Tuning a bike is tricky and something I enjoy.
When I say ‘tuning’, I mean taking a bike and trying to get the best out of it. It’s not just searching for horsepower. There’s a great deal to be gained from looking at all factors affecting a bike’s performance.
For racers there’s an easy way to measure success: lap times. For recreational riders it’s far more difficult, and I used to get really frustrated with some of the things I saw people doing. Usually I’d see a rider adding several kilos of dead weight to a bike and looking smug because they’d fitted some-thing they didn’t understand, and probably wasn’t going to help them ride faster, smoother or with greater safety. These days there’s a lot stuff called ‘bling’ that falls into that category, and I think if it makes those people feel good about their bikes and riding, it’s a great idea.