Had to admit to myself on a ride this evening, a ride that I have done many times on my full sus bike that my new (to me anyway) titanium hardtail 26er may not be the bike for me! I think it may be a case of getting used to it a bit more or exploring other places where the hardtail comes into its own, had a onone scandal 29er which I loved before going full sus so no stranger to ht.

Anyone else had a case of regret after buying a bike they had been longing for???

I’ve done it many times. Sold the frames and moved on. There’s only been 2 bikes I missed really, but I’m settled now.

52p and a packet of Maltesers, and I can pick it up tomorrow….

Lol the maltesers sound tempting!

I have just come to the same realisation about my own titanium hardtail. Maybe I got sucked in a little by the hype of the all-mountain geometry with a 65 degree head angle and the stories of it giving you “extra” travel at the back relative to other hardtails. Once I took it out on a proper run it lived up to all the hype going up, being light and very stable. However, pointing it down, it was simply no match for the full-sus i’d just replaced it with.

It made me realise my riding requires rear suspension. The number of times I tackled stuff I would have relished before, simply to get bucked around and simply thrown out of my cleats, became extremely limiting. I couldn’t get any continuity through the rough stuff and started chickening out on things I used to attack. This all made me very sad.

Until I finished my new meta 5.5 that I got a great deal on from Commencal. Now my world is bright and beautiful again! (And if anyone wants a 20″ 456 ti frame that is all of 6 weeks old for a reasonable price, my email is in my profile :D).

My Titus Motolite. I convinced myself I liked it for a while, but ended up being glad it went.

I just built up a charge duster skinny. Fully rigid single speed and took it into to pentlands today is the driving rain. I loved every secong of it.

So…. um…. no, i haven’t

I’ve just built up a titanium hardtail and I’m loving it. Maybe it’s right for you but not right for you right now…?

I’m glad I’m not the only one I’m fiddling with stem length in the garage as we speak (ohhhh er) and going to try a few more times and a few other places to try and find a set up that works I still have my full sus but wanted this as the bike I can take the kids out and the dog out etc without worrying about wear and tear!

Never got on with my Camber at all, it was gone almost before it arrived. Likewise my Dare but it was genuinely just bad, I think with the Camber it was just incompatibility with me.

Mostly I just slowly go off bikes- wow factor is temporary then once I get used to them I find out the things that I don’t like, and they take over. My current bikes are all grump-proof, I think it’s the most important characteristic for a northwindmobile

Yep Santa Cruz Nickel, bought to replace a Zesty never got on with it just didn’t feel good, it’s replacement is the polar opposite.

It happens you just have to trade it out and get something else, life is to short and we have to few nice weekends to waste them on bikes that don’t work for you.

I’ve just finished building up a little hardtail playbike to relearn my skills on. Took it out the other day and it feels horrible. Guess I’m just too used to my full sus bikes. I’m hoping I’ll get used to it…..

Back in 2008 I bought a Commencal 5 & couldn’t get on with it.
I fiddled with the suspension settings & made it worse!

So I stripped it, hung it on the wall & built up a Maxlite hard tail with the bits. That was about 4 years ago.

Just recently I have re built the Commi & I am really liking it!
Only differences are light wheels & wide bars.

Yoyo!

When I was expecting Kip Jr I sold my giant anthem, the first full suss I ever owned. I was sure I wanted something with more suspension so I could ride bigger stuff a bit harder. I bought a trek EX8 which had 120mm instead of the 90 I was used to.

It has taken 4 years, a new set of wheels and a dropper post to make me like the bike! However, I did ride the Anthem all over the UK and Europe over 2.5 years whereas I’ve really only knocked about local trails on the Trek. I’ve also done significantly less mileage on the Trek. I do get Anthem envy though and still wish I’d just bought the newer Anthem! Hey oh, can’t afford a new bike now so we’ll never know!

yeti asr5 for me. just felt wrong. more so as the rear triangle cracked!

now riding 29 er hardtails, loving it.

I went from riding a few full suss bikes to a Soul, having not ridden a hardtail for years previously. InInitially I ddidn’t like it, especially being bucked around over relatively bumpy ground. Now i love it, you soon get used to getting loose, plus I can stand up and blast any climbs without bobbing.

Ragley td-1 and Tallboy c.

Dirty Disco,
Wanted one, couldn’t get one , finally got one. Just want to ride my other bike.
Soon for the classified.

I had a orange 5. It was very average.

Strange thing was my mate borrowed it and went out straight away and spent 4k on a new one

Recently sold an El Mariachi. I couldn’t fault it. It fitted well and did everything I asked of it. Just no lurve. Now riding a Ti 29er and loving it.

Bought a 2010 Enduro frame a few years ago after selling my S-Works 2006 Enduro frame.

Loved the 2006, hated the 2010. Couldn’t get on with it.

True, it ripped certain stuff but tetchy steep things, it was unwieldy, unbearable, ponderous, cumbersome.

Glad I sold the thing. To think, I put up with it for three Alps trips too.

Have had many bikes I’ve never quite gelled with. Of particular note were my first 2 29ers… Tried one back in early 2010, and then swapped it for another, and never really got on with either. Went back to 26″ bikes quite quickly.

Glad I didn’t let the first 2 taint my opinion on the wheelsize for too long though. Loving 29ers now! It’s all in the geometry of course, and I just learnt what made a 29er work for me.

Built a 456ti and have riden it on and off for a year and no likely.
My Orange Five I loved and now find so so.
Just finished building a 2012 Orange ST4 and loving it, still to download my Strava but it feels quicker and I still ride everything I used to do on my 140/150 Five.

Ellsworth Moment for me, loved the looks, dream bike etc, bought a 2008 2 yr old frame and quite quickly hated it. BB was too high and sus jacked up on braking making me feel perched on top at the moments you want to feel low and in control. It did ride nicely on ‘trails’, but horrid on slow steep tech when you’re on the brakes a lot. got rid asap, but the damage was done to my bottle on slow steep stuff, not sure I’ve ever quite fully recovered my slow speed tech composure and bottle.

Nukeproof mega am 2012.. I convince myself everyday im going to like it, but the bike just felt lazy or maybe too much for cannock or the way I ride.. Difficult to sell as it is small frame, so I just dump it in the loft.

Giant Anthem 2012, fit 120mm fork on it very fast agile bike..and I spilt a lot of blood in this bike , i love it in a way however everytime i took this bike out there is always a hint that it’s going to murder me 😐

my 456 is sat in the garage doing nothing now, been there for a while now. It felt great to start with after my boneshaker of a stiff alu frame HT but over time it never got the build it deserved and weighs more than my full sus. Unless I find some nice bits for it I reckon it will become a commuter.

456 – heavier than my full sus, felt dead to ride. Sold after 2 rides.

i replaced a pair of bars. It was awful. Kept telling myself it couldn’t be just the bars…so i adjusted them and then some more..i told myself I must have just forgot the feeling since the weekend before.

Changed the bars again.. a week later – felt spot on again..and that’s without even tweeking them..

just shows…

My Kona Honky Tonk is the only bike I’ve had less than 6 months. It was a good bike, but a mate wanted it more than his Singular Kite. I was more than happy to trade.

Litespeed Niota AL.

It was a tad too short for me, and despite having a very tuneable rear shock, (all the normal stuff plus volume adjustment) and getting it PUSH’d, I was never really happy on it.

Replaced it with a s/h 575 and all is good now 🙂

Nukeproof Mega. Wanted a stiffer & stronger bike to replace my Commencal, and it is, but it just too much bike for the rider and doesn’t get used. 2012, large, black if any body is interested.

Basil…what size is your disco?

Clearly I’m doing something wrong. I get on a bike, ride it, get off.

Whyte T129S – I *almost* love it. I did for the first 6 months to be honest, but the rear tyre clearance has started to bug me… what is the point of a trail bike that cannot run with quite a wide range of popular trail tyres?

If I have some more funds at some stage I think the frame will go and I will get something else and hang all the bits off it. Alas funds are tight these days so it isn’t an option anytime soon.

First FS was a Giant NRS, dear lord it was terrible. Down to the RockShox shock though.
Was like a human trebuchet.

04 SWorks Enduro. Lovely. Just lovely.
But you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, & I was seduced by a boutique Ventana.

Never got on with it.
Tried it in many guises, but to no avail.

Had en eye on the classifieds ever since, for an 04 SWorks Enduro…. 🙂

Tallboy LTc, could not. Learn to love it at all.

Ibis Mojo, after drooling over them for years, realised the fit was absolutely terrible for me. Bought second hand so didn’t lose much.

Funny that Metas get metioned a bit in here, they do seem to be a bit marmite. Loved mine, it’s probably the only bike I’ve sold that I really regret.

How long do you give it though?.

When I first got my current FS, I hated it first ride, thought I’d bought a real pile. I’d read everywhere that the top tube is long (SB66) So had the Saddle forward and bars rotated slightly further back to compensate, didn’t have enough air in the shock, so it was slack as Katie Price, and had borrowed a back wheel from a mate as I was waiting for a conversion kit for mine. Didn’t really realise that the tyre he had on was a dual ply that weighed 1.3 kilos.

It rode terrible. Got my own wheel and tyre on, sorted cockpit and shock pressure, different bike. Love it now.

It is 58cm and remove the coffee ones

.243 FR – was an insurance replacement for a 24 Le Toy 3 that got stolen and was never right from day 0 (thanks again Wheelies you shower of s**ts!). Heavy as hell, forks weren’t particularly inpiring so got a set of Z1 duals that were sold 1 ride later as they completely screwed the geometry. Eventually sold the frame for almost nothing since DH hardtails were long out of fashion.

Did replace it with a Trailstar which is still a bit heavy but not the same weight as my 10 yr old Norco DH bike!

Still miss the Toy, I’d recently fitted a NOS set of Z1 QR20’s (20mm Z1 CR’s) and they made it feel amazing compared to the SL’s that were on it before (though I imagine anything would).