You're probably not 'normal'

Shocking fact of the day; you're probably not normal.

Nearly 8 billion people in the world, 68 million of them in the UK and apparently every single one of those individual. Heart-warming as it is that every single one of those people is unique, it creates huge headaches if you're trying to design an off-road motorcycle for the mass market.

I'm not going to start crying for the likes of KTM, Honda and the others that make millions a year from us off-road fwends, but the facts remain that they have an almost impossible task. The issue they have goes back to each and everyone one of us being unique, whether that be size, shape, height, weight, gender, speed, style, riding location, terrain, maintenance ability; the list of variables they have to consider when setting up a new bike goes on and on and on. Who the hell are they supposed to aim it at? Ricky Carmichael who is short, light and goes like a stabbed rat or Anthony Joshua who is built like a brick-sh*t-house, 17st and probably not all that fast... Big fan AJ, big fan.

When you take all that into consideration, we actually think the OEMs do a good job of getting something ridable straight out the box. Yes, of course, there is the inevitable stinker every now and again, but for the most part they're OK if you're 'normal'. The major problem with that is you're probably not normal!

For the sake of our point, MX bikes tend to be set-up for a weekend junior/veteran rider who is between 75 & 85kg. For the headlight gang, weight allowances will be similar at 75 to 85kg but the bikes are set very soft as they tend to go safe and assume everyone is a casual trail rider and not entering British Enduro events.

Now, is this you? Do you fit into these brackets? If so, great, we're half way there! You can take your bike for a few rides to see if you like the feeling out the box and grasp whether it matches your riding style. The likelihood is though that very few people will fit into these brackets and even if they do they would almost definitely benefit from having things adjusted for their speed, style or both.

The 'normal fella' setting that the OEMs go with is designed to be a starting point and not something you race on, even if the clever marketing teams come up with tag lines like 'ready to race' to convince you otherwise. They know that people who truly want to be competitive will tune their set-ups. How many top level riders or even fast local experts race on standard suspension? The answer is not many and for good reason, it simply won't work. It will hold them back.

This gets even more complicated if you're buying a used bike. What size or ability is the current owner? Have they had it adjusted or set-up for their ability or preference? Even if they have, who did it? Do they know their ass from their elbow? It's a minefield. You could be even further away from your ideal setting and the other side of the 'normal fella' OEM setting. How do you know? You've got to get professional help.

The truth is if you want to get the most from time on your bike, whether that be in terms of enjoyment or results, you've got to seriously consider your suspension set-up. You wont be 'normal' and your bike wont be set-up for you as it is. It is critical to so many things you simply can't afford to ignore it; comfort, grip, stability to name a few. Would you spend the best part of £10k on a new bike and then ride around with no goggles on? Of course you wouldn't. So why ride your new bike with suspension that isn't designed for you.

The reasons for not doing it aren't really that clear to be honest. Suspension tuning maybe comes with a fear of huge bills and dark arts but it doesn't need to be mental money. A service, re-valve and set-up costs around the same as a new set of plastics and graphics and we bet more people do that every year than have the oil changed in their forks. Yes, of course you can spend the thousands buying A-kit type systems but for 99% of riders that wouldn't be required and gets chalked up as showing off. Just getting the thing set for your weight, ability and typical riding conditions will have you wondering why you wasted so much time riding on 'normal' fella settings when you're anything but.

Contact A-Spec today to talk through what you're suffering with and how we can help. Chatting it through with us is always free.