(logo swooshing)
- A couple of weeks ago I got to give you
a close look at my presenter bike.
And in the time that I've owned the bike,
I've made quite a few subtle changes to it
so that it really suits me and my riding style.
If you've ever wondered what pro setup hacks there are
for you to adapt your bike, stay tuned,
'cause I'm gonna show you some of my favorites now.
(laid back electronic music)
We're gonna start off with a really quick
and sensible way to improve the function
of a few of the components on your bike,
especially the ones that get slippery
when they're wet or on rough roads.
And all you're gonna need is a little bit
of self adhesive grip tape and a pair of scissors.
By adding little slithers of skate or deck tape
to your shifters, brake levers, and even carbon bars,
you can really increase your confidence
in always having maximum control.
This becomes especially useful in cold, wet conditions
where you may lose sensation in your fingertips.
And adding a little tape to the inside of your bottle cages
will help prevent your bottles sliding out
when on rough, bumpy roads.
I promise there's nothing more frustrating
than reaching down to have a drink when you're thirsty
and realizing you haven't got a bidon left.
One of the first things I would do on a new bike
is to check my tire pressures.
And whilst a trap pump is great
for setting your pressure in the first place,
nothing works quite as well as periodically checking
your tire pressures with a digital gauge.
A digital gauge can be your best friend,
especially when changing tire brands
and trying to establish that new baseline figure
on which to base all your other measurements.
Ooh.
Most pros can jump from bike to bike
with no issue whatsoever.
And the reason for this is the meticulous setup
in the first place, and then sticking to those measurements
from bike to bike or brand to brand.
And whilst the measurements don't always translate 100%,
and two bikes will rarely feel the same,
it's still a great place to start with
when you move to a different bike.
So keep an eye out of all your measurements.
Write them down somewhere safe, and enjoy.
Next up is the quick release.
And whilst this one is partly for aesthetics,
it's also for safety too.
What I like to do is tighten my quick releases up
into the frame as much as possible.
The reason for this is because in a bike race
you avoid hundreds of crashes.
And whilst most of the time it's quite rare
that anything should happen,
if a wheel was to go in between
the quick release and the wheel, it could flick it open,
so you'd have to stop and adjust,
or worse, it could hold you up
and you'd have to chase back on.
So keep them tucked up nice and neat,
and nice and tight too.
And finally, I'd advise you to only tighten them
when the bike is on the ground
with a little bit of weight on top of it.
And you can do them up pretty tight too.
Aim to keep your bike tidy and neat
by joining cables and wires together where possible.
You can do this using shrink wrap
or just black electrical tape.
Not only is this great for aesthetics,
but it's also good for aero too.
See how much neater that looks now?
Not all races or events are equal.
Subtle changes to saddle tilt or saddle height
can really work wonders for your comfort, your power output,
and your overall sensations when on the bike.
I'm not talking a lot.
Just a couple of millimeters could be enough.
Not all pedals are adjustable,
and you might find that you actually prefer
to unwind your release tension.
But for me, when I'm doing sprints,
I like to have absolute confidence
in my attachment to the bike.
And of course, your pedals are what's transmitting
all of that power to the rear wheel.
But as I said, you might actually feel more confident
in unwinding your release tension
so it's easier to clip in and out.
Have a play around with it until you find
a setting you're happy with, and then stick to it.
Not all levers fit all hands,
and you may find that you personally want to have
your lever a little closer to the bar,
so have a play around with the reach adjust.
And not all of us want minimum lever pull
before the pads start to bite on the rims.
I personally prefer mine to clip
about 2/3 of the way back through the lever pull,
the full bite happening just as the lever
starts to touch the bar.
Have a play around with yours
until you find a setting that you like.
Of course, with mine set up like this,
if it starts to rain or I use the brakes a lot on one ride,
I'm gonna be adjusting my brakes quite often.
What I would recommend as a starting point
is that the first third of the travel is free movement,
the second third of the travel is where the pad
really starts to bite on the rim,
with the final third being there
kind of for security as your pads wear down.
And for the real pro effect,
you want your pads to bang the rim just like this,
hitting nice and square and at the same time.
Now for that real pro feel, you're gonna want to reduce
the friction in literally every moving part of your bike,
so a lightweight oil in your brake cables,
in your gear cables, in the springs in your brake calipers,
in your hoods, in your derailleur, your bottom bracket.
And if you really want to go the full hog,
you can replace the grease in your hubs.
I should warn you though that if you want to do this,
you're gonna have to be stripping your bike down
pretty much every day.
It really is a race day only solution.
But it does feel good when you do it right.
Normally, bottom brackets don't spin all that easily.
But with the pointers I've just given you,
(bike gears whirring)
not a ceramic bearing in sight.
And of course, you can clean your free hub out too.
(bike wheel whirring)
For the ultimate pro tweak though,
nothing is going to beat a brand new chain.
This is a real favorite of mine,
as you can really feel just how much smoother
and faster a brand new chain is.
Fit one a few days before your big event or race,
completely degrease it, and then re-lube
each and every individual roller,
and you'll have the absolute, ultimate pro feel.
And if that wasn't enough,
just go absolutely overboard with the silicone spray.
It's what they all do, and that's why they look
so shiny in all of the pictures.
(aerosol can hissing)
I hope you found my pro setup hacks
both insightful and useful.
I would never consider riding my bike
without having a good play around with the setup first,
and I recommend you do the same.
My goal is to always create
a fast, confident bike that I enjoy riding.
So if you enjoyed this video
and you haven't already done so,
check out my Orbea presenter bike down here.
And if you enjoyed this, give me a big thumbs up.