How to Adjust Mountain Bike Brakes
Something bike shops don’t tell you when you buy a mountain bike is how to adjust your brakes into a safe and comfortable position. Knowing how to adjust mountain bike brakes can ease wrist and finger pain and ultimately make descending more natural and more fun.
You want your brakes set up in an ideal position for the most powerful stopping ability while descending. Ideally, you are descending in the “ready position” or the “attack position”. That means you have lowered your seat so it’s out of the way. You are up off the seat, with your rear end hovering 1-2” off the seat, wide elbows, room in your knees for the bike to move around, heavy feet, light hands. In that descending position, you want a smooth plane from your elbow to your knuckles. This is a strong position. The opposite would be having a bend in your wrist. With your wrist bent, you are no longer able to withstand as much force.
The 3 Main Adjustments
To achieve that nice smooth plane, there are 3 adjustments you can make to maximize braking efficiency:
1-levers can be rotated up and down
2-levers can be moved out and in, on the bar
3-lever position can be moved closer or further from the bar
The 3rd adjustment just mentioned is the "reach" distance. You want your hands to rest comfortably on the bars and be able to have your pointer finger gently rest in the hook of the lever. You can bring the reach in and out depending on what kind of brakes you have.
Where Should Your Hands Be?
The other thing to consider is that you want your hands to be on the outside edge of the bars, your hand right at the edge. This is for a few reasons. First of all, your brain can keep track of where it is in space, just how wide you are, it's not as good at keeping track of something beyond your proprioception. So having your bars wider than your hands, leaves you open to potentially running into something (like a tree) when you are riding through narrow spaces. Having your bars wider than your hands also means you are carrying around extra weight, part of the bike you aren't using. Everyone is seeking a lighter bike! Lastly, you want to have maximum steering power. Holding onto the end of the bars, gives you the most leverage. Think of getting on a teeter totter between the fulcrum and the end. The teeter totter just doesn't work as well. That is the same with your bars! You have maximum steering power from the outside of your bars.
Once these adjustments are made, you are ready to go and have full stopping power!