[Closed] Finally perfecting a bike

I swapped tyres, lowered the stem by one spacer, rolled the bars forward and rode it...

Built mine in September. Should be sorted by the end of May, assuming no more delays on parts. (Cranks with a larger Qfactor, trigger shifters for pinion GB, ossum brakes)

I’ve ridden it 4 miles 😂

If you think Ground Controls are bad you are not going to like Rocket Rons unless you are riding smooth trails in the dry.

(it’s incredibly smooth somehow, perhaps it’s the NW chainring?).

Perhaps it's new chain / chainring / cassette (delete the ones you haven't swapped)? Has it really taken you two years to not change a set of tyres you hate?

The Solaris was just about spot on from the start, just needed to swap out the Ardent on the rear for a Bontrager XR3. Might have added a spacer under the stem but it was five years ago so can't really remember.

The Spearfish has taken a lot longer: getting the suspension sorted probably took the longest. Just about getting the fore-aft position of the saddle in the right spot to improve climbing.

I think sometimes you just jell with a bike and there's not much you need to do.

I doubt a Trek Superfly came with Specialized tyres as standard so I assume there has been at least one change already.

Has it really taken you two years to not change a set of tyres you hate?

Yeah, but they worked just about well enough. On wet rocks they are awful. I couldn't justify the cost of binning usable tyres but now the rear has worn out so now I can. It's done fewer miles and far fewer road miles than the Ralph on the back of my Salsa which still looks new and has more grip.

Rocket Rons in new Addix compound get good reviews and I like my Racing Ralphs so I'm prepared to give them a go. Not a shot in the dark because I have used quite a few Schwalbe tyres.

I doubt a Trek Superfly came with Specialized tyres as standard so I assume there has been at least one change already.

I bought the frame second hand.

I think sometimes you just jell with a bike and there’s not much you need to do.

Well, I think any bike needs the right set-up for you; sometimes it comes that way out of the box and sometimes it doesn't. I think though that provided it's the right size and designed for the style of riding you want it for that most bikes can be sorted.

Saddle is all I change immediately, then tweak as things wear out. Still have stuff I'd like to do to my 12 year old hardtail. So the new Whyte had a nice Hope BB when the SRAM one gave up, that's all so far. Know someone the other end of the spectrum - got a new £5.5k bike last month, and it has new wheels/brakes/saddle/bars/chainring/jockeys etc. etc.

My tandem? Owned it well over a decade and bought it secondhand. Before I got it it had a 48 spoke front wheel and a 100mm fork added ( 20mm axle) and a thudbuster. First thing was to sort out a comfy seating position for the stoker - narrow swept back bars and a nice ladies saddle - I think we tried 3 different saddles, a couple of stems and half a dozen bars before settling on the ones we have now. The the same for the front seat - wider bars and a new saddle. Only a couple of blind alleys here. Then we blew up the shimano rear hub so went to a hope big 'un. Also went from 3x9 to 2x9 as we kept busting chainrings on rocks - 3 bashguards added as well. Then we blew that up a couple of times so ended up with a rohloff. Fork got changed for a 150mm travel one - which needed modification to suit ie some mechanical preload on the spring and altered damping characteristics. The 100 mm fork had also been modified but I was never happy with the damping. Brakes chaned from silver hope 4 pots to black six pots.

Over the years we have veered more to touring "gravel" riding than mtbing as we got older. So luggage carrying was increased with a trailer that was also modified. Tyres? Changed to suit what we were doing and loads of different ones tried, anything from 1.3 slicks to 2.3 knobblies

All that is left of the bike as it came out of the factory is the frame and cranksets - and they are getting very worn looking so are next to be changed.

Now - its just as I want it. I have all the bits to put it into different trims for what we are doing. road based tour? 100 mm fork and 4 panniers with 1.75 tyres. Offroad tour - 150 mm fork, trailer and 2.3 inch tyres with a dual ply rear - and that can be either full on knobblies or a dry hardpack type tyre. Day out? Ditch all the luggage carrying stuff. Gonna be muddy? DH knobblies

its now just as I want it. Nothing more to do to it.

I don't really tinker with mine in a detailed way like that, it's easy to get hung up on it and spend a fortune focussing on stuff that doesn't really matter (to me). (EDIT: not a reference to you TJ.)

I should add almost everything was done with second hand parts or cheap deals

Most of the time I just build a bike with the bits I know work anyway - the only bits I've changed on my Transition Patrol over the 2.5 years I've had it are bits that have broken and upgrading the dropper post to a 150mm one when they came out.

My Trek Stache I built up for one job, normal trail riding, and left it in that configuration for a year and a half but when I decided to go XC racing again I changed the forks, bars, stem, brakes, cranks and saddle for lighter ones and it's a better ride now.

Funny enough a Rocket Ron Addix Speed has just turned up on my desk at work. I’m just going to use it as a rear. Would have preferred the ‘Grip’ version – but they don’t make it in 26”. Cost me £35.55 delivered from Bike Discount (cheapest I could find it in stock anywhere). Not sure if it’ll help me towards perfection – but you never know! For me, the recent 1x conversion and fitting a dropper (2 rides ago now) have been the biggest improvement to my riding experience. Before that, it was changing to flats after 20 years of SPD’s, (I just seem to move about on the bike more and get more out of it – once I got used to it).

Well. The Rons are much better, especially the speed on the rear, I got loads more grip on the slippery rocks on the climbs which helped me get the power down more. The front is nice and secure but one must remember they are still skinny fast rolling XC tyres, lest on get too carried away and very nearly have a massive crash on off-camber wet roots.

Bought a cheap Carbon Jekyll 2 from Paul's Cycles.
Very rapidly went 1x11, elliptical chainring, longer Reverb, carbon wheels, 2 different sets of tyres, carbon bars and new silicone grips, longer dropper, different shock / Lefty tune, offset bushings, Hope Tech3 V4 with floating rotors, new saddle.
All felt better so a massive boost in confidence in most situations.

https://flic.kr/p/VEepzC

Bought a secondhand BMC MC01 singlespeed with belt drive. All I've done on that is swap to and fro between 2 saddles and can't seem to make my mind up on which I prefer. I've also played with the tyres. Currently have some 23mm Vittoria but have fitted some 32mm at the end of last year for 'gravel. I think that is all i intend to do, with no gears it really brings it home to me that I am the weakest link.
I may get a second set of (hopefully) lighter wheels for easier swaps between tyres but that is all it needs. EDIT: Just remembered changing to a 10mm shorter stem that I had laying around.
It is much easier to see when improvements are made on this bike as I do the same route so often in much more consistent conditions.
https://flic.kr/p/SWgk7m

Put a 10mm shorter stem on, bars with a bit more rise and sweep and changed the saddle and grips. Still endlessly faffing with the rear suspension though

Ha! Should have read the advice earlier - first ride tonight with the Rocket on the back and first ‘proper’ crash in years. Can’t blame the tyre really - ambition outstripped ability this time, but yes it is a fast tyre alright... which ‘might’ have been a factor! I think the Soul might now be setup as Cotic intended (6 years ago), it’s feeling like a much more fun, livelier bike with the recent mods. might even go get really modern and go tubeless one day!

None of mine are perfect, never will be. My Remedy's absolutely superb and the rear suspension the best I've ever ridden but the 36s could do with an upgrade and if I could put an inch into the reach and take a degree or two off the head angle I would. My fatbike could be lighter, my Soul could take a bigger seatpost for dropperness. Perfect's more or less unobtainable

, it’s feeling like a much more fun, livelier bike with the recent mods. might even go get really modern and go tubeless one day!

This is what ridings all about for me. I'll happily swap a bit of grip for a fast rolling lively feel. Currently got a Ron on the front and a Ralph on the back. Deffinetly go tubless concrete, being able to drop your tyre pressure helps with grip tremendously 👍👍

Perfect’s more or less unobtainable

A bike build is perfect when it's set up as good as it can be, for me; the best combination of components and configuration to make the best of the frame. Of course a build can always have more expensive wheels or whatever, but that's just spending money, not fettling things.

My bike set up seems to need changing regularly. I think I have worked out the main reason for this is that my back is in varying degrees of discomfort according to how much my kids need lifting up that week!

It’s mostly simply the length though...which I adjust (fairly unsatisfactorily) with the seat. If only I had an adjustable stem 😉

How long did it take you to sort your bike, and what did you have to do?

Never have the same frame long enough but each time I change frame it takes about 10 minutes to sort it out (sometimes change of stem length and sometimes change of saddle fore/aft). I am cheating though as I ride a bike with minimal parts to actually change.

Do you ever really get a bike perfect? It seems an ever moving feast for me. My Mojo Hd4 is by far and away the best bike I have ever owned/ridden! And there have been many, I have it setup about spot on for me now, but even then I’m likely to change the brakes in the near future. Pedals will need changing as will contact points, plus I’m alway on the hunt for different tyres...I love it just how it is, but always looking for the extra 1%...pointless at my riding level, but it’s part of the sport I really enjoy

Even with a custom build it's difficult to get right straight away. I don't think you can truly know how to perfect it until you've put a good few miles on a bike. Not only that but the type of riding I do has changed too.
Since building my trail bike in September 2016 I've made these changes...
Lengthen the fork travel
shortened the stem
fatter grips
lighter and wider wheels
bigger and more aggresively treaded tyres
gone from 2x11 to 1x11 drivetrain
changed the reverb dropper from hydraulic to cable actuator
moved the seat forward.
Perfect? No, but getting close!

Do you ever really get a bike perfect?

Good point, I wonder how much of the "my bike is perfect" is about emotional investment in research and purchasing, aspirations and reading reviews online.

Perfect? Hard to reach but you can get incrementally close to it.

For me its certainly not about the purchase only the function as most of my stuff is bought second hand. However the process is quite satisfying - of selection and of fitting parts. so similar to what al says but without the aspirational elements of buying the latest and greatest. IE all my bars are unfashionably narrow - cos that suits me.

I'm happy to try new things on my bikes so they tend to go through a few stages of "perfection". Partly it's because I enjoy the fettling, partly it's a way to learn about new stuff (and how to fit/maintain it), partly it's just making sure I'm not missing some development that might improve things.

For example, Jones Loop handlebars - if you don't try them, how can you tell if they are any good? I tried and came to the conclusion they worked well for some riding and now have them on two bikes. Alternatively, I tried hub gearing and just didn't get on with it. So, somethings become permanent changes on the way to perfection, others get dropped. I guess most of us have done this with tyres over the years. Of course, there's a cost element to this too, that's why some of my experimentation starts with the second hand market.

Even with a custom build it’s difficult to get right straight away.

Very much this.

The other bike I've built from scratch, since its was first built I've:

Changed the fork (Revelation to Pike)
Changed the shock (Fox to CCDB, back to Fox after I lost some of the shock mounting hardware :-/)
Changed the pedals (Burgtec to RF to XT trail SPD, now alternate between clips and flats)
Tyres (but to suit dry/wet)
Changed to a longer reverb
Changed stem, for no reason other than the new one was blingier.
Added an extra gear (1x11 to 1x12).

At no point has the bike been anything other than perfect, it's just kit has improved over the last 5 years (stiffer forks, longer droppers, moar gearz) and I like nice things.

Oddly, when I've bought full bikes off the shelf, I seem to not chop and change parts so much.

My hardtail has taken ages to get ride. Built from a frame and various second hand parts.

Gear set up was pretty easy - Sunrace cassette 10spd, XTR mech and Saint shifter. But XTR mech didn't have clutch and dropped chain a lot, so swapped for an XT clutch one.
Brakes were fine (Hope ones) and never need tweaked other than angle on bars and a bleed after a while.
Pike fork has been great. Just had it serviced and putting all the settings in the middle seems to work nicely. Going to have a wee play with settings at bike park to get it perfect.
Went through a few droppers. All broke other than the Gravity Dropper I now have. Which gums up a bit sometimes but a spray of WD40 gets it going again. Upgraded the lever though cos the stock one is crap and broke
Wheels (Hope/Stans) have been fine other than some issues with tubeless set up. All good now though. Tyres (Hans Dampf/XR3) have been excellent.

Other than that I've just got the contact points perfect (new grips, vibrocore bars and plastic flat pedals).

So feeling good! So good I finally replaced the purple bottom headset cup with a red one to match everything else. Final bit of tarting.

I do this all the time.

Got to the point where I had a hardtail ansd FS, both exactly the spec I wanted, loved both. Had no need to upgrade anything.

So I bought a frame, built it up cheaply from spares. upgraded it.

Perfect. now have three bikes. No need to upgrade anything.

So I bought a gravel frame.....

@honourablegeorge

I did something similar

I needed to make two bikes, a 170mm DH smasher and an XC singlespeed hardtail, into one that was more of an all rounder.
Bought frame, took different parts off 2 bikes to make it into a bike. This left 2 part built bikes.
I ended up with 3 fully built bikes.

It seems an ever moving feast for me.

It is, because I keep trying new things and that affects my other bikes - e.g.

IE all my bars are unfashionably narrow – cos that suits me

I had narrow bars on 26ers, but when I got my 29er I went to fit a narrow bar and it was awful. The front wheel was just too big. So I went wider (still only 680mm mind!) which was much better. I then rode the 29er a lot and suddenly all the others felt silly narrow by comparison. A lot of it is what you're used to but that is driven by some other factors. The Patriot is miles better with a 760mm bar and 50mm stem as opposed to the 660mm bar and 90mm stem it came with! But back then we didn't know any better, and it's what we were used to.

The Trek is more modern and it's designed around bigger wheels and wider bars. So it would be rubbish with narrow ones on. Ok so 710mm is still narrow by modern standards, perhaps because I'm still old-school in that respect.

I generally get my bikes as right as possible quite quickly. Although as I tend to hold on to frames for a long time - 5 years’ish, they do evolve as new stuff comes out.

It would take me much longer if I was working to a strict budget or morally felt I had to wear stuff out before upgrading.

I’m lucky to have a reasonable amount of cash to spend, most of the time and I always ensure parts are re-used on the kids bikes, friends bikes or helping out someone in a bit of a pinch.

I think over time I have just become better at adapting to bikes and what they are suited for.
As long as it's roughly within my size range I only ever make small changes.
It helps that I can go for off the peg sizes.
If I was still racing maybe I would be a bit more fussy on some details.