the inside.
Is there a solution? Shorter brake lever maybe? Anything simpler
back brake RH side eeek , dont ever ride a motorbike , panic stop becomes an even bigger panic ;)
Doddy, I have the same breaks as you, however I have small hands so have adjusted them to fit my hands and finger reach, the only issue I have is when ever I want to put full lock/bite on my breaks the leaves blades are against the grips, How can I fix this
Shame none of the companies that make bike computers have thought about doing something to help you find it if lost. Their linked to your phone so it'd be easy to have some sort of alarm that you can activate if it's come off your bike and you're not totally sure where. Really easy for them to do as well.
There are a lot of these systems on Kickstarter. But from my friends experiences, none of these came to fruition or very poorly designed and not useable. Money gone. Their advice, the only system that works needs a sim card. So a proper GPS tracker running on a cellular network. This is how your cell phone's tracker works. This means a monthly mobile subscription in addition to your regular mobile phone fee. If you know of any system that still works when you are separated far enough from your bike and Bluetooth is disconnected, let us know. Any "crowd sourced" app only works if everyone else has purchased and running that app... good luck with that.
best advice dont change anything get used to it
Why is that your bike looks to small for you...
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