Your Mountain Bike’s Cockpit | Our Detailed Setup Guide

by | Aug 28, 2020 | Bike Setup, Bike, Featured, Skills & Setup, Sports

Here is all you need to know about getting your mountain bike cockpit setup dialled in for comfort and performance.

The mountain bike cockpit (handlebars, stem, grips, and levers) is a place of near endless customisation and tweaking. Many riders don’t realise the depth of performance and comfort enhancements that lie within a few twists of an Allen key in the cockpit region. In this article we’ll break down the process for you and explain the effects of each major adjustment that can be made so that you can get to tweaking making the most of the free performance gains waiting there on your bike!
We have 3 detailed bike setup articles for you to dig into. We’ll cover the cockpit in this one and then your contact points over here, and the basics of your suspension setup here. First up in cockpit setup is the handlebars.

Mountain Bike Cockpit Setup Handlebar Width And Brake Lever Angles
From stem height to brake lever position, there is a lot to tweak when it comes to mountain bike cockpit setup!

Mountain Bike Cockpit Setup: Handlebars

Looking at the handlebar there are 3 main factors to consider. Those are width, rise, and roll.

Handlebar Width

Wider bars (typically around 780mm on trail bikes) will offer you more leverage over the front of your bike and a more stable platform for your body to balance on, thus increasing your control over the bike. The width of your handlebars will depend on how big you are and some personal preference. You can use this helpful calculator to get a ballpark figure for your ideal handlebar width.
We dig into the nitty gritty of handlebar width in this article. 780mm is a fairly standard length for gravity focussed handlebars these days and 740-760 for marathon style riding, being a bit lighter and more aerodynamic. Smaller riders are likely to be too stretched out on a 780mm bar and might want to cut theirs down to 760-740mm. Pay attention to your hand position on your grips next time you’re riding and ask yourself if you’d feel more comfortable with your hands wider on closer together.

You should cut down your bars in 5 or 10 mm increments to find what works best if you need to go narrower. You can do this with a pipe cutter or a hacksaw at home but if you’re unsure, your local bike shop can help you out.

Going wider means buying a new handlebar unfortunately but you can always try out a wider bar from a friend before you go ahead and spend on a new one for yourself.

Handlebar Rise

The rise of your handlebars affects your weight distribution on the bike. Rise is understood as the height that they sweep up from the stem to the grips. 25-30mm would be a high rising bar, 10-15mm would be on the lower end and then there are of course flat bars which are more common for XC and marathon riding. 40 and 50+ mm options are available for those wanting to go really high.

High rise bars will give you more comfort and control on longer and steeper descents. They bias your weight more rearwards and onto your feet but can also allow you to feel more confident in weighting the front end for cornering.  So your weight is biassed further back but you’ll feel more confident to commit to the front when needed. Too high though and you’ll struggle to get enough weight on that front wheel and start losing the front end in corners.

Your Mountain Bike'S Cockpit | Our Detailed Setup Guide
50mm rise bars are on the extreme but they work for some!

A lower rise or flat bar will bias your weight forwards, increasing your traction on the front wheel but can lead to fatigue on longer or steeper descents. The advantage of adjusting your bar height through different bar rises as opposed to the spacers under your stem is that you will preserve the reach of your bike, more on that later on. It does come at the cost of a new handlebar though so that must be considered. Do your best to try before you buy.

Handlebar roll

The rotation of your handlebar forwards or backward in the stem is referred to as bar roll. Rotating the bar forwards slightly will open up your reach a bit and bias your weight forwards which can improve front wheel traction. Rolling the bar backward will bias your weight further backward which may be more comfortable on longer or steep descents. This is an easy adjustment to play around with that doesn’t come at any cost. Try some small adjustments here and find what works for you, even if you have gotten used to your current bar roll.

Fine-tuning your handlebar setup will be determined by the kind of terrain that you prefer to ride and your riding style so do some tinkering and testing to figure out what suits you best!

Mountain Bike Cockpit Setup: Stem Height

Also related to bar height is the stem height. Here we are talking about where your stem attaches to the steerer tube. Moving this up and down, adding or removing spacers under the stem, will affect the height of your handlebars and as a result your body position and weight bias. Because of the angle of the steerer tube, moving the stem higher up will reduce your reach slightly as the bars move up and closer toward you. The opposite will happen the lower your bars are on the stem.

It is common for XC and marathon racers to slam their stems and get into the most aggressive riding an aerodynamic position on the bike but this doesn’t suit all riders.

Mountain Bike Cockpit Setup Handlebar Width And Brake Lever Angles
Slamming the stem puts you in an aggressive riding position but it may not be the most comfortable. You can see a few spacers above the stem here meaning that there is room to lift it up slightly if desired.

Adjusting the bar height in this way doesn’t come at a financial cost so if you’re happy to compromise a little on reach then go ahead and try making some 5 -10mm adjustments and find what works better for you. As we have said, lower bar height will bring your body and weight forwards which can help increase traction on the front wheel but can also be fatiguing on longer and steeper descents. Finding the right balance is what it’s all about.

Mountain Bike Cockpit Setup: Stem Length

When it comes to the length of your stem, longer or shorter stems will influence your reach, weight bias, and the nature of your steering. A shorter stem (35-50mm) will offer a shorter reach, a more rearward weight bias, and a fast and direct steering feel. Longer stems (60mm+) increase your reach, move your body position forwards, and have a slightly slower and less direct steering feel.

Short stems are more popular for trail riding though they are increasing in popularity on marathon bikes as their reaches are getting longer. It is a matter of preference and you will need to find a length that suits your riding style best and optimises your fit on the bike.

Negative angle stems (as seen on red bike above) are used to lower your hands and get you into a more aggressive climbing and aerodynamic position on the bike. This isn’t always the most comfortable position though, keep that in mind.

Mountain Bike Cockpit Setup: Brakes

Lastly on the topic of cockpit setup we’ll look at the position of your brake levers. The angle of your brake levers can often be an overlooked part of your cockpit setup. Adjustments made here will influence your weight bias and body position as well as your braking performance.

Brake Angle

Logically, you will want to set the angle of your brake levers so that they are optimised for when you need them the most and that is typically only while descending. If you tend to ride steeper trails, bringing the levers up towards a flat position (level with the ground) will mean that you don’t get pulled over the bars as much to reach the brakes and it will likely increase your braking performance.

Mountain Bike Cockpit Setup Handlebar Width And Brake Lever Angles

If you tend to ride flatter trails you could probably afford to have a steeper angle (more perpendicular to the ground) on your brakes to help you in weighting the front wheel on corners. We wouldn’t recommend that you go too steep though as this compromises your ability to reach the brake levers properly and puts extra stress on your hands when descending.

Brake position

You can also adjust how close to the grip your brake sits. If you find that the brake lever position is putting your hand in quite a cramped position on the bar, move it away from the grip slightly inwards towards the stem. If you’re struggling to reach the brake comfortably and it is pulling your hand too far inwards on the grip, move those brakes outwards slightly. You should be able to comfortably have one finger on the brake while your hand is in a comfortable riding position on the grip.

Mountain Bike Cockpit Setup Brake Levers

If your brakes are not powerful enough for you to brake with one finger then we would strongly recommend that you get some larger brake rotors or even some new brakes if that still doesn’t cut it. Being able to comfortably brake with one finger will be less fatiguing allowing you to be more controlled and ride better. Read here on how to get the best performance out of your brakes.

A lot of the nuances of cockpit setup come down to personal preference and take a bit of time (well spent) to get figured out. Use these guidelines on the effects of each change to inform the tweaking you do to your current setup and see what performance increases you can unlock without opening up the wallet!

Be sure to check out our other bike setup articles on contact points and suspension setup for a full picture of the mountain bike and the personal changes that you can make to have your bike suit you best. 

Setting Up Your Mountain Bike Cockpit

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