Dirts worst 15 MTB Products

kajjal

supersonic wrote:

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.

Still have those on my mid 1990's Orange hardtail bike. They work fine for me even now which is surprising , maybe weighing close to 100kg is why they work better

New forks are better in comparison and much more adjustable.

I also removed bar ends, pedals with straps from the Orange within a week of getting it and fitted a wider riser bar. Until then it was unstable like a road bike After the changes it handled more like a BMX and was great on the trails.

Thewaylander

cannondale dd60 forks should of been in there... man i smashed one set 4 times in a year! they ended up paying for me to get a spacer and a new fork to replace!

Nick Cod

Anyone remember full material saddles, think they were made by X lite. Absorbed water and stayed wet during winter months unless you took your seat post / saddle out and stuck it in the airing cupboard over night to dry

BloggingFit

Would have included AMP Research Forks in that list!

Onza Pedals were ok back in the day and no worse than some of the non-shimano systems out now.

X-Rays worked ok but housing were uber brittle and liked to crack. Also you could see all the grease through them if you wanted then to work properly.

Aero Rims and bad Disc Wheels passing as Tioga knock offs would be another addition.

The Rookie

lawman wrote:

The brakes were crap, nothing seemed to last and dual control and rapid rise mechs were the pinnacle of it all.

Tell that to my 2006 setup (off a Scott Genius) that is still working perfectly.

Never had an issue braking when shifting or vice versa, maybe I'm not as ham fisted as some though.....

cooldad

Giraffoto wrote:

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

Have some of those. What's wrong with your brakes getting covered in mud and crud?

They are a bit sh1t.

BloggingFit

cooldad wrote:

Giraffoto wrote:

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

Have some of those. What's wrong with your brakes getting covered in mud and crud?

They are a bit sh1t.

On that theme, Pace reversing the mounts for front brakes.

njee20

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

You can still get various carbon one piece bars and stems, they always weigh more than the component parts whilst having no adjustability. Totally pointless, but not actually bad.

Rapid Rise pre-dated Dual Control by a long while, they did an M950-series RR mech in 1998, Dual Control didn't come around until 2003.

Thewaylander

Wiggle..

rockmonkeysc

Giant's Overdrive 2 tapered steerer. Why do they need their own standard?

fyldesmurf

I have a Shimano Hone derailleur on my bike, has anyone ever experience thus constant toruture? My axle goes THROUGH my derailleur... what??

pesky_jones

fyldesmurf wrote:

I have a Shimano Hone derailleur on my bike, has anyone ever experience thus constant toruture? My axle goes THROUGH my derailleur... what??

So if you catch your derailleur on a tree/rock, instead of the hanger taking the brunt and bending - what happens?!

BigLee1

Biopace chainrings, need I say any more? :roll:

cooldad

BigLee1 wrote:

Biopace chainrings, need I say any more? :roll:

Got them on two bikes. How sad is that?

BigAl

cooldad wrote:

BigLee1 wrote:

Biopace chainrings, need I say any more? :roll:

Got them on two bikes. How sad is that?

Blimey! Are those two bikes not used much or are the rings made of Kryptonite?

I remember Shimano launching Biopace. About the same time as indexed gearing if I remember correctly.

For all you youngsters out there - yes there was a time when gears weren't indexed :shock:

adamfo

BigLee1 wrote:

Biopace chainrings, need I say any more? :roll:

Osymetric chainrings were on Froomes TDF winning bike !

Chunkers1980

Er, wrong forum.

cooldad

BigAl wrote:

cooldad wrote:

BigLee1 wrote:

Biopace chainrings, need I say any more? :roll:

Got them on two bikes. How sad is that?

Blimey! Are those two bikes not used much or are the rings made of Kryptonite?

I remember Shimano launching Biopace. About the same time as indexed gearing if I remember correctly.

For all you youngsters out there - yes there was a time when gears weren't indexed :shock:

Well used and original - they don't make them like that anymore. Fortunately.
One set on the road bike (not used a lot before I get banned) which has downtube shifters, one on an old Rockhopper which has thumbies, both switchable between indexed and friction. Used indexed on the back and friction on the front.

Both bikes are from the 80's and still running on original wheel bearings and BB.

rockmonkeysc

One more obvious crap product has to be the Met Parachute helmet. They give no more protection than an xc helmet but give the wearer the impression they have full face protection.

supersonic

I think the RockShox Psylo has to be up there. It took Rockshox 4 years to catch up with Marzocchi and their Bomber, with the 30mm stanchions, and they made a hash of it. Looked the dogs on paper (the race) - air sprung, adjustable compression and rebound damping, adjustable travel, optional 20mm. But the bushes were 5mm deep, wore out in no time, and the thing was incredibly flexy.

njee20

The Duke was worse!

Osymetric chainrings were on Froomes TDF winning bike !

Different to bio pace - rotated through 90 degrees. As are Rotor Q-rings.

cooldad

njee20 wrote:

The Duke was worse!

Osymetric chainrings were on Froomes TDF winning bike !

Different to bio pace - rotated through 90 degrees. As are Rotor Q-rings.

Explains why I have never won the Tour de France.

Chunkers1980

RockmonkeySC wrote:

One more obvious crap product has to be the Met Parachute helmet. They give no more protection than an xc helmet but give the wearer the impression they have full face protection.

Pretty sure one like that's in the list.

Daz555

I agree with all of them.

Fingerless gloves, dual controls, and even bar ends make some sense when not found on a mountain bike though.

The Rookie

Have you ever used Dual controls (STi properly)?

I have just fitted some Exage cranks with Biopace rings to my Retro, not finished it yet though so no idea how they feel!

cooldad

The Rookie wrote:

Have you ever used Dual controls (STi properly)?

I have just fitted some Exage cranks with Biopace rings to my Retro, not finished it yet though so no idea how they feel!

I don't notice them.

BigAl

cooldad wrote:

Used indexed on the back and friction on the front.

Friction on the front does have advantages to recommend it

kirby700

cooldad wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

Have you ever used Dual controls (STi properly)?

I have just fitted some Exage cranks with Biopace rings to my Retro, not finished it yet though so no idea how they feel!

I don't notice them.

I never noticed in the 90's either apart from one 80mile ride my right knee really started giving me grief. Bike stolen about a month later so never did find out if was Biopace.

Bar end compatible brake levers...they were really crap

njee20

Bar ends shifters too, they really made the front end of a bike look cluttered!

Dandy Dan 69

Am I imagining it or did Ritchey release a steel 'hardtail' in the mid-90s with some sort of suspension in the seatstays but relied on the chainstays flexing?