Even though the folks at Trek took their time and correctly sized my Marlin 5 to me, it's never fit quite the way I wanted it to. As I've mentioned several times before, it was like I was welded in place and couldn't move around on the bike the way I wanted to.
Well after many hours of reading through the forums and thinking about my body build (short legs with a long torso and arms) I decided to take a chance and buy a few parts that my reading seemed to point to. I first bought an adjustable 110mm, 0-60 degree stem.
This helped get my arms extended some more, but put even more weight over the front wheel, and I still couldn't mover around as much as I wanted to.
Back to reading threads.
Ah-ha, at last I found a thread discussing handlebar rise on a downhill/free ride bike. In the thread the consensus was evenly split between "go for it" and "you're wasting your money for a DH bike.
Hmmm more research ensued.
Found a few more threads, and buried in one of them was advice for using handlebars with a moderate rise to fit the bike to the rider better.
Well nothing ventured..
So I order a Deity 80mm rise 760mm wide handlebar.
I spent the last hour or so installing and adjusting the bars and stem riser to the bike, then went for a ride.
HOLY SMOKES what a difference! :yikes:
After a few tweaks, it's like a whole new bike! :eekster: I'm in a much more comfortable position, My weight is almost centered on the saddle, I can move around like I want to, and standing on the pedals for power doesn't result in nearly as much squish from the front suspension as before. Shoot, I was able to ride a wheelie for about 15', something that I've never been able to do before. :eekster:
I had almost given up on getting this bike to fit the way I want it to, and I can't believe how much just a few parts has changed to feel of the bike.
I can't wait to hit Iron Hill Friday!
Well after many hours of reading through the forums and thinking about my body build (short legs with a long torso and arms) I decided to take a chance and buy a few parts that my reading seemed to point to. I first bought an adjustable 110mm, 0-60 degree stem.
This helped get my arms extended some more, but put even more weight over the front wheel, and I still couldn't mover around as much as I wanted to.
Back to reading threads.
Ah-ha, at last I found a thread discussing handlebar rise on a downhill/free ride bike. In the thread the consensus was evenly split between "go for it" and "you're wasting your money for a DH bike.
Hmmm more research ensued.
Found a few more threads, and buried in one of them was advice for using handlebars with a moderate rise to fit the bike to the rider better.
Well nothing ventured..
So I order a Deity 80mm rise 760mm wide handlebar.
I spent the last hour or so installing and adjusting the bars and stem riser to the bike, then went for a ride.
HOLY SMOKES what a difference! :yikes:
After a few tweaks, it's like a whole new bike! :eekster: I'm in a much more comfortable position, My weight is almost centered on the saddle, I can move around like I want to, and standing on the pedals for power doesn't result in nearly as much squish from the front suspension as before. Shoot, I was able to ride a wheelie for about 15', something that I've never been able to do before. :eekster:
I had almost given up on getting this bike to fit the way I want it to, and I can't believe how much just a few parts has changed to feel of the bike.
I can't wait to hit Iron Hill Friday!
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