Real ways to make your bike faster for $0

I almost didn't see you there I'm enjoying all  this speed I just got for zero dollars [Music] so let's clear one thing up diet nutrition  training all these things can make you faster   but that's not going to make your bike faster to  make your bike faster you'll need to have access   to zero dollars [Music] Ask yourself what type  of riding are you going to be doing today are   you going to be doing enduro style riding where  you're doing a long downhill and descending or   are you going to be riding cross-country kind  of rolling terrain where you have to lay down   the power constantly if you're going to be  doing a lot of pedaling you want a bike with   kind of a steeper seat tube angle so that  you can get a better angle on the pedals   but whatever bike you have you can just slide  the saddle forwards if you slide it forwards   on these rails that's going to effectively  steepen your seat tube angle and it could   improve your pedaling if your bike has kind  of older geometry and it costs zero dollars   see there's no one adjustment that is going to  work for every rider on every terrain with every   style of riding and so what is your riding more  biased towards if you're riding more cross-country   might want to consider dropping your stack taking  stack washers out of your steerer tube and moving   them up on top of the stem that's going to move  your handlebars a little bit lower down and if   you are riding cross country and climbing you're  going to be in a better position to lay down power   then that's not going to be a perfect solution  for every rider on every bike but I would try it   and on the contrary if you're riding more downhill  more enduro more jumps you should try raising your   stack height a little bit it's going to make your  arms more bent and prepared to take up bumps in   the terrain it's going to get your weight a little  bit further back make you more confident and so   those are two things you can try and they'll cost  you zero dollars [Music] so here's an interesting   one the other day I was riding that Ozark Trail  Ridge that 400 Walmart bike I was actually having   a lot of trouble descending on that thing because  the seat post was too long I'm five foot four I   could cut the seat post down cutting down the  seat post would not only remove weight from the   bike which can potentially make it faster but  it would also just give me a better position   for descending give me more bike control I would  definitely be faster and would cost zero dollars here's one you can make on the fly if you're  gonna be settling in for a really long climb   try increasing your compression that's something  you should know anyway on some Forks there's   actually going to be a lockout on some shocks  there's actually going to be a little icon that   shows you what the climbing position is or you  could just crank up your compression damping it's   going to make your fork or your shock move less  and so when you're pedaling and moving around   more of your power is going to be transferred  to the wheels rather other than just moving the   bike around and it should go without saying that  this is going to cost you zero dollars [Music]   maybe today you're riding kind of smooth hard  packed Trails flow Trails swoopy berms jumps   rollers all that stuff try increasing your tire  pressure maybe on normal single track you're   running like 22 PSI try bumping it up to 30 that's  going to give you lower rolling resistance and   allow your bike to carry more speed in certain  situations it could certainly make you faster   and on the contrary if you're riding really  chattery terrain lots of little tiny bumps in   quick succession lowering your tire pressure might  actually make you faster because there are going   to be less vibrations through your bike frame  you're going to have better control your bike's   going to track better just don't go so low that  you start having some sketchy problems and the   best thing about changing your tire pressure zero  dollars [Music] and going back to your suspension   Fork if you're riding trails with lots of pumps  and rollers pumping can generate free speed and   so adding some air pressure or increasing your  compression can actually make you more effective   at pumping it's definitely going to make you  faster and it costs zero dollars plus tax now you also might be riding on clipless pedals  that is to say your shoes snap into your pedals   and lock into place there are some adjustments you  can make to the cleats on your shoes to try and   get a little bit more speed if you're riding more  cross-country a more forward cleat position could   actually be beneficial and if you're riding  more enduro and downhill moving your cleats   backwards a little bit might help these are by no  means perfect solutions for every rider and every   bike but those are some things you might want  to try because they'll cost you zero dollars yeah here's one that might cost you zero dollars  depending on your setup increasing the travel   of your fork over forking your bike if you're  riding a lot of downhill you could increase the   travel of your fork potentially by 10 millimeters  without spending any money whatsoever there are   travel spacers inside the fork if you remove  one it'll actually increase the travel this   is going to vary across forks and so look at  your manufacturer's documentation increasing   the travel of your fork is going to make your  geometry more aggressive is going to move your   weight further back it could potentially make  you faster just on the downhills and if that's   where you're trying to get faster then it's worth  trying because again it's zero dollars [Music]   so we talked about some things you can do to  make your bike faster but there are also things   that make your bike slower and by avoiding  those things or remembering to do certain   things you can ensure that your bike stays fast  you want to protect that zero dollar investment first of all you might not want to let your bike  get too dirty this is not that dirty but even a   little dirt technically makes your bike slower  it's adding weight and it's making it so all   your parts are just not moving as smoothly that's  a really easy way to make your bike faster clean   it it's kind of more like undoing something you  did to make it slower but worth noting now I know   what you're going to say the water costs money um  don't get cute with me it's zero dollars [Music] cleaning   your bike is one way to reduce weight because  you're getting dirt off the bike but you can   also shed pounds that are already on the  bike not always the best decision by the   way but if your only goal is to make the bike  faster well you could just run your tires with   no sealant if you're running four ounces  of sealant per tire that's a half a pound   you just Shed from your bike it'll work great and  it'll definitely make you faster until it doesn't truthfully some of this weight weeny stuff makes  such a tiny difference that the humidity level   or what you felt like when you woke up this  morning will make a much bigger difference   but you can get silly you could run three brake  rotor bolts instead of six in fact just take   the brakes off it's going to make the bike a lot  faster and definitely lighter but while we're on   the topic of silly stuff you can cut knobs off  of your tires decrease the rolling resistance   technically decrease the weight and go a lot  faster until you need some traction although   cutting off tire knobs strategically could  actually help clear mud and it could even   make you faster and more effective in certain  situations they make tools especially for this   I don't put much stock in it but it could make you  faster and assuming you're not using some special   tool that you bought for it it's zero dollars so  there you have it those are some ways that you can   make your mountain bike faster for zero dollars  there are lots of other ways to get faster some of   them involve spending money some of them involve  self-improvement and then some of them are basic   bike maintenance tasks that have no place in this  video so I hope you got some valuable information   out of this video I would say if you can make your  bike faster for zero dollars then just about any   budget is gonna work for you and so I hope you  learned something and if you didn't I hope you   at least found this video entertaining thanks for  riding with me today and I'll see you next time   here's another super weird one some racers  will put Crisco or cooking oil on their bike   frame so that during a race mud will just slip  off of the frame that'll make you faster but   is it technically zero dollars well it is for  me because I didn't pay for this my wife did   [Music]

Channel: Berm Peak Express

Views: 262,824

Keywords: do it yourself, diy, tools, mountain biking, cycling, outdoors, mtb

Id: T-N3f2ZR_Ss

Length: 9min 36sec (576 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 03 2023