Matching setups

[1speed]

Until I got the Niner RKT this year, pretty much all of my bikes were customized to some extent (meaning that I spec'ed out parts for each frame - I don't have any truly "custom" frames.) That basically means that all of my MTBs until now are very similar in geometry and feel. But given the supply issues and all that, I just kind of took what I could get with the RKT, so it's pretty much a stock 3-star XT build. So for the first time, I find myself with radically different geometries between bikes. The most obvious difference is the bar width - all of my SS's have 710 mm bars, but the RKT came stock with 780 mm (apparently, this is what they do on all models now - when I initially bought my Air9 RDO back in 2017, it came with 710 mm, but now that model also comes standard with 780 mm.) I really don't like the added width, so I'm swapping out the 780 for a 710. I also have a few other small tweaks to make - I'm not trying to match geometries between my Moots and the RKT exactly because that's kind of pointless considering the latter is a FS rig, but I do want to make them a little more similar to one another than they are right now. I don't like switching from one to the other and feeling like I have to adjust to the ride again every single time.

So do you all try to match up geometries across bikes? Or do you kind of treat every bike as its own animal and ride it as-is?

 

[jmanic]

@Norm may have something to say here.
I recall a time when he had all the bikes as similar as possible (road, cross, MTB).

 

[Pearl]

Thanks to @stb222 I just got this a couple weeks ago:

Ryden Bikes

Where tradition meets technology Ryden Bikes was founded by Darren Ryden, a part-time frame builder creating high-performance bicycles that balance a blend of tradition and technology, all fabricated one by one from a workshop in Berkshire, UK.

ryden.bike

It works really really well. I have the saddle fore/aft/height on all my drop bar bikes exactly the same. Since each of the three do different things, the bars/reach is a little different, but if I wanted to move those, I could too.

 

[1speed]

Thanks to @stb222 I just got this a couple weeks ago:

Ryden Bikes

Where tradition meets technology Ryden Bikes was founded by Darren Ryden, a part-time frame builder creating high-performance bicycles that balance a blend of tradition and technology, all fabricated one by one from a workshop in Berkshire, UK.

ryden.bike

It works really really well. I have the saddle fore/aft/height on all my drop bar bikes exactly the same. Since each of the three do different things, the bars/reach is a little different, but if I wanted to move those, I could too.

That is a very cool tool. Might have to invest in one of those.

 

[Pearl]

Good overview, I can’t imagine it not working on the mtb too.

 

[Norm]

@Norm may have something to say here.
I recall a time when he had all the bikes as similar as possible (road, cross, MTB).

There once was a time. Saddle height was the most important thing. But bar width is tough to match, road & mtb.

 

[Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST]

My road and gravel bikes are almost identical. Other than wider 44cm bars on the gravel bike.
All bikes have the same crank length 170mm and therefore have the same saddle hight.
All 4 bikes have the same saddle.
Both MTB bike have the same bars and pedals. It just easier when everything is familiar.

 

[Jeremy]

Thanks to @stb222 I just got this a couple weeks ago:

Ryden Bikes

Where tradition meets technology Ryden Bikes was founded by Darren Ryden, a part-time frame builder creating high-performance bicycles that balance a blend of tradition and technology, all fabricated one by one from a workshop in Berkshire, UK.

ryden.bike

It works really really well. I have the saddle fore/aft/height on all my drop bar bikes exactly the same. Since each of the three do different things, the bars/reach is a little different, but if I wanted to move those, I could too.

Wait, you PAID for that?

 

[Pearl]

Wait, you PAID for that?

Bro. I know. I was kinda mad I did too. Its a ruler with 3d printed stuff. The phone holder makes it though. I’m sure I coulda made my own with way more effort versus what I paid, but I’m at the point where I could close my eyes and sit on any of my 3 bikes and I can’t tell the difference on my taint

 

[Karate Monkey]

Wait, you PAID for that?

Bro. I know. I was kinda mad I did too. Its a ruler with 3d printed stuff. The phone holder makes it though. I’m sure I coulda made my own with way more effort versus what I paid, but I’m at the point where I could close my eyes and sit on any of my 3 bikes and I can’t tell the difference on my taint

I use string and a $6 360° level to duplicate setups on $10k bikes. Add a couple of small toggles if you don't trust yourself to hold the string. Haven't gotten complaints yet.

(And they get tweaked immediately...embrace the difference)

 

[Pearl]

I use string and a $6 360° level to duplicate setups on $10k bikes. Add a couple of small toggles if you don't trust yourself to hold the string. Haven't gotten complaints yet.

(And they get tweaked immediately...embrace the difference)

I don’t trust myself.

 

[stb222]

Wait, you PAID for that?

Pearl might be the only person in the world this makes sense for considering he builds up a new-to-him frame, or paints a frame every 3 months.

 

[1speed]

Wait, you PAID for that?

Bro. I know. I was kinda mad I did too. Its a ruler with 3d printed stuff. The phone holder makes it though. I’m sure I coulda made my own with way more effort versus what I paid, but I’m at the point where I could close my eyes and sit on any of my 3 bikes and I can’t tell the difference on my taint

Meh, I see the logic in just buying it. I long ago reached the point where I'd rather pay for a tool like this than make one myself. I do most of my own maintenance on all my bikes, and TBH, I'd rather spend the time just making the adjustment than making the tool THEN making the adjustment. And on top of that, I know a guy who 3D prints tools and I'd be more than happy to throw some money his way to make me something like this (@xc62701 knows the guy I'm talking about - they share a last name 😀.)

 

[xc62701]

Meh, I see the logic in just buying it. I long ago reached the point where I'd rather pay for a tool like this than make one myself. I do most of my own maintenance on all my bikes, and TBH, I'd rather spend the time just making the adjustment than making the tool THEN making the adjustment. And on top of that, I know a guy who 3D prints tools and I'd be more than happy to throw some money his way to make me something like this (@xc62701 knows the guy I'm talking about - they share a last name 😀.)

Yep, that's my cousin. He's gotten crazy into 3d printing everything. He's got way too much time to come up with some of the stuff he does. 😉 With that being said he's got some amazing stuff.

 

[tonyride]

My cross country hardtail has very different frame geometry compared to my full suspension train/enduro bike so just the frame difference makes it impossible for me to match up the geo on all of my bikes not to mention my gravel bike which is totally different. I mean people with multiple mountain bikes tend to have different types of mountain bikes with different frame geometries, no? I mean why would someone have 3 cross country bikes or 3 enduro bikes. I don't know, maybe I misunderstood the question.

 

[Pearl]

My cross country hardtail has very different frame geometry compared to my full suspension train/enduro bike so just the frame difference makes it impossible for me to match up the geo on all of my bikes not to mention my gravel bike which is totally different. I mean people with multiple mountain bikes tend to have different types of mountain bikes with different frame geometries, no? I mean why would someone have 3 cross country bikes or 3 enduro bikes. I don't know, maybe I misunderstood the question.

Your saddle height and fore/aft position will likely be the same in relation to the bottom bracket. Unless were going from a XC race bike to an enduro/dh bike, it should likely be the same measurement

 

[Steve Vai]

Each displine requires it's own thing so outside of Saddle Height/fore/aft nothing matters. FS Trail will always be different than SS hardtail, Gravel is shorter and taller then Road. Road Race vs Endurance is a different fit. Even Fixed to Gears on Road is a different fit.

 

[tonyride]

outside of Saddle Height/fore/aft nothing matters.

that's basically what I'm saying. Aside from the positioning of the saddle, I would imagine everything else would be different depending on the intended purpose of that specific bike. On my bikes the reach is different, crank arms are different, forks are different but they all fit me.

 

[stb222]

Each displine requires it's own thing so outside of Saddle Height/fore/aft nothing matters. FS Trail will always be different than SS hardtail, Gravel is shorter and taller then Road. Road Race vs Endurance is a different fit. Even Fixed to Gears on Road is a different fit.

Lenosky had that pretty good video explaining this.

 

[Pearl]

We’re saying the same thing. If you know bike X fits you and you want your gravel bike to fit close to the same, maybe the stem is higher, you know that you want it +20mm, you have that data to do so. I don’t think this is a bad thing to know?