Bike
MTB
How to fine-tune your MTB riding position
Our essential guide on how to turn ‘comfy’ into ‘fast’ on your next ride.
Body position is critical to fast, smooth riding
© Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
Most mountain bikers are dyed-in-the-wool tech-heads and love nothing more than trawling through websites and magazines in the hunt for the latest product and riding kit.
And while it’s true that you can make your bike perform better by simply taking it to your quality local bike shop and emptying your wallet out on to the counter, it’ll still be down to you, the lump of meat and bone sat atop of it all, to actually ride it faster.
Getting comfortable on your bike is first and foremost of course, but how it connects with the three main contact points can make a huge difference to how fast you can go.
Here’s our guide to getting the most out of your next ride which should cost you no more than half an hour and a couple of turns of an Allen key.
Hands
Shimano Saint shifters and brake levers
© Bartek Woliński
Your hands are, unsurprisingly, pretty instrumental in how you pilot your bike, so where they're actually positioned on the bars can make a huge difference.
Firstly, there is no right or wrong when it comes to handlebar width, it’s simply size and feel dependent. Also, before cutting a bar down to size, think about where you naturally run your hands on the grips. Some people like the feel of just overlapping the ends. If this is the case, then make sure this is where your hands are located when setting up your controls.
Brake lever height is crucial too. If you naturally ride with your weight towards the rear then consider moving them closer to horizontal as this will help your hands and arms form a straight line.
If you naturally stay more central or further forward on your bike then you may want to tip them further down. Rolling your bars forward or back in the stem by a few degrees can have a big effect on riding position too.
In terms of brake lever reach, too far out can see you really reaching for your brakes and can contribute towards arm pump, while too close in can lead to pinching your other fingers between the blades and your grips – sub-optimal.
Grip width is considered by many to be important too, with super-skinny grips forcing those with bigger hands to hold on a bit tighter and generate the dreaded pump as a result. As with all things here, experimentation is key to finding out what works best for you.
Feet
Troy Brosnan stands to attention on his pedals
© Bartek Woliński
Your feet are responsible for both deploying power through the pedals and absorbing the forces coming up from the trail and so form another essential contact point. Flat-pedal riders can probably stop reading here!
If you clip in, then setting your cleats and pedals up properly is a fundamental thing. Most DH racers who run clipless-style pedals run their cleats slammed right back in the rails, towards the centre of the sole, to mimic flat pedals. Again though, the size of your feet can have a big effect on where you like them to be and too far forward or back can cause inefficient pedalling and, at worst, knee pain.
A drop of correction fluid can help mark the starting position of your cleat in the shoe before you start experimenting.
Ass
The Scott Spark 700 close-up
© Bartek Woliński
Ask any racing driver and they’ll tell you about the importance of being able to feel exactly what their car is doing underneath them via their gluteus maximus.Mountain biking is no different.
Although fast-flowing trails and descents are best tackled out of the saddle, getting it in the right position is key for efficient climbing. Perfectly flat may seem like the obvious angle of attack but when you think about it, with your weight on top of it, your bike will naturally sit into it’s sag. This means that whilst an unsagged saddle may sit dead level, once the BB dips under load, its nose will effectively tip upwards. Try dipping it by a few degrees on the flat to see what we mean.
Also, take a few seconds to check out where your saddle rails sit in the seat clamp. Moving a saddle forward or backward can help with seated reach, but can come at the expense of rear-wheel grip or front-end loft on steep climbs.
