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From cockpit adjustments to tire pressure setting tips, these 5 changes will make your mountain biking safer, faster, and more comfortable.
No new mountain biker can set up their bike perfectly from the moment they hop on, but there are some basic setup mistakes that even experienced riders often make.
While bike setup is a deeply personal matter, we often see these common mistakes on the trails, and each one makes us laugh and cry.
Taking a few minutes to think about your bike’s setup can have an unexpected impact on its performance and comfort.
Why not take a look at our checklist below and start experimenting? You might just find a new setup that works best for you.
Brake lever angle
When riding steeper or more technical terrain, adjusting your brake lever angle can significantly improve control and comfort. It’s surprising how often you’ll see brake levers angled almost downward, close to the fork crown.
When you reach for the brake lever, your wrist rotates over the handlebars, shifting your center of gravity forward. If you encounter an unexpected bump, your wrist is also more likely to roll forward.
Adjusting your brake levers to a flatter position will cause your wrists to rotate behind the handlebars, allowing you to push up on the handlebars and feel more secure over bumps and jolts. We never set our brake levers above 40 degrees from horizontal; they’re usually set around 20 to 30 degrees.
If you also set the brake engagement point closer to the handlebars, you can reduce arm jerking.
Setting Up Your Suspension Correctly
Suspension systems can be a bit confusing, with all the knobs to tweak and air pressure to adjust. But the right suspension can change the character of your bike and make you faster.
If you have a full-suspension bike, getting the fork and shock to work together perfectly can completely change your riding experience. You want the fork and shock to react to impacts in a similar way—if the fork bottoms out when the shock is barely moving, your suspension system will be out of balance.
The same goes for damping—an overly damped suspension system (high fork compression and rebound damping) will make the ride feel sluggish, while a bike with too little damping will feel like riding a pogo stick.
Proper bicycle suspension setup requires three steps:
① Air preload—Inflate the suspension to 20%-30% of the total travel according to your weight, balancing the positive and negative air chambers;
② Damping adjustment—Low-speed compression damping controls cornering support, while rebound damping prevents bouncing;
③ Bracket fit—Select the correct size and add anti-skid reinforcement. Finally, a road test verifies suspension response and bracket stability to ensure safe and controllable riding.
Saddle sores
Regardless of gender, adjusting your saddle to the right angle will ensure you’re fully relaxed—after all, no one wants saddle sores.
Saddles with the nose tilted upward are more likely to cause discomfort, so we recommend tilting them slightly downward.
For most riders, we rarely recommend pushing the saddle all the way back—this actually lowers your seat tube angle, generally putting your hips in a worse pedaling position. It also shifts your center of gravity further toward the rear wheel, which is usually not a good idea on steep, technical climbs.
If your saddle is pushed all the way back in a set-back seatpost, your bike may be too small for you. This isn’t a golden rule, and your personal physiology may mean this approach is right for you, but generally, it’s best to avoid such extreme adjustments.
Tire Issues
As with suspension systems, determining the right tire pressure for a mountain bike requires some research and experimentation.
Determining the right tire pressure depends on your wheel/tire combination, weight and riding style, tire construction, and whether you use tubeless tires. It’s safe to say there are many variables to consider, and no rider can get it right the first time.
Choosing bicycle tires requires sizing based on the type of riding you do: For road bikes, a 700x25c size is preferred for a balance of speed and comfort; for mountain bikes, a 26×2.1-inch or wider tire is recommended for improved off-road grip. Pay attention to rolling resistance, wear resistance, and brand compatibility (e.g., Cheng Shin, Continental), ensuring compatible inner and outer tubes and valve types (Fars or Schrader). Tire pressure management is crucial: maintain 80-120 PSI for road bikes and 30-50 PSI for mountain bikes to optimize performance and safety.
Your spikes are too far forward
Riders have a strange tendency to install their clipless pedal cleats too far forward. The exact reason for this isn’t clear, but it’s generally not the right choice for the rider.
As with all bicycle components, there’s no set answer for installing and adjusting cleats, but it’s best to start in the middle before adjusting in any direction.
However, generally speaking, moving the cleats back is more likely to improve mountain bike control and reduce fatigue than moving them forward.
Why? When you encounter a bump or jump, your foot, ankle, and leg muscles must exert force to prevent the pedals from rotating backward. In this situation, your foot acts like a lever, and moving the cleats forward—effectively increasing the length of the lever—exacerbates this effect. Moving the cleats back reduces the force required to stop the pedals from rotating.
You often see riders on flat-pedal mountain bikes—whose foot position on the pedals is unrestricted—naturally adopt this position for this very reason.
Moving the cleats toward the midfoot can also distribute pedaling force more evenly across the foot, reducing discomfort.
Get these five things right and your mountain biking will be safer, faster, and more comfortable.