12
SECTION: III Fit
If your leg is not completely straight and
just touching the center of the pedal,
your saddle height needs to be adjusted.
If your hips must rock for the heel to
reach the pedal, the saddle is too high. If
your leg is bent at the knee with your heel
on the pedal, the saddle is too low.
Once the saddle is at the correct height,
make sure that the seatpost does not
project from the frame beyond its “Mini-
mum Insertion” or “Maximum Exten-
sion” mark (Fig. 4).
If your bike has an interrupted seat tube, as is the
case on some bikes with rear suspension, you
must also make sure that the seat post is far
enough into the frame so that you can touch it
through the bottom of the interrupted seat tube
with the tip of your finger without inserting your
finger beyond its first knuckle (see Fig. 5).
WARNING:
If your seat post projects from the frame beyond the
Minimum Insertion or Maximum Extension mark (see Fig. 4)
or
you
cannot touch the bottom of the seat post through the bottom of the
interrupted seat tube with the tip of your finger without inserting your
finger beyond its first knuckle (see Fig. 5), the seat post may break, which
could cause you to lose control and fall.
2.
Front and back adjustment.
The saddle can be
adjusted forward or back to help you get the
optimal position on the bike. Ask your dealer
to set the saddle for your optimal riding posi-
tion and to show you how to make further
adjustments.
3.
Saddle angle adjustment.
Most people prefer
a horizontal saddle; but some riders like the
saddle nose angled up or down just a little. Your dealer can adjust
saddle angle or teach you how to do it.
Small changes in saddle position can have a substantial effect on perfor-
mance and comfort. Only one directional change at a time, and only a small
change at a time, should be made to your saddle position.
WARNING:
After any saddle adjustment, be sure that the saddle adjusting
mechanism is properly tightened before riding. A loose saddle clamp or seat
post binder can cause damage to the seat post, or can cause you to lose
control and fall. A correctly tightened saddle adjusting mechanism will allow
no saddle movement in any direction. Periodically check to make sure that
the saddle adjusting mechanism is properly tightened.
Fig 4
Fig 5
Fig 3
SECTION: IV Tech
21
wheel “locks up” (stops rotating) and starts to skid.
Once the tire skids, you actually lose most of your
stopping force and all directional control. You need to
practice slowing and stopping smoothly without lock-
ing up a wheel. The technique is called progressive
brake modulation. Instead of jerking the brake lever to
the position where you think you’ll generate appropri-
ate braking force, squeeze the lever, progressively
increasing the braking force. If you feel the wheel
begin to lock up, release pressure just a little to keep the
wheel rotating just short of lockup. It’s important to
develop a feel for the amount of brake lever pressure
required for each wheel at different speeds and on
different surfaces. To better understand this, experi-
ment a little by walking your bike and applying differ-
ent amounts of pressure to each brake lever, until the
wheel locks.
When you apply one or both brakes, the bike begins to
slow, but your body wants to continue at the speed at
which it was going. This causes a transfer of weight to
the front wheel (or, under heavy braking, around the
front wheel hub, which could send you flying over the
handlebars).
A wheel with more weight on it will accept greater
brake pressure before lockup; a wheel with less
weight will lock up with less brake pressure. So, as
you apply brakes and your weight is transferred
forward, you need to shift your body toward the rear
of the bike, to transfer weight back on to the rear
wheel; and at the same time, you need to both de-
crease rear braking and increase front braking force.
This is even more important on descents, because
descents shift weight forward.
Two keys to effective speed control and safe stopping
are controlling wheel lockup and weight transfer. This
weight transfer is even more pronounced if your bike
has a front suspension fork. Front suspension “dips”
under braking, increasing the weight transfer (see also
Section IV.F.). Practice braking and weight transfer
techniques where there is no traffic or other hazards
and distractions.
Everything changes when you ride on loose surfaces or in
wet weather. Tire adhesion is reduced, so the wheels have
less cornering and braking traction and can lock up with
less brake force. Moisture or dirt on the brake pads
reduces their ability to grip. The way to maintain control
on loose or wet surfaces is to go more slowly to begin with.
Fig 10
Fig 12
Fig 13
Fig 11
Fig 14
