Do I just copy the measurements off my road bike or go back to the fitter?
I’m training for a MTB stage race in South Africa next March (www.cape-epic.com), so the goal is to a have an efficient comfortable positions like I have on my road bike.
There was a pretty good post on this not too long ago. The poster was wondering primarily about the seat height between road, mountain, tri bikes. If you can’t find it, someone will probably post up with the link.
These are two totally different machines. Apples and oranges. Only triathletes would try to replicate their road position on a mountain bike.
Get on the MTB, and understand that it is all about finding your center of balance according to your riding style. Don’t look for some weird correlation concerning fit taken from a non-MTB’er here on ST…just ride the bike a lot, and as your skills improve and as you ride more you’ll figure out what position works for your riding style. Some xc racers prefer to be forward and some like to ride a little more behind the bb. Everyone’s body is different, and every frame is different. Things in teh MTB frmae world aren’t standardized in the same manner as they are with tri bikes and road bikes. A MTB fit is all about finding the balance point that works for you and your riding style, and you will achieve that by…you guessed it…riding a lot, and experimenting.
I, like many xc guys, ride a high saddle. I am an xc racer turned triathlete. I have am extensive xc background, and spent many years racing MTB’s at a national level. I have never once given thought to how my xc race bike was set up in relation to my road bike or tri bike - it just doesn’t work that way. A MTB will feel different, and it should…it’s a completely different setup, and the bike itself has a different center of gravity. Will riding different bike positions screw you up? Not on your life - it will probably help. Look at it this way…the bonus of riding both MTB and road is that between the two positions you will inevitably strengthen more of the legs than if you rode in the same position day in, day out on the same bike. I like to think that racing xc MTB’s teaches you to spin more efficiently and works your hamstrings/glutes more effectively than road, not to mention the obvious…killer LT work.
Figure out your position by experimentation, and the effects changes have on the handling characteristics. Go by feel. I will quite often make small (micro) adjustments to my saddle height pre-race until I feel just right that day, just like I would make adjustments to my tire pressure. Go by feel, go fast, and see what works best for you. DON’T listen to a bunch of tri geeks that say “I ride my MTB 3x each year, and this is what works for me.” Do what the xc racers do. Ride a lot, and dial in your own fit - you WILL figure out what works for you and what doesn’t.
Thanks GG, that is good advice.
Just to follow up a bit, I do a lot of MTB endurance racing - 8hr & 24hr - and what you have to remember is that you’re not in a static postition like you are on a road or tri bike. You’re constantly moving around, so it really is a question of finding your comfortable balance point though time in the saddle. Play around with saddle height and fore-aft positioning, and you’ll notice immediate changes…some good, some bad. The changes that you make, and whether these changes are good or bad, are all dependant on your riding style.
Once you have your optimal position dialed in, you could go see a fitter to tweak it, but even very few elite xc guys ever do this. I’ve only read about a couple of world cup guys doing this, and it was done by their coach in conjunction with power data. There isn’t much need for a MTB fit, and any shop that tells you to buy a MTB ‘fit session’ from them is scamming you. There aren’t really any MTB “fitters” out there, and there is no standardized method of fit at the elite level.