This month, my son got in his new Rocky Mountain Reaper. The bike is sick! With 130mm of travel front and rear…it has to be one of the coolest kid mountain bikes I have ever seen. I have gone through the process of setting up new full suspension bikes a couple of times lately so I thought this would be the perfect time to lay out my process. This mountain bike setup process is perfect for getting riders ready for their first trail ride that are not used to setting up their own bikes. It works great and makes the rider a lot more confident and comfortable when you are ready to go hit dirt.
Initial Mountain Bike Setup
Chances are if the rider does not know how to setup the bike…they are not working on it either. I like to go through the entire bike and check things like torque specs, tire pressure, initial suspension air pressure and other items that might have been neglected over time. It even comes down to checking the alignment of the handlebars and whether or not the chain has been lubed.
These simple things can make a huge difference to how the bike performs on the trail. A good once over is great for any “getting ready to ride” process but it is probably even more important at this point. It is good to make sure everything is assembled, maintained and adjusted correct before they even throw a leg over the bike.
The Garage Stand Test
The next thing I like to do is to get the rider to stand and sit on the bike in the garage without it moving. This is a great time to get things like initial suspension pressure and saddle height at a good starting position before they start pedaling. I am also looking at other possible things that may need to be adjusted like handlebar width and positioning of brake levers/shifters.
I have found that the more effort you put into these beginning steps, the less the rider has to think about when they actually start pedaling the new bike.
The Neighborhood Shakedown Ride
I like to do this process in my neighborhood because it is a controlled atmosphere with some nice hills. The reality is that any paved area with some room to move around will work.
The idea with the neighborhood shakedown ride is that you have a controlled environment that is not a trail to get the rider used to the new bike and really fine tune the setup. During this time, I am riding with them watching saddle height, the suspension and overall comfort riding the bike. We normally make some fine adjustments to each of these as they start to ride over curbs and through some grass while also climbing in a controlled, smooth manner.
By the time you get done with the paved shakedown ride, the bike should be dialed and ready to hit dirt.
The Trail Shakedown Ride
I know I am not the only one that wants to take a new bike to the tech trail and really see what it can do. In my experience, that is a bad idea on a new bike. I like to take riders to an easy trail that isn’t too long for the first shakedown ride. In our case, that is a short loop near the house that is only about 2 miles. There are several reasons for this.
- It is close to a car if we need to fix anything.
- It is not overly technical so it is a great time to get used to the bike for the first time on dirt.
- We can really focus on making sure the bike is acting like it should on dirt without worrying about the rider getting in over their head initially.
Normally, if you have really put the time in on the steps above…the shakedown dirt ride is a great time just enjoying the new bike. In the case of my wife and my son recently, it was just that. We were able to get out and really enjoy the new bike on the first trail ride without the need to really adjust much at all. Also, since they both went up in wheel size, they already had an idea on how the bike was going to climb, turn and handle so the first trail ride didn’t have a lot of unknowns.
Still, on this trail ride I do have them ride in front of me so I can watch thing like saddle height, suspension and overall comfort riding. The most common adjustments on that first ride on dirt are normally suspension and positioning of the brake levers/shifters as that tends to feel differently on trails than it does in controlled situations where your hands barely move at all.
That is the Complete Process for New Mountain Bike Setup
Getting a new bike is really exciting for anyone who likes to mountain bike. Nothing is more frustrating than hitting the trail for the first time and having a lot of issues that take away from the ride. While it may take some time to get everything setup correctly before you go…it pays off a lot in the overall enjoyment of that first ride.