What Are YOU Most Picky About Regarding Setup?

I'm pretty anal about my seatpost height (hehe). But seriously, I'll sit there and adjust the seatpost height like 5 times before I start riding

brakes. specifically lever reach and pull. i like a decent amount of pull before engagement.

Brake levers and handlebar, both the angles of the bar itself as well as the rotation in the stem. Other than that, I often try to just ride what's under me on the day to see how many issues come from me sucking as opposed to failure to twist some dial. Although if I'm honest, I do pay semi-regular attention to tire pressures and suspension setup, I just try to not let that stuff get in my head too much. I don't need more excuses...

Tyre pressure, I was once too lazy to pump my rear tyre up, I thought it was 'hard enough' I'm guessing about 27psi. I rolled it straight off the rim in the first rut I hit, this was with stans rim as well..

Brake engagement, bar angle, and the amount of pins/stickyness in my pedal setup.

Pedals is a good one, I'll second that. I want my vaults as sticky as possible.

Handlebar. Has to have a good amount of upsweep or I start hearing voices, eventually go mad and ride into a lake.

hahaha yup! A bar that feels too flat makes me feel like I'm holding onto a frown. Then I get sad and want to kill myself.

If grips are warn, the bike could be mint, but I couldn't ride it.

Lever throw has to be super short and engage close to the bar. Otherwise I think about it too much.

I can ride a pretty big range of tire pressures (meaning normal to high, not soft)

I am not generally very picky about most things. I'm just not that sensitive to the little adjustments or minor changes in setup. But what I am very picky about is the way my bike sounds and unwanted noise. Everything needs to be tight and as quiet as possible. Any rattles or creaks or chain slap will just drive me nuts. I'm always looking for little tips and tricks to quiet the bike down as much as possible. Except for the rear hub. I actually like the loud free hubs.

Brake angles and how loud my bike is. I like my brakes a lil frenchie style (not nearly as much as Yoann Barelli). and I can't ride my bike properly if its makin noises.

I've owned too many bikes over the years and have set up tons of peoples bikes while working at shops, so now literally everything is amazingly picky to me. I ride the same brands and have them set up almost all the same. BUT once they're set up, they're good for the season

Brakes.

I like immediate engagement with very little lever pull. And I like the brakes to be basically an on/off switch with as little modulation as possible. I can modulate with my braking finger, thank you very much.

I'm picky about a lot of other stuff but brakes are the biggest deal for me.

Cockpit set up, then tires/pressure, finally suspension set up.

For me, the way the cockpit is set up is what makes it feel like "my" bike. I find it strange on the one hand, but totally makes sense on the other.

Then, if I don't like or trust the tires, I'll ride crappy. I really need to believe in them even before I ride them.

Finally, I like my suspension pretty damn stiff with a touch of suppleness off the top. Pretty normal, but I try others' bikes and it just feels...broken!

I'm pretty particular about my brake lever position as well as tire pressure. I run my levers a bit higher due to riding steeper trails, and not too far off the bar, not squishing your other fingers but still getting a solid pull with your index finger. Tire pressure also helps me feel locked into the trail. Too little and I feel the casing fold a bit, too much and I feel like I'm rolling on marbles.. 28psi front, 28-32 rear depending on tire.

Another thing is I come from a BMX background, so in the beginning I preferred a stiffer setup but after putting lots of laps in I have dialed back the pre-load a bit and sped up the rebound so I don't get that packed-up feeling.

Couldn't agree more on the on/ off thing! My finger is my modulation! I was annoyed when Shimano built more modulation into their brakes. Thankfully they haven't changed a lot but the previous gen were better IMO!
@nmpearson same dude. Took me a while to think of which bit I just couldn't ride without having it spot on. I'm basically having a bad time even if there's one pin missing from my pedal. But there's just no point me even going out if my bars aren't right.

Stem/fork and seatpost/frame allignment. I'm talking about OCD level almost. If I crash (what happens far more often than I'd like) I can spend a good amount of time making sure everything is perfectly lined up again.

I'm waiting eagerly for the hexagonal fork mast/headset/stem combo. BTW, when that comes out, I want to have my well deserved credit.

Chain noise.

Personally I'm not a stickler for setup I just like my bike to go. And go without creaks. All creaks must be found and eradicated asap. Which can be a fun one on a budget... Otherwise, I JFR.

-XC Bike - Seat post height. Tire pressure. That is all.
-DH Bike - Brakes lever angle engagement. Tire Pressure. Balanced Suspension. Bar Roll

I thought I was the only person on the planet who said that modulation is in your fingers, where it should be.

Handlebars (width, rise, backsweep), stem (length and making sure it's straight), and suspension setup.

- Bars straight "up/down" not rolled back or forward. 800mm wide for everything. I'm 6'2" with long arms.
- brake levers positioned down because my elbows are up and out when I ride. I grip the ends of the bars, so the levers have to be positioned out, almost next to the grips. Lever throw is mid-way, not too far, not too close to the bar. I like instant pad contact and power. Metallic pads.
- suspension, I go with 20% front sag and 30% rear and prefer linear travel with good bottom out resistance at the end of the stroke, a fair amount of low speed compression to avoid brake dive or upsetting the bike in corners and off of jumps/lips but I mostly go for even ramp up and consistent damping traits throughout the travel. Coil sprung for DH, air for trails/XC. I like to get my suspension custom valved by Craig at Avalanche Racing.
- tires, tubeless Maxxis for everything. I like a 2.5 minion DHF in the front for everything from wet to dry, DH to XC, dual ply for DH, single ply exo for trails. I'm not as picky about the rear tire but like the Ikon for dry XC (Ikon front and rear for pure Dry XC is really nice), DHR2 for trails and DH, and I like the 120tpi minion DHF LUST casing front and rear for dry DH. For extreme wet and loose DH, I enjoy using the Shorty front and rear or just front. Tire pressure, 24 front, 28 rear for everything.
- seat, whatever, as long as it doesn't hurt my arse and is positioned properly with no tire rub at bottom out.
- Grips, thin, soft rubber, no lock ring on the end. ODI AG 1 is my favorite.
- pedals- flats for DH with 510 shoes. clipped in for pedaling trails.
- Shorts always just past my knees. Fox Demo free ride are my favorite shorts for everything. Jersey sleeves always 3/4.
- hydration bag on long trail rides, water bottle on short rides, small foldable water flask for DH/park riding. no pack for DH park riding.
- helmet - full face and tinted goggles for DH, open face and glasses for everything else.
- protection- Fox launch pro knee pads
- Gloves - thin with seemless palms.

I'm very picky about the rise speed of my seatpost. I have exactly 23psi in my Command Post. Any more or any less and it drives me (my) nuts. Too fast and your balls get smacked off; too slow and that extra microsecond you're waiting for the post to appear under your tuckus on a big g-out and it's game over for my Strava PR.

Suspension. I cant enjoy my ride if the rebound is too slow or too fast. Also the suspension needs to be stiff. Wobbly suspension takes away all the fun.

Brake angles and engagement, seatpost height.

Brake engagement and angle and tire pressure

Noise. I can't ride a loud bike fast, it gets in my head. I also hate any amount of play anywhere in a bike, it drives me bonkers