One Armed Set Up...

Some of you might have noticed that I don't have your "standard" set up on my new Bronson. As I have a paralysed left arm I obviously can't have any of my controls on the left... So over the 7 years that I have been riding one handed I have perfected my cockpit set up to what you can see below. I've not used a dropper post before so its been pushed to the end out of the way - as you can see it gets pretty crowded all on one side! Also with the Easton Havoc carbon bars with 35mm clamp, the larger diameter of the centre of bar extends further than I am used to with smaller diameter bars, because of this I have had to run 750mm length bars instead of the 710mm that I am used to in order to accommodate all the controls on one side. Also pictured is the Hopey All Mountain steering damper, I have been using these for about 5 or 6 years now and for anyone riding single handedly they are a god send! Simply screw in the knob on the top to increase the resistance of the steering and help to keep you on the straight 'n narrow!

As pictured below; 
I run my rear brake the most outboard - I pull this lever with my second finger.
My rear gear shifter is mounted between the two brake clamps - both up and down shifts are done with my thumb.
My front brake is inboard of the gear shifter clamp - I pull this with my first finger.
My remote for my Rock Shox Reverb Stealth dropper post is the most inboard clamp - I also use my thumb to operate this when required.

After my first proper technical night ride on the Bronson in the Garw Valley, South Wales with the Garw Valley MTB Lads, I realised I wasn't as comfortable as I would like when it comes to the steep and technical stuff. Sure the larger 650b, 27.5" wheels make things a bit more challenging on the really tech stuff but I think I just need to learn the different line choices required to compliment the larger wheel. That said, I still thought that I could benefit from the following tweaks to my set up:

• Tip bars back to give a better angle on the steep stuff.
• Change the shuttle bumper in my forks back up to 160mm to give a better ride height on the front for the steep stuff. This may have a penalty for climbing but I'm happy to compromise - I'm a downhiller at heart anyway!
• Change shifter from a Shimano M670 bar mounted shifter to a SL-M660-10R shifter fitted with a Trickstuff SRAM-Shimano Adapter on to a left handed Formula Mixmaster clamp. This has pulled the shifter out of my way of my thumb when I grip the bar in some positions.

These tweaks have given me a much more comfortable set up as pictured: