(leaves rustling)
(screams)
- How good is new bike day?
Such an amazing feeling getting a new to you bike.
But then, what?
If I get accustomed to my new Slash here,
I'm gonna share a few things that are really crucial
when setting up a fresh whip.
(upbeat music)
♪ All right, all right ♪
All righty.
So we've made it to one of Whistler's
finest trailheads here.
We're gonna set the bike up at the parking lot,
and then we're gonna take it on trail
to do some bit of deep bike pedal.
And then we're gonna take it out for some on trail testing.
Now, the first place I like to start
when setting up a brand new bike
is right here in the cockpit zone,
but more specifically the seat height.
Now, dropper posts these days
come in tons of different lengths
so it's really important that you pick the dropper post
that works for you.
Ideally when you're finding your correct saddle height
at the bottom of the pedal stroke around six o'clock,
you'll have a slight bend in the knee.
If you find that your leg is fully extended,
chances are it's probably gonna be quite straining
when you're climbing up hill,
as opposed to if it's way too bent here
when you're peddling in this position,
it's really gonna burn the quads.
So finding the correct height, very important.
All right y'all, bar width.
Everyone's favorite touchy subject,
but the truth is it's totally personal preference.
So ride what works for you and adjust if you need to.
For me personally, on the 29er,
having that front wheel just a little bit further away,
I actually like to run a slightly narrower bar
than say my downhill bike.
So I'm running 750 mil wide bars today.
Feels pretty good when I'm in the downhill position,
I've still got lots of room to go side to side.
But, see what you like, start with them a bit long
and cut them down if you need to.
Totally personal preference,
be your own buffalo.
And finally, we're onto the bar rule.
These bars are actually pretty cool
'cause they have a little indicator on them
so that you can match up your head tube angle
with the bar angle.
Now, even though I plan to take this bike
on some really big pedals,
I do not choose to save weight with my tires.
Instead I go for a nice mid weight tire.
These guys are the Super Gravity from Schwalbe Tires,
really puncture resistant
because honestly who has time to change flats
in the middle of the back country?
Definitely not me.
I'd rather go a little bit heavier
and ensure that I'm gonna have a smoother ride.
I'm running the traditional trail set up for me,
which is 18 PSI in the front, 19 in the rear.
Now, depending where you live,
what sort of terrain you're riding and your riding style,
you're gonna want to adjust those things
just for you to tune in your ride.
Because this ride is set up for big Enduro days,
we've got everything we need
pretty much installed on the bike already.
We've got a spare tube here.
We've got the pump with my EDC tool.
Got pretty much everything
I'm gonna need out there on the trails
in case of emergency,
water bottle,
and then obviously my awesome little snack pack,
which is full of good treats today.
(upbeat music)
We got, one,
two,
four, and my bar, five.
(upbeat music)
Okay, the true test though is
can your cage actually fit back on the bike?
Yeah, oh my God, this is my first (mumbles)
That's pretty sick.
I think that was like six cliff bars
and a full bag of Haribo.
So, that's all you need for like a six hour ride.
The suspension engineers out there
really know what they're talking about
when it comes to setting up a new bike.
So we've gone onto the websites.
We're gonna set our suspension
to the factory settings first,
and then we'll be ready to hit the trails
and make some adjustments along the way.
We've just set the suspension up for my riding weight.
So we're gonna do a quick little sag test here.
If you don't have, you know,
your nice truck here to hold you up,
maybe a friend can help you, get up on the bike,
bounce around a bit to lube up the seals,
push your O-rings down,
ever so gently, and then exit the bike.
All right, so we're sitting just around 30% sag in the rear,
about 15, 20% sag in the front.
They reckon that's just perfect for my body weight.
So I think it's time to hit the trails
and test this little baby out.
(upbeat music)
Just climbing up to our first descent now.
And I gotta say bike feels pretty awesome under me so far,
but let's be honest.
It's really all about the descending.
So, let's get this thing going downhill
and see how it really performs.
(upbeat music)
So far, the bike's feeling pretty great underneath me.
I'm really getting acquainted on these Blue trails,
but as you can see, I've used almost all of my rear travel,
but not quite the same with the front.
So I'm just gonna add five PSI to the rear,
stiffen it up a little bit
because next up we're going to the black trails
and I'm willing to see how this thing descends.
Before we level up to the Black Diamond trails
here, we're just gonna do a quick little bolt check
on the bike.
We've taken a couple laps, so it's not uncommon
for a new bike to have a few things rattle loose.
Luckily, I've got my little tool here
for trail side situations like this.
Uh, that was quite loose.
And that's why we bolt check people.
Alrighty, bike is feeling good.
I'm feeling warmed up and we're at the top of our first
single Black Diamond descent.
So I think it's time to let the bike shine,
do what it does best
and put it through its purpose.
(upbeat music)
So far, so awesome.
Bike feels good.
It definitely prefers descending.
Or maybe I prefer descending, who really knows.
But that little extra PSI we added in the rear shock
really helpful on the rougher terrain.
I'm not bottoming out at this moment,
which is exactly what we want when we're setting up a bike.
Something I did notice however,
in comparison to my older bike,
I'm able to slam the seat a little bit lower,
which is nice when you're descending,
but you gotta be careful the rear wheels not
sneaking up behind and catching you off guard.
(upbeat music)
That was a super fun day on the trails.
I gotta say the great thing about bikes these days
is they're all really awesome.
But taking time to dial in your new bike
is gonna be the difference in a good ride
and an amazing ride.
A few things to remember after that maiden voyage
are to clean your bike, tighten the bolts.
Don't forget to tension up those fresh wheels
and lube your chain because they don't stay new for long.
All right, see y'all on the trails.
(laughs)
How good is new bike day?
That'll be great for the outro.