Foldable Bikes Party: 5 quick ways to get your mountain bike ready for a season of mud

Thursday, 6 October 2016

5 quick ways to get your mountain bike ready for a season of mud

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Rain, rain, rain. Some love it, some hate it, but however you feel about muddy ground, learning to ride it well will boost your bike handling skills.

Getting your bike set up for slippery, muddy, wet conditions will give you a head start, and we spoke to Atherton Racing mechanic Joe Krejbich to get his top recommendations for making your mountain bike ready for the wet.

As Rachel Atherton's mechanic, Krejbich helps to ensure that the World Champion and World Cup champion's bike has the optimum setup for all the terrain and conditions she faces throughout the year; from dry and dusty to sloppy and wet.

While most of us are guilty of just getting on our bikes and going, riders and mechanics at World Cup-level will often tune suspension and tyre pressure between each run, let alone each course. We might not go that far for our weekend rides, but setting your bike up to suit the conditions will give you better traction and handling in the mud, and it's not difficult to do.

1. Give your bike a pre-ride check

Before you do anything else take a few minutes to ensure that your bike is in good nick, safe, and ready to ride. The last thing you want to be doing on a mucky wet trail is fiddling with bolts or risking losing something essential in a muddy puddle miles from the end of your ride.

Krejbich suggests a simple, quick bike check. "Check the axles are tight, check the bolts, ensure the spokes aren't loose, and that the wheels are true."