Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 105 total)
  • wrong/shit bikes and honesty.
  • ton
    Full Member

    two things have made me want to post this, me riding a (to me) non suitable bike today, and bumping into a old mate on a torture machine.

    now as most of you know, i have had a fair few bikes, some very nice, some not suitable for me, some what would have done with a bit of perseverance, and some shyte.
    one thing i have always stuck to, is that i will not keep a bike that i dont get on with, one that i find wrong for me, be it uncomfy, or that i dislike for any other reason.
    i think life is too short to not have what you desire. if i dont like it, it goes and is replaced with something i may like.
    it cost me a fair bit of cash…i dont care. i dont want toast every morning for breakfast.

    so, now to the wrong bike. today i set off on a local offroad circuit. not too rough, canal path, rutted byway, narrow footpath, few steps. a route that is done in comfort on my hardtail.
    today i was riding a cannondale cross bike, fitted with 700 x 35 tyres, well padded bars and a charge spoon copy.
    my back, arse and wrists are killing me. i crashed twice.
    riding offroad on what is really a road racing bike is the most stupid idea, or the most stupid thing i have ever done on a bike.
    this was not fun……. i feel i was on the wrong bike.

    i bumped into a old mate at a local cafe, he was halfway round a 40 mile sustrans type route (wakefield wheel). he was just about to ring his wife to collect him. he was in agony.
    he was riding a boardman roadbike, on a offroad circuit. the bike was a medium size and the bloke is 6ft 3”. i asked him why he was riding such a small unsuitable bike. he told me that he rides it all the time, to work and on a weekend, but whenever he rode it, he was in pain riding and after.
    he told me that he just put up with it. i find this very odd.

    are you honest to yourself with your bike choice?
    or do you just put up with it?

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    I select carefully, have a range of bikes to choose from according to the planned ride and will happily sell on if I’m really not happy.

    I guess I don’t have the same scatter-gun approach to buying that you do Tony. Must be an inherent Scottish trait. However, none of my current bikes are exactly off-the-peg so I’ve honed them to my desires/fit/comfort – at some cost.

    I also do like taking the “wrong” bike occasionally, e.g. the CX or fatbike round Glentress. It adds a bit of variety and can make some mundane tracks more fun.

    piemonster
    Full Member

    Just to be contrary

    I really REALLY enjoyed my ride out on the cross bike today 🙂

    binners
    Full Member

    Hora to the forum please. Hora to the forum please….

    I tend to change my bikes very seldom. I do my research and buy something I’ve a pretty good idea will be there or thereabouts, and then tweek it, in true Triggers Broom stylee, until it feels ‘just right’. I’m an uncomplicated creature. I know what I’m looking for.

    Theres only really one bike that I really ****ed up majorly with, thought would be great, then didn’t get on with at all.

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    I think many of our european brethren ride bikes that balance comfort and out and out performance. Here we seem to think a ‘fast’ bike makes us fast.

    PiknMix
    Free Member

    If I have a bike that I don’t get on with, I will do everything I can to try and make it work. If all of that fails I move it on and get something else. I find sometimes it can take many rides for a bike to feel right, I would have given up on many more if I hadn’t given them a fair chance.

    Rorschach
    Free Member

    riding offroad on what is really a road racing bike is the most stupid idea

    For christs sake don’t do the 3 peaks race then!
    Riding the ‘wrong’ bike can be fun (ask single speeders)

    oliverracing
    Full Member

    I select carefully and if I don’t like or use a bike it gets sold.

    But then again I really do love my cross bike and am looking at getting one with discs just so I can ride bigger gnarlier trails faster on it, although “Everyone” (the forum user not everyone) will verify that cantis haven’t stopped me hurling myself off cliffs on it though!.

    Edit: I just got back from riding my singlespeed monstercross – probably the most pointless uselessly fun bike possible! 😀

    ton
    Full Member

    For christs sake don’t do the 3 peaks race then!

    and for what reason would i ever want to do a ride with not pub or cafe involved…… 😀

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    are you honest to yourself with your bike choice?
    or do you just put up with it?

    For me I don’t think it’s either, rather it is adapting. I say that as I don’t know any better having not ridden many different bikes at all. I was on a 2002 hardtail Kona until a year ago, now on a modern angled longish travel hardtail. Feels very different to the old bike, but I got used to it pretty quick and it now feels right. I’ll not be getting another for a good few years as I can’t afford to keep buying and selling bikes. If I couldn’t get on with my current bike I’m sure I’d feel different. I’m mindful of the fairy tale, and can only conclude that I am a common person while you are a total princess 😀

    ton
    Full Member

    yeah a big ugly hairy princess…….. 😆

    Teetosugars
    Free Member

    I bought a Heckler in 2009, I’d never ridden one before, but it was a dream build..
    And I tried everything, but could never get on with it..
    I changed everything, but never really ‘got it’.
    I should have sold it long before I did.

    I’m still debating a full suss, but fir some reason, I’m holding back.
    I’m just worried I’ll drop a boat load of cash on something I can’t get on with..
    I’ve tested loads, and think I know what I want, but there’s still a nagging voice in the back if my head..

    woodster
    Full Member

    I used to think I swapped bikes often because of rational reasons e.g more sited to my riding, but really I just get bored and fancy trying something else.

    I would have thought I’d have honed the specification for my perfect bike by now, but really I just enjoy trying something new and building bikes. The tell for if it’s crap Is by realising how little riding I’ve been doing, but I’m not afraid to say some of plans have turned out to be terrible in reality . (’98 Marin Team DH turned modern enduro was appalling)

    Moses
    Full Member

    I’m somewhere in the middle.
    I am fussy about my bike, but both tight so that I tend to buy second hand and impetuous that I buy something that feels right to start with but then I find it’s not. So after a bit of tweaking & changing contact points, it’s into the attic with them to mature for a year before selling at a loss.

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    Took my cx-er out today.

    Some off-road, some Tarmac. Often the off-road was smoother than the Tarmac (welcome to Sheffield! Where the roads are total shite).

    Had lunch at bradfield, a pint of blonde, an ice cream, a snooze in the shade beside the cricket field, and a quick cruise home before the rain. It was ace.

    I’m sorry, what was the question?

    m360
    Free Member

    Recently bought a flat bar road bike that was too small for me. Sold it to buy a CX bike. Decided I didn’t like drop bars at all. Sold that and used my mountain bike with slicks for a while. Have since bought a flat bar commuter and very pleased with it.

    Always been happy with my mountain bike however and will NEVER ever sell that.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    Love my mtb, can’t see me changing it unless it breaks.

    Road bike is probably a bit too big for me and getting a bit tatty but it’s just a tool so I doubt I’ll bother changing it for another couple of years.

    tinribz
    Free Member

    After a fair few mistakes over the years have by necessity painfully learnt to take more note of virtual TT, head/seat tube angles even stack height. Along with building up personal prefernces. Narrows down choices but also seemingly the number of frames I get through. Same goes for fully rigid off road, but you still have to give these things a good try else you might be missing out.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Ton are you blaming the cx bike rather than yourself?

    I like to have the perfect bike/experiment and change them tons, rarely for anything high end or new tho.

    Denis99
    Free Member

    I”m with Ton on this one.

    The only way to get to know a bike is to actually own it and ride it for a while.

    If it turns out that it doesn’t suit you, then it’s better off selling it, rather than a bigger waste of just leaving it in the garage unused.

    I bought a Cannondale F29 Carbon Lefty at Christmas, must have rode it say 200 miles off road and realised that it didn’t really suit me or the type of terrain I normally ride.

    Sold it, lost some money on the original purchase price and bought something that I now enjoy (Trek Stache 9).

    metalheart
    Free Member

    I’ve bought and sold bikes, moving them on if they aren’t right (even sold my rocket which was more a case of right bike, wrong time… 😥 ). I even had a custom made steel road bike that I tried to persevere with that just wasn’t right (ended up with a secondhand Giant ONCE TCR replica that was absolutely perfect, didn’t even need to change the saddle height…)

    Life is too short. If it’s wrong it’s wrong. And you know when it is…

    Applies to more than bikes, sadly.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I’m honest though… I suppose, when I’m happy with the bikes I have, I intentionally avoid riding any of the bikes that look like potential replacements 😆 So there’s a wee bit of evasion there, I don’t want to spoil what I have even when that means missing out on anything better.

    There’s been a couple that really didn’t last. My BFe, Mmmbop and Camber (camber I knew was getting binned after maybe 3 rides). And my 26er Scandal got sold the moment I rode a Soul and discovered it was shite at the job I wanted it to do- I hadn’t really realised. I genuinely never rode it again.

    Oh and the ****ing awful Ellsworth, 2 rides, one wasted uplift day.

    takisawa2
    Full Member

    I gelled instantly with my Niner. Plus sizing the wheels/tyres has served to endear it to me all the more.
    I bought a Five earlier this year, that took a few rides but it’s ace.
    Can see both being in my shed for the foreseeable future.
    The Orange doesn’t see a lot of use, the Niner is the default choice. Love the rigid feel, & plus size tyres feel great. Need to try a full fat, that might be my thing.

    But there have been a few duds…
    Ventana El Ciclon. Had two but just didn’t get on with either of them. To me they felt dead & lifeless on the trail.
    Pace RC303. Great if in the mood, but too stiff for anything over an hour.
    Current Tri-Ban road bike. Just not getting the road thing at all. Not my cup of tea. Possibly nowt wrong with the bike, just the intended purpose.

    There is one bike that’s slipped almost unnoticed into the shed & that’s a Carerra Subway that I commute on. It’s been loaded to the gills, thrashed everywhere, even done a few off road jaunts. It lives, panniered up, in the back shed. It asks for nowt but a squirt of oil now & again.

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    my back, arse and wrists are killing me. i crashed twice

    Now this ^^ made me snort a a mouthful of Whiskey..

    That is one of the best quotes in a very long time.

    😆

    tonyg2003
    Full Member

    Yep. Bought a medium Specialized Camber 29er. Always felt a bit too small for me and ended up getting a bad back whenever I rode it. It took a while to admit this to myself and a couple of months ago I bought a Stumpy FSR 29er frame in large. I’m loving the large size Stumpy and sort of annoyed with myself that I didn’t change it earlier.

    mboy
    Free Member

    I tend to agonise for ages over any new bike purchases, spending way too long researching every facet of the bike/frame/components I’m going to use etc. before taking the plunge.

    As a result, I’d say that usually I get things pretty right for my needs. Sometimes some components may need changing to get it just right, and there’s always tweaks to be done to the setup, but usually I get it pretty right.

    There have been a few exceptions though. On the odd occasion, I’ve acted on impulse and bought something just because, it’s often ended up being a bike that has been sold on very quickly. Though the bike I probably gelled with the best over the last 5 years was an impulse purchase! Hey ho…

    FWIW, the last bike I didn’t get on with so sold on rather quickly was also a CX bike. I’ve ridden some good CX bikes, some not so good, but ultimately it didn’t matter really as I was trying to use it for things it wasn’t really suited for.

    ianfitz
    Free Member

    ton,

    I ride rigid bikes, 29er mtbs, one with a 29+ front and a CX bike with 33mm tyres. they mostly work well for me, but sometimes they beat me up

    have you considered that your fitness, core stability and bike handling ability are not up to it? And actually the bikes aren’t shit just that you need something more forgiving.

    Please don’t think I’m having a go here, it’s only the last couple of years that I felt that I could ride bikes like this ‘properly’ and now my full sus bike and a couple of sets of bouncy forks are in the shed.

    There is very much ‘the wrong rider’ as ‘the wrong bike’

    zippykona
    Full Member

    I bought a road bike once. No good for cutting across grass, no good for bumping up and down kerbs, my ride to work meant going further ,mixing with traffic and having to filter up the outside of jams.
    It was sold soon after.

    pictonroad
    Full Member

    Conversely I just bought an arkose and I’m loving it. It’s a lesson in humility trying to follow riders like DrP and other guys even quicker, on their CX bikes. I’ve given up trying to be the quickest now I’m chasing good times not quick times.

    Only really had 2 bikes I had to concede weren’t for me, both steel and both short.

    I’ve got a couple of rigid off road bikes, they beat the crap out of you, that’s what they do. If you don’t like it, it’s you, not the bikes. Bit like blaming a shark for eating someone in the sea, don’t blame the shark.

    What exactly were you expecting from a rigid narrow tyred bike off road?

    BigDummy
    Free Member

    have you considered that your fitness, core stability and bike handling ability are not up to it? And actually the bikes aren’t shit just that you need something more forgiving.

    Doesn’t much matter really, does it?

    Rider is shit = different bike needed
    Bike is shit = different bike needed
    Rider is ton = different bike needed

    😉

    bigrich
    Full Member

    I did 100km over the weekend on unsealed road, on a carbon aerobike.

    I did test ride it before I bought it, and got a fit. just because a bike is a deal, doesn’t mean it’s worth it.

    kerley
    Free Member

    From what you describe sounds like you had the perfect bike. If you are in agony afterwards that may not be the style of the bike that is the cause.

    robdob
    Free Member

    I guess I don’t have the same scatter-gun approach to buying that you do Tony

    To be fair to Tony he is absolutely massive. And I mean huge. Not only very tall but built like several poo houses all together in one. That must mean he has to try bikes which are outside the normal range of bike fit, and I assume just like the small bikes that my wife rides, sometimes the manufacturers get it right sometimes they don’t, and there’s never a test version in the extreme sizes.

    His needs have changed quite a lot too as he had recovered from being ill.

    Me and my brother (peterpoddy of this parish) and completely different, he seems to be able to ride and medium sized bike with any bars or saddle and be perfectly comfortable. I really struggle with fit because I have a long body and T-Rex arms and legs. I seem to have a special ass too which is strictly Bel Air (the old ones not the new ones) or Flite Ti (again the original 90’s ones!).

    Sometime it’s not knowing whether a bike is good or not too. My first road bike was a Specialized Secteur which I was ok with and I ended up swapping it with one of their cross bikes – mistake as I hated the cross bike and it felt heavy and dull. I changed again to a Kinesis Racelight but to be honest the Secteur felt even better so if I ever got the chance I would sell the Kinesis and get another Secteur. 4 bikes just because I wasn’t aware of how road bikes ride and how a decent one felt.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    scatter-gun

    This – as above, its not difficult to do some basic research re geometry, tubing etc, to narrow it down at least.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    I can barely afford the consumables required to keep a bike running, so cannot really fathom buying and selling bikes on a whim searching for that perfect one.

    I’ve taken ages over choosing the right bike….when I test rode my FSR it was for several hours back to back against another bike on my shortlist so I was pretty sure when I bought it that it was right for me.

    My Inbred; I had the luxury of riding a friend’s Medium frame prior to buying so I new it fitted me.

    My road bike; I sat on a few in the shop to get a feel for them & while the one I ended up on wasn’t one of the ones I sat on, the geometry charts put it pretty close.
    I have since ridden other road bikes that are more comfortable & fit me better, but I have made some adjustments and it’s fine; I’ve done almost 100 miles on it without any real discomfort.

    drovercycles
    Free Member

    I did 100km over the weekend on unsealed road, on a carbon aerobike.

    Whereabouts is that photo Bigrich? Looks awesome…

    ton
    Full Member

    the usual suspect missing what I wrote, as per usual.

    this was not fun……. i feel i was on the wrong bike.

    the key word is I.

    njee20
    Free Member

    That’s the “wrong” part, where does “shit” come into it?

    ton
    Full Member

    I use shit to describe lot’s of things. but I did have a fat possum, which was the shitest bike ever made…. 😀

    BigDummy
    Free Member

    Well, what do you want? That half of your post boils down to “I can’t ride a CX bike”. You were always going to get 2 pages of people going “Well, I can.”

    😉

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