Why Your Bike Might Not Be the Problem
Here's something most of us have been through. You save up, you buy a proper bike — the one you've been reading about for months — and then… it just never quite feels right. It's twitchy where it should be planted. It's harsh over roots. You're getting arm pump on descents you used to enjoy. And you quietly wonder whether you've made a very expensive mistake.
Usually, you haven't. The bike is fine. The setup isn't.
Almost nobody's bike comes set up for them. It comes set up for a factory guess at an average rider. Suspension pressures, rebound, cockpit position, tyre pressures, even where the levers sit — get those wrong and a brilliant bike feels mediocre. Get them right and the same bike feels transformed.
Setup Sessions at Bikes for Brains
Adam at Bikes for Brains Workshop in Coleford has been running Setup Sessions, and by all accounts they've been a big hit. Thirty years of riding and racing means he's learnt a thing or two about what actually makes a bike work underneath you.
A session covers:
- Suspension — sag, pressures, rebound and compression, set for your weight and how you actually ride
- Geometry changes — the adjustments that shift how the bike behaves
- Ergonomics — bar height and roll, lever position, saddle setup. The unglamorous stuff that stops your hands and back complaining
- Tyre pressures — genuinely one of the biggest and cheapest performance changes available, and one almost everyone gets wrong
The goal - Adam sums it up better than we could:
Balance ➡️ Safe ➡️ Confidence ➡️ Speed
That order matters. Speed isn't the starting point — it's what falls out the other end once the bike is balanced, you feel safe on it, and your confidence follows. Chasing speed with a badly set-up bike just means going faster while feeling worse.
Worth it?
If you've spent real money on a bike and still find yourself wondering why it doesn't feel great, this is exactly the problem a Setup Session solves. It's also the cheapest performance upgrade available — you're not buying anything, you're just making what you already own work properly.
Adam's based at Hoarthorns Farmhouse, Coleford — riding distance from the top of the Cannop trail network.
Get in touch: 07377 714195
