the 24 " front wheel was to get more weight on the front,, i thought the production bike didnt handle as well as the first two prototypes,,
it seemed to understeer and i was loosing the front end a lot at mid corner,,
the easyest way to get more weight on the front was to drop the front so i just put a smaller wheel on it,, it was so much better,
turns in realy well ,,

poor preston was never pretty ,, it;s a shame it didnt get a redesign i still think the design has a lot of merits ,, it could have been great with carbon legs , wishbone and cnc'd links,,

poor preston was never pretty ,, it;s a shame it didnt get a redesign

If Mr Whyte had remained, I think it might have done.

All good Flash, have popped my email in my profile for you. Drop me a line and we'll met for a beer. Bring the dog, he's got an eye for the ladies

Dog RIP, Kato 🙁 ….but beer a plan! Will email shortly…!

If Mr Whyte had remained, I think it might have done

no he was put to sleep before Jon left Marin/whyte apart from the quad rear end nothing changed from the first production bikes ,, shame as i thought there was a lot more to come hence the small front wheel

ooops! Foot in mouth there, but it shows how long it's been since I've seen you. Ah ha, an email

I had an old 1994 Green Halfords Carrera – rode like and looked like a dog 😉

the ellsworth and that belt drive bike are too sweet for this thread (ignoring the brake hose).

Ade Ward's efforts smack of too much wilful effort to create a gopping bike, rather than one that just ended up like that (though Mr Whyte also gave him a head start) 😀

This one isn't mine but I owned one. I liked it back then, when 3.5 inches of travel was classed as a DH bike.

Ellsworth Epiphany – the biking equivalent of Kylie sporting a beard. Nearly so beautiful but ruined by that gawping great big linkage

not mine or MTBR

i sort of like it in a ugly way

I like that Chumba. I like it a lot…

[edit] the front looks droopy, like it's hanging it's head in shame.

my recently retired Mong

ooops didn't read the rules… 😕

*chortles at "mong"*

I love the thinking behind the suspension, but the execution reminds me of a Tate Modern sculpture gone hideously wrong.

I have always wanted a bike like Ade's. I think it's beautiful – form follows function. It's the only way you could convince me to have a full sus bike.

Also there's no way a Bow-Ti is ugly. Even if you painted it with Manga graphics 🙂

My latest creation isn't all that pretty but it's very popular 🙂

From this …

… to this …

… as it morphed to a commuter. Bit of a waste of the frame TBH but it allows me to tackle the challenges of London's towpaths fearlessly and manfully. Fleegles now replaced by boring risers.

psychle – Member

Orange Frankenbike

it's bad enough seeing that bike in the mag, let alone on the forum…

On eBay from Monday.
Form an orderly queue.
A Works Special – whatever that meant at the time.

I'm afraid this is fugly without the f. Frame remains buried in my garage 8)

My eyes are bleeding now.

My latest creation isn't all that pretty but it's very popular

and mom looks very happy…

,,,, wrong side of road is a bit worrying but kev is obviously in bed

Monster-cross-tastic, ON/OFF road commuter .. speed from the rear, cush from the front – great fun! Except the roadie campy cranks – flexy as fuq under power

Jeezus H. Christ fella, there's limits y'know.

Ginger hair AND a ginger beard? That's scandalous…

not just ginger hair .. ginger dreads! O my Jah!

nixon_fiend

your reflection is just above the handlebars and i out you as sporty spice!

ps v fugly

Woody's winning.

Here's my Maverick, with looks only an owner could love…

It's my 2nd Maverick, and personally I absolutely adore them. I rode one years ago, when they were still fairly new on the scene (about 2003) and thought they looked a bit odd. But to ride it was to be in awe of its ability, and the looks began to grow on me.

Most people hate them, but to me they're a design classic.

mboy – sorry, but for me, that takes the win. Most of the previous bikes have had a quirky or interesting quality (with a few exceptions) but that just plumbs the depths of fugliness.

It's the way it bulges out in unexpected places and bends in all the wrong places too.

And I say this as an ex owner of a Halfrauds GT i-Drive.

The Sanity Assassin – Member
Jeezus H. Christ fella, there's limits y'know.
Ginger hair AND a ginger beard? That's scandalous…

Yeah, that's another of my creations – son mkIII. He's well over 6ft and doesn't take kindly to ginger jokes. He's asking for your address… 🙂

The Maverick is nice!

I've always thought of ellsworths and mavericks as a bit like a fat lass, great fun to ride until your mates see you with one

Ive also owned a new shape Marin munter vision (ugly as sin and a bit crap to ride)
A sinisiter splinter (redneck engineering at it's best and another case of function over form)
A felt virtue (super quick, gumpy rockers with added red bits! did go up hill over technical rocky stuff like a doped roadie though)

oh and I love 29ers…..someone fetch me my white stick and dog 😀

This is my wifes bike. An old Kona Roast stripped and left bare with 24" wheels for extra stability. Im not entirely sure why I have an XTR mech on her bike and only a Deore on mine tho?

This was my baby back in 1992, Kurk Revolution Magnesium:

After the 2nd frame snapped the head tube off I sold out and bought a Marin 😉

Well here's one for debate.

In 1997 I got a Marin DH-FRS frame (same as the Marin B17 of that year) – 6" travel at the back but I mated it to a set of Pace RC36s with 80mm travel. It originally had a pearlescent white front 'triangle' and a mango swingarm which really looked awful so I stripped the paint off the swingarm and repainted the front as below. I could never decide whether it was ugly or industrial (though I have an inkling which was this thread will go 😉 ) but I quite liked riding it despite the fact that the travel was so mismatched. In fact I did rather well on it at some enduro type events back then.

EDIT – this was the original colour scheme

oh! oh! can I play!!

That's not really fugly though – just a bit chunky.

I think Woodys Trek is so ugly people are afraid to discuss it and are going off topic a bit.

Seriously people, that is the most appalling bike I have ever seen. We now need some sort of support group to help people who have seen the picture. 🙁

Clubber – I think that Marin was really nice. When built I'm sure the dated geometry makes it look a bit spoddy but I like it.

Woody is winning so far, and by quite some margin IMO. That thing is so ugly it actually made me guffaw.

EDIT: Ah, good, I'm not suffering alone then:

I think Woodys Trek is so ugly people are afraid to discuss it and are going off topic a bit.

Seriously people, that is the most appalling bike I have ever seen. We now need some sort of support group to help people who have seen the picture.

Wow, just had a look at the Trek (couldn't see it here, had to look on my mobile) – LOL – I remember those – they really were proper aesthetic horrors weren't they!