Dirts worst 15 MTB Products

The Rookie

http://dirt.mpora.com/featured/the-15-w ... -ever.html

OK I do agree with many, but many there is nothing wrong with....
Floppy shifters, mine I love, compact neat, usable, using the whole brake lever as a shifter makes for a nice light shift and I can hit four upshifts in one go!
Grip shifts, OK the ones featured may be pants but the X0 on my commuter are great!
Fingerless gloves, De-Fuq is that on the list, I use them 9 months of the year!

I guess some people would also question the inclusion of bar ends in the list.

Discuss.......

ilovedirt

I have to say, I agree with all of them (or at least all that I have experience of).

spongtastic

slime inner tubes not on the list?

stubs

anyone remember those bloody awful solid tyres made of some sort of polyurethane foam and coloured bright yellow or green. Fine for a wheelbarrow or golf trolley but a deathtrap for a bike.

njee20

Meh, I don't disagree with most of it. I also liked Dual Controls, but can see why folk wouldn't. Poorly executed Grip Shift is dreadful. Bar ends have (/had) a place on XC bikes with narrow flat bars, just about everything else seems right to me.

rockmonkeysc

Why aren't 26" wheels in the list?

spongtastic

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Why aren't 26" wheels in the list?

because 29ers got there first

dgunthor

i like the dual controls and rapid rise mech

lawman

Dual Controls are ruddy awful, which came at a time where as far as I'm concerned, Shimano lost the plot. The brakes were crap, nothing seemed to last and dual control and rapid rise mechs were the pinnacle of it all. Yes they work on the road, but on an Mtb they were awful, far too much lever throw needed in order to change gear, it was very easy to brake when changing gear, the brake lever could move about when braking, they were just crap imo. You were also locked into Shimano brakes, which at the time wasn't something you wanted to be doing. I'm a big shimano fan but dual control was perhaps the worst idea ever.

.blitz

My Proflex had XT dual controls as standard. They were pretty good until the LH shifter packed up prompting a change to separate shifters and levers which in itself was no great problem with V-brakes.

Same goes for bar ends/elastomer suspension/gripshift easy to criticise now but back then it was all there was

lawman

.blitz wrote:

My Proflex had XT dual controls as standard. They were pretty good until the LH shifter packed up prompting a change to separate shifters and levers which in itself was no great problem with V-brakes.

Same goes for bar ends/elastomer suspension/gripshift easy to criticise now but back then it was all there was

I think that's the main criticism with Dual Control, it was kind of forced on us on many bikes and there was simply no need and if you wanted to change brakes you had to ditch the whole lot. Along with press fit BB's it's one of the dumbest ideas ever!

supersonic

Ah zzyzx forks! Bar ends, grip shift and dc are just preference though, but shimano did force dc down our necks. My old xtr rr rear mech was the best shifting I've ever had.

njee20

Note that they are specifically naming the X-Ray Grip Shift, rather than grip shift as a whole.

But it's all personal opinion! Some folk like long stems and toe clips too. Admittedly I doubt few would dispute elastomer forks and pedals mind.

supersonic

I loved my rs Indy xc!!!

waynej

Rapid rise was excellent. It's only peoples familiarity with 'conventional' shifting that puts them off.

njee20

I loved my rs Indy xc!!!

At the time (and in retrospect with rose-tinted glasses), or would you say they compare favourably to modern forks!?

rockmonkeysc

Marzocchi ATA forks were terrible. A nice idea which just never worked.
Marzocchi Super Monster T's were pretty pointless unless you're Josh Bender.
Avid Juicy brakes are just aweful.
Commencal Meta 55 with drop outs almost guaranteed to snap.
Orange 5, overpriced tat.
Lappierre DH720/DH920, great ride but the frame lasts about half an hour before it brakes. I know someone on their fourth frame in two years.

Chunkers1980

When Avid Juicy brakes were brand new (about a decade ago) they were not aweful, better things have come along since and make them look pretty bad, but still not aweful.

njee20

I agree, early Juicys were good, I had some Carbons and some Ultimates that we're excellent. It was when they started doing lesser models and churning out thousands of OEM pairs the quality suffered, and actually both pairs of Elixirs I had were worse than any of the Juicys.

The Northern Monkey

Cant believe the Orange 5 isnt on there

Dual control is just aweful.

nicklouse

njee20 wrote:

I agree, early Juicys were good, I had some Carbons and some Ultimates that we're excellent. It was when they started doing lesser models and churning out thousands of OEM pairs the quality suffered, and actually both pairs of Elixirs I had were worse than any of the Juicys.

Early jucies were made by Formula. Later juices were made by Tekro IIRC.

ilovedirt

njee20 wrote:

I agree, early Juicys were good, I had some Carbons and some Ultimates that we're excellent. It was when they started doing lesser models and churning out thousands of OEM pairs the quality suffered, and actually both pairs of Elixirs I had were worse than any of the Juicys.

Yeah, I think the Elixirs I had were just as bad as the Juicies, either way they don't qualify to be any of the 15 worst mtb products though. I'd still rather run them than cantis....

Cqc

That arm bike thing is great! I would get one!

rockmonkeysc

nicklouse wrote:

njee20 wrote:

I agree, early Juicys were good, I had some Carbons and some Ultimates that we're excellent. It was when they started doing lesser models and churning out thousands of OEM pairs the quality suffered, and actually both pairs of Elixirs I had were worse than any of the Juicys.

Early jucies were made by Formula. Later juices were made by Tekro IIRC.

A friend is sponsored by Gusset. Their top spec hydraulic brake is a re branded Juicy 3. Terrifying to use on a downhill bike when racing on a fast track.

supersonic

njee20 wrote:

I loved my rs Indy xc!!!

At the time (and in retrospect with rose-tinted glasses), or would you say they compare favourably to modern forks!?

Oh they are shite, but at the time, 63mm of travel oooh! And I was a far better rider lol.

adamfo

I'm struggling to understand how the Gildasfire bike works ? The handlebar seems to connect to the drive via wires and chains....

http://gildasfire.com/

supersonic

Your bar effort helps the drive. I quite like my bar effort to steer and do wheelies though.

nicklouse

RockmonkeySC wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

njee20 wrote:

I agree, early Juicys were good, I had some Carbons and some Ultimates that we're excellent. It was when they started doing lesser models and churning out thousands of OEM pairs the quality suffered, and actually both pairs of Elixirs I had were worse than any of the Juicys.

Early jucies were made by Formula. Later juices were made by Tekro IIRC.

A friend is sponsored by Gusset. Their top spec hydraulic brake is a re branded Juicy 3. Terrifying to use on a downhill bike when racing on a fast track.

Gussets first hydro were rebranded Diatecs worked very very well. Well the Diatecs ones did.

paul.skibum

I have Juicy 4's (3's with a bit more adjustment made for Spesh) on my big hit - I like them on the dh because they dont allow me to slow down as much as I might if I had better brakes - mean I have to carry speed into a corner!

I tried dual control it was not for me.
Grip shift was great in the 80's
elastomer forks and so on were of their time not the worst thing in history
fingerless gloves - if you like them you arent riding the right trails - fingerless in the alps/peaks etc is a one fall route to shredded fingers in my opinion - not like well vented full fingers dont exist.
The other stuff, no idea/no experience

Kowalski675

lawman wrote:

Along with press fit BB's

They should be on the list.

Giraffoto

Handlebar/stem combinations where it's all welded together (long, long ago)

BMX-derived centre pull style brakes mounted under the chain stays, just aft of the bottom bracket (also long, long ago)