What bike stuff do you hate?

BlackSpur

We've all done it - made a rash decision, not thought things through or just grabbed it because it was cheap. Even when you do your homework you can end up with a duff purchase. Be it a whole bike or components, clothing or accessories, there must be things you have bought and regretted.
Fot me it's the Lidl padded shorts - 5 mins in on the first ride and they've ridden up so far I feel like I'm wearing a thong! Straight in the bin when I got home and a waste of 6 quid, thankfully not much.

So what duff stuff have you guys bought in the past?

David Lund

I dont think iv ever bought something like that as i usualy think things through very carefully, however i have a very bad habit of buying something and a few weeks later buying something which does the same job just better (pointless upgrading).
For example i bought a £40 set of halogen lights then about a month later i bought a new fenix led torch which was much better so that was quite honestly a waste of £40.
David

stumpyjon

Stuffed up with some tyres a few months ago (bought DH dual ply tyres for my trail bike :roll:, had a complete brain fart and thought ooh those will be puncture resistant even though I nearly never get punctures ). They're now sat in the garage, can't decide whether to keep them for extreme days at trail centres (which is a bit of laugh considering my ride like a wuss approach to DH) or stick em on flea bay and get some money back.

I'll also second you on the cheap shorts, not worth it.

hucking_fell

I got an Orange 5 AM, took it to Glentress and decided that the hardtail is more fun there.

Don't tell any other 5 owners

I don't hate the 5 tho.

Jimbob_no5

what tyres are they stumpyjon?? might be interested

xtreem

I hate bar ends on MTB. Never had any but for me they are ugly.
Especialy when I see some one going offroad with them.

ratty2k

Dont really hate anything. bar ends have their uses, single sped is good if you like it who cares, same with 29ers...
Actually, 29er haters who've never ridden one but have opinions on how they ride. :evil:

Surf-Matt

I hate stuff that's stupidly priced.
Like Crank Bros £320 pedals.

Usually do my research so rarely make purchasing errors for our bikes.

Uncle Peter

I'll go with the cheap shorts too, I bought some from Decathalon last year and as I'm cycling the stitching just rubs on a very sensitive area, which is fine for the first 10 minutes or so, then, after I've jizzed in my shorts it just gets really sore.

And I have to admit I bought some Control tech Carbon/Ti QR skewers, £65 for a bit of bling I thought was well spent, well, they hold the wheel on.

Holyzeus

Halfords Unisex Shorts ( didn't know they were unisex :roll: ) more padding around the front of the shorts than where it count's. After 10 mins something feels like its in a sauna....

xtreem

[b]Surf-Matt[/b] wrote:

I hate stuff that's stupidly priced.
Like Crank Bros £320 pedals

:shock: From what they are made of, diamonds?
Do they pedal themself? Do they shoot oil if some one is chacing you?

cjw

Xtreem wrote:

[b]Surf-Matt[/b] wrote:

I hate stuff that's stupidly priced.
Like Crank Bros £320 pedals

:shock: From what they are made of, diamonds?
Do they pedal themself? Do they shoot oil if some one is chacing you?

Titanium everywhere and light as a feather, however, the reviews report them as breaking down and getting very loose after a year :shock: I'm not impressed with any Crank Bros stuff - wouldn't say hate it but I'd never buy it as they seem to be a case of form over function. Recent re-review of their £700 Cobalt wheels in MBR magazine downgraded them to a score of 3 out of 7 because the hubs break down :roll:

Surf-Matt

Yep - all titanium and need a lot of tlc. You can get pedals very nearly as light for a third/quarter of the price that don't break down (e.g. XT/XTR).

cjw

They are a lot lighter - XTR are 325g (that what I've got) whereas the 4Ti Eggbeaters are 167g.... however, not much good if they don't work

James_F

But they are mainly going to be used by pro racers who don't have to worry about looking after them and will just get a new pair if they wear out.

Plus, paying £320 to save 158 grams is the same weight saved/cost ratio as buying an expensive new wheelset or something.

Surf-Matt

cjw wrote:

They are a lot lighter - XTR are 325g (that what I've got) whereas the 4Ti Eggbeaters are 167g.... however, not much good if they don't work

Yes but the Time and Look pedals are nearly the same weight but a lot lot cheaper.
Also XTRs work and last well - handy when MTBing.

You can save 150ish grams by putting less water in your bottle or by eating one less bacon sarnie!

cjw

True on the 150g, but it is all the little bits that add up - AND you can still carry less water. You can go too far though I think.

Surf-Matt

Yep - you can end up with an 18lb bike that skitters all over the place and snaps as soon as it's used properly.

Yours is probably as light as is sensible cjw - much lighter and I reckon it would suffer.

My Stumpy is pretty light (24ish lbs) but I know I can crash/fall off/jump/ride over rocks/etc without it breaking - which to me is what mountain bikes are meant to do.

Still amuses me when non MTBers/bike riders pick it up and are gobsmacked at the lack of weght...

GHill

I've been caught out a couple of times with cheap tools (yeah, yeah, poor workman and all that) like side cutters instead of "proper" cable cutters. I now follow a mantra of pay a bit more and they'll last a lifetime.

Another example is buying decent allen keys, I had a bit of a rounded bolt that a cheap key just span in - tried a park key and it shifted the bolt with no trouble at all.

elmotheewokking

Gi Streets. I bought them thinking they'll last forever, which they have. But then I was never a cereal wheel killer and they weigh more than Rick Waller at a £5 all you can eat.
My Trials bike has still not been built let alone used.
Same for my Rocky Mountain.
I just love the Mongoose too much. Yes. Really.

hastings

My 661 Raji 08 gloves which after 2 weeks have begun to fall apart

Amos

SIS Tropical flavoured energy gels!

I should have realised how bad they were when the guy in the shop referred to them as 'horse censored '.

Grim.

dunker

Endura Strike "winter" gloves, they ar'nt windproof and they're too thin for anything under 5c and alot of days in winter it's below that, so for me they're useless.

the plastic odi lock-on end caps, they fall off and get lost on trails and the snap on end caps snap right out again, both useless. best to get the proper alloy end caps.

cheap bolts that rust at the first hint of moisture, stainless? err no you're not! get off my bike!

shin0r

Any type of "winter" glove - they either turn themselves inside out or leak, or both. In the really shitty cold, wet weather I now wear a pair of latex medical gloves underneath my normal ones. Rather warm and wet than cold and wet.

Mike Deere

The old Tioga Factory DH tyres were about as grippy as teflon coated ice, why I bought a second pair years ago I'll never know. Shame there's no IRC Kujo tyres anymore and all.

Also FSA PowerPro cranks. What the hell was I thinking spending that little on a pair of cranks. I quickly learnt and bought a set of Race Face North Shores that have lasted me just over 4 years now.

big-hitter

I think this probably takes the buscuit!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=11294

for those who cant see it (because my links never work! ) its a 10 speed chain for £220!!!

cjw

big-hitter wrote:

I think this probably takes the buscuit!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=11294

for those who cant see it (because my links never work! ) its a 10 speed chain for £220!!!

That is rediculous.... it's also 2g HEAVIER than my KCNC chain that cost £39 :shock:

hucking_fell

I might buy 3 of those Wippermann chains and use them to put up my wife's hanging basket that I keep tripping over

ROCHA

I hate that chain too! :twisted:

And I hate centerlock rotors (cause it's stupid and shimano sells them cheaper than regular ones, even if it costs more to produce, just so they can have their own standard)

and I hate the new 15mm axle front hubs(regular 10mm ones are ok for xc and 20mm ones are great if you need the extra stifness. You can even get the 20mm Maxle version wich is QR, so what's the point of having 15mm ones?)

And I hate singlespeed bikes:
1-without sliding dropouts( if you must have a chain tensioner it will ruin the whole purpose of singlespeed wich was to keep it simple and not having stuff holding the chain)
2-without a specific singlespeed hub(conversion kits for convencional cassette hubs suck because they add a bunch of stupid parts and you still end up with a hub that is not dishless laced)

Had to get it off my chest!

hucking_fell

Why do component companies bring out 150mm versions of their 135mm rear hubs that are identical except for a bigger space between the brake side flange and the rotor mounts? Isn't the whole point of the 150mm hub to have the flanges wider apart to allow a stronger dish-less rear wheel to be built and used in an asymmetrical frame? That annoys me that does.

Anonymous

My Giant Trance , not for the bike it's self but the bagovshite BB that came with it , Isis not only did it let me down when i needed it most but it cost me £35 for tools to get cranks off and bb out , but got a new one same brand better model "MY censored " lasted 3 weeks,got a new one on warrenty "HMMMMMMMM" lasted 5 weeks, luckly for me i've a friend at CRC who hooked me up with a SKF isis bb and now i'm a happy bunny again