Since I bought a bike that is technically a size too small for me (on purpose), there are some changes that will need to be made to make the bike fit me better. The bike came with a 90mm stem, which was nice for handling (quick change of direction) but I felt and looked really cramped in the cockpit. A quick guess that I need a 110mm stem by Isaac, who is the shops fitter so his guess carries some merit, and I decided I would try the change. He happened to have some no name stem sitting in his cubby at work in the correct length and I slapped it on today.
Immediately after hopping on the bike I felt really comfortable. I took it out in the parking lot for a quick spin and to hop up and down curbs just to make sure everything felt right. It does, but the steering is a touch slower, and it has changed the handling characteristics of the bike. Sometimes it's slower than I expect so it pushes a bit wider than I intend, but in other situations it seems to smooth out some of the Specialized twitchiness that bikes like the Tarmac and StumpJumper have. I'm excited about tomorrow's ride to see how the changes affect riding in the real world. I'm probably going to fall.
While I was out there, I also played around with my shock a little bit. For 2013 Fox changed from a normal rebound adjust to a 3 position system because their researched showed that no one ever uses the adjustment on their shock. Ever. Not even if there is a fire.
So they have a Climb/Trail/Descend or CTD adjustment system, where there is no adjustment for the climb or descend settings, and 3 adjustments for the trail setting they know you're going to spend 90% of your time in. After learning all of that, I decided I would play more with my shock because I'm a total nerd for that kind of stuff, but mostly because lately my shock has been rebounding way too fast off of small roots and rocks, popping my front wheel into the air.
It took me 30 seconds of playing in the parking lot to make that go away, but still have enough rebound to be able to pop up my front wheel by compressing the shock before getting the front wheel onto an object. It feels more balanced and I'm actually more curious how I will like it in the woods than I am about the stem.
The last thing I did was sand down my pads and rotors. I had taken to calling the Stumpy "The Angry Hamster" because it made all these annoying squealing noises when I got on the brakes. I also had a slight bend in the front rotor that I fixed. The bike is drastically quieter now and the braking performance seems a touch better.
All in all, I made 3 changes over the course of a half hour today that have drastically changed the performance of my bike. The stem is the only thing that would actually cost money, but since Isaac is just lending it to me until I order my own, it's a free upgrade for the moment. Sometimes is the little things like dialing in a shock, making the bike fit better, or just cleaning your brakes so they annoy you less that can make a bike feel new again. I highly recommend you take a day and make those changes so you enjoy riding your bike(s) again.
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