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The Vital MTB Crew
I really thought I was on an island by myself. But even though our island is now at least population 3, I think were still in the minority and will remain on our island.
Every single new brake that comes out from all the brands seems to tout 'more modulation'. I don't get it.
And in addition to my original statement, I prefer brake pads that produce the most friction and offer the strongest brake feeling (least squishy).
On the DH bike I run Saint 820's with the metal / finned pads, and on the AM bike XT 785's with metal / finned pads. ICE Tech rotors on both.
I use an app on my phone to measure the angle of the levers, a vernier guage to make sure the lever blades are the same distance from the grips and the bite point has to be the same - as little as possible. I also measure the distance the levers are mounted on the bar from the end of the grips.
Suspension and tyre pressure is closely followed, but these can vary slightly depending on conditions and mood/ability hahaha
for me, first one suspension set up, sag and rebound is the most important and after brake levers position for use 1 finger, saddle height stem lenght ( I like 40/50 mm short) and handlebar rise and lenght, tires tubeless or tr strong enough for enduro in rockgarden and a pressure about 2 bar on the front and 2,3/2,5, last but not least, the braking feeling I use shimano brakes disc and I love it.
I have short little stubs for fingers and I have to run the levers pretty close to the bar or my fingers barely reach. The negative to that is the levers usually bottom out on my knuckles before full pad engagement. It's quite a hassle to get the brakes set up for my child-like hands. Other than that, if it rolls, it goes.
Suspension: Coil up front, each ride over been increasing the HS/LS compression a click more. Rebound pretty fast. I'm still toying with the Vivid Air, but I'm at about 28% sag with a touch more LS compression.
Cockpit: recent convert to 50mm rise bars and am loving it, around 780mm wide. Stem has to be short, currently at 45mm. Also switched to Renthal Kevlar glue on grips, and that alone has made a huge difference with reducing arm pump. Love them. I've been toying with slightly flatter brake levers with positive results. I'm definitely enjoying trying different setups.
That and brakes. The levers have to be at exactly the same angle to each other and have the same bite point. I've got pretty long fingers and I like to have them engage pretty quickly and not too close to the bar. I've got a pair of Magura MT7s on my most recent build and they are the first lever that I can't get as close to the bar as I would like. They are great brakes in terms of lever feel and power, but I'm not sure what they were thinking when they designed that brake lever! I wear an XL size glove and definitely don't run my levers super close, if I can't get them close enough that's saying something! And who the heck designs a two finger lever for their brakes these days, especially on a brake as powerful as the MT7?!? Apparently the 2016 model has a lever that can be brought in closer to the bar, and the lever is retrofittable to the 2015s, but its pretty annoying to have to buy new levers just to get the basic ergonomics right on my expensive brakes! OK, rant over.
The more I think about it I'm pretty picky about a lot of things. I'm 6'3" with long legs and arms and a lot of my preferences have to do with my size. Having big hands I definitely prefer a thicker, but firm, grip. If they're super slim I just don't feel like there is much for me to hang onto. Cranks are another one, I've tried riding 170s for clearance, but they just feel kinda small and dinky to me. I'm on a Nomad with a pretty low BB, but I've found that I would rather run 175s and just be aware of trying to time my pedal strokes instead of switching to 170s. I ride a full width, 800mm bar, but I can get comfortable on anything down to 760mm given a bit of time to adjust to it.The nose of the saddle has to be pointing just a hair down on any bike where I spend any amount of time actually sitting on it.
Oddly enough even though I care about stem straightness when I'm setting up my bike it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference to me out on the trail. I knocked my stem a good ways off centre during a stage of the last enduro race I did. I didn't have any choice but to jump back on and keep going, and I actually nailed the rest of the stage. It was like my brain just recalibrated itself to recognize that having the wheel straight meant not having the bars straight. All that said, I don't get why all forks don't come with a mark running up the back of the steerer tube to indicate the midline?!? It would sure make lining up the stem a lot easier!
It drives me NUTS when I feel my handlebar is crooked, sometimes it feels like even perfect is not enough,
then tire pressure has to be tits
then suspension, but once thats set I forget about it.
And the distance from brake lever clamp to grip. the few times ive flown ive had to mark my bars up with a sharpie so im not messing about trying to get them where i want them.
I'm a technician/mechanic when a noise comes out it'll make me crazy nutzy coo-coo til I remove it
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