MTB postion vs. Road
bauerb said:
seems logical to make the mtb the exact same as my road bike, and since my road racing bike has been properly setup by my LBS with all my measurements, shouldn't I take my road bike to the LBS to have them measure it to get the exact same setup on my mtb? also, the new mtb(rush 800) has these crazy wide riser bars. I'm thinking of dumping them and getting straight bars cut down to the same width as my road bars. make sense?
Do you ride your mountain bike in the exact same terrain as your road bike? A lot of mountain bike positioning is set up for handling in the terrain that you ride in. For example, if you do a lot of downhilling, you'll want a more upright position, with the handlebars not too far forward so you can get your off the back of the saddle.
A few rules of thumb for typical MTB position, compared to road position:
Seat height: For cross-country, riders typically like their saddle to be the same height to up to 1cm lower than their road bike. Free-ride and downhillers might want to drop their saddle even lower still (dual slalom riders probably want it lower still).
Seat set-back: For cross-country, riders typically like their saddle with the same set-back to up to 1cm futher back than their road bike. Free-ride and downhillers - it generally depends on the geometry of the rest of the bike.
Handlebar height: For cross-country, riders typically have a little less drop from the saddle to the handlebars than for road bikes. Free-riders often like their handlebars a little above the saddle. Downhillers often like their handlebars higher still.
Handlebar reach: For cross-country, riders tend to prefer a slightly more upright position then their road bike, so the reach is often a few centimeters less than a road bike. Free-riders reach will probably be a few centimeters smaller still, and downhillers usually want their handlebars even further back (helps getting weight back).
Handlebar width: As others have said, you almost definitely don't want mtb handlebars as narrow as your road bars - you want maximum control over the front wheel, and longer handlebars make it easier to control steering torques. For cross-country, handlebar width is typically about 22-23", free-riders might want an inch or so more, and even wider for downhillers.