shinslammer
03-20-2005, 04:45 AM
because of the over flow of all these questions about things that have to do totally with personal preferance of your bike i decided to make a list of the things that are personal preference so new riders can look at this and just realize that its how ever they feel comfortable with the "part" on their bike set the certain way they want.....now on to the list.
PEGS
no matter what anyone says about balance and weight it is totally up to you to pick the side you want to grind on. this should be determined by two main things.
1. which direction you feel more comfortable hopping in. this will aid you greatly when you grind, because you need to be able to get on the ledge. 2. this isnt really a solid fact, but usually the pegs should go on the side of your bike that has the foot forward. having said all this some people dont like pegs, and some people really love pegs so they put four on so they can do opposite grinds. if you are just starting out dont hassle yourself with this and just slap two pegs on the side you feel more comfortable with.
HANDLE BARS
you will always have the people at the skate parks and such hassling you about your bike. one of the big objects they like to hassle is the style, and angle of your handle bars. if you like four peice bars, then that fine its you riding the bike not them. when considering handle bar angle the following two things should be kept in mind.
1. what are you goin to be doing more? having your bars set at a slightly more backwards angle does help some with manuels. also having your bars set at a more forward angle does help somewhat with jumping/airing out.
2. what you feel comfortable with. if you want your handle bars so far forward that its practically is touching your wheel, then thats fine, aslong as it helps you ride then dont let people hassle you about it. my main point is try a few different angles and see what fits you best!
SEAT
some riders like seats slammed(all the way to the frame), some like them super high. well its your seat and its your butt sitting on it...pick whats comfortable for you, dont follow trends, and keep in mind what your goin to be doing. if your goin to be doing barspins then it helps to have your seat "unslammed", a medium height with a slight backwards angle is good so you can grip the seat with your knees when you spin the bars. if your jumping, then its more beneficial to have your seat lower or "slammed" so you can tuck more when jumping.
BRAKE LEVER
although some brake levers are designed more for one finger braking or two finger breaking and so on, it is what you want to have which makes the difference. consider what you will be doing. if your going to be stopping alot then you should prolly ease more towards the two finger brand, which makes it easier to stop because of the force produced by your two fingers. if your goin alot of fakie tricks, or tire taps, fufs, abubicas, and air tricks that reguire a brake then a one finger lever might be put to better use. if you do alot of both then go with a lever that can accomadate both one and two finger braking such as the odyssey monolever medium.
FRONT OR BACK BRAKES???
this is totally personal preferance. if you do tricks such as nose picks, endos, whiplashes etc then you can consider using both brakes. although these tricks can be done without a front break it aids you quite well. back brake? do you use it for tricks? if so then keep it and read above for suggestions on brake levers. if you dont like brakes at all and your current brakes you dont even use, then you might consider goin brakeless. from my own personal experiances of riding brakeless it is not very hard just takes a while to get used to, and helps your bike control tremenduosly.
GYRO OR NOT?
if you doing bar spins, tailwhips, anything that moved the bars around all the way then consider goin with a gyro more, because you dont have to go through the hassel of untangling a linear cable. if your goin jumping tricks, spins, stuff that doesnt involve the bars moving fully round then you might want to go with the linear cable.
TIRES
there are some very nice tires out there, and although they dont totally fall into the personal preferance idea, they do have certain features that are personal preferance. do you ride fast, and not skid alot? you might want to check out primo commets. or do street alot? check out the primo walls which last for ages. my point being is that there are hundreds of tires out there pick one that best fits your riding.
PSI
aka pounds per square inch. this is what makes your tires hard or soft. if you pump 120 psi into your tires they are pretty damn hard. if you pump 10 into them then thats not really much pumping effort and wont get you any were. if you like soft landing and changing tires more often than not then go with a lower psi. granted there are riders that have low psi and rarely pop tires, starting out you want a fair amount of air in them, so pump it up to what feels nice and stable and go from there.
COLORS
some people like following color trends. if you want it to match nicely then do that, if you could care less just slap those parts on and have fun
in closing i want to say that its your bike do whatever you want with it. dont let others put you down because you ride four peice bars, two brakes, a super high seat, with a little basket on the handle bars. what ever is good for you should stay with you. :D
PEGS
no matter what anyone says about balance and weight it is totally up to you to pick the side you want to grind on. this should be determined by two main things.
1. which direction you feel more comfortable hopping in. this will aid you greatly when you grind, because you need to be able to get on the ledge. 2. this isnt really a solid fact, but usually the pegs should go on the side of your bike that has the foot forward. having said all this some people dont like pegs, and some people really love pegs so they put four on so they can do opposite grinds. if you are just starting out dont hassle yourself with this and just slap two pegs on the side you feel more comfortable with.
HANDLE BARS
you will always have the people at the skate parks and such hassling you about your bike. one of the big objects they like to hassle is the style, and angle of your handle bars. if you like four peice bars, then that fine its you riding the bike not them. when considering handle bar angle the following two things should be kept in mind.
1. what are you goin to be doing more? having your bars set at a slightly more backwards angle does help some with manuels. also having your bars set at a more forward angle does help somewhat with jumping/airing out.
2. what you feel comfortable with. if you want your handle bars so far forward that its practically is touching your wheel, then thats fine, aslong as it helps you ride then dont let people hassle you about it. my main point is try a few different angles and see what fits you best!
SEAT
some riders like seats slammed(all the way to the frame), some like them super high. well its your seat and its your butt sitting on it...pick whats comfortable for you, dont follow trends, and keep in mind what your goin to be doing. if your goin to be doing barspins then it helps to have your seat "unslammed", a medium height with a slight backwards angle is good so you can grip the seat with your knees when you spin the bars. if your jumping, then its more beneficial to have your seat lower or "slammed" so you can tuck more when jumping.
BRAKE LEVER
although some brake levers are designed more for one finger braking or two finger breaking and so on, it is what you want to have which makes the difference. consider what you will be doing. if your going to be stopping alot then you should prolly ease more towards the two finger brand, which makes it easier to stop because of the force produced by your two fingers. if your goin alot of fakie tricks, or tire taps, fufs, abubicas, and air tricks that reguire a brake then a one finger lever might be put to better use. if you do alot of both then go with a lever that can accomadate both one and two finger braking such as the odyssey monolever medium.
FRONT OR BACK BRAKES???
this is totally personal preferance. if you do tricks such as nose picks, endos, whiplashes etc then you can consider using both brakes. although these tricks can be done without a front break it aids you quite well. back brake? do you use it for tricks? if so then keep it and read above for suggestions on brake levers. if you dont like brakes at all and your current brakes you dont even use, then you might consider goin brakeless. from my own personal experiances of riding brakeless it is not very hard just takes a while to get used to, and helps your bike control tremenduosly.
GYRO OR NOT?
if you doing bar spins, tailwhips, anything that moved the bars around all the way then consider goin with a gyro more, because you dont have to go through the hassel of untangling a linear cable. if your goin jumping tricks, spins, stuff that doesnt involve the bars moving fully round then you might want to go with the linear cable.
TIRES
there are some very nice tires out there, and although they dont totally fall into the personal preferance idea, they do have certain features that are personal preferance. do you ride fast, and not skid alot? you might want to check out primo commets. or do street alot? check out the primo walls which last for ages. my point being is that there are hundreds of tires out there pick one that best fits your riding.
PSI
aka pounds per square inch. this is what makes your tires hard or soft. if you pump 120 psi into your tires they are pretty damn hard. if you pump 10 into them then thats not really much pumping effort and wont get you any were. if you like soft landing and changing tires more often than not then go with a lower psi. granted there are riders that have low psi and rarely pop tires, starting out you want a fair amount of air in them, so pump it up to what feels nice and stable and go from there.
COLORS
some people like following color trends. if you want it to match nicely then do that, if you could care less just slap those parts on and have fun
in closing i want to say that its your bike do whatever you want with it. dont let others put you down because you ride four peice bars, two brakes, a super high seat, with a little basket on the handle bars. what ever is good for you should stay with you. :D