[Closed] Bike stuff you thought you didn't need but now really like

Dropper, SS, 29+, knee pads (bought them for a race now wear them most steep rides), clipless pedals after toe clips!
Tubeless, 1x gearing

[b]Crank Bros pedals[/b] (thought they'd disintegrate - but love them)
[b]Chain guide[/b] (Bird fitted it without me asking and I was dubious, but it is really nice and also silent)
[b]Big grippy front tyres[/b] (combined with a fastish rear - great fun and still feels fastish pedalling)

v666ern - Member
2x10
turns out im not fit enough for 1x10 and it makes me push more going down too

If you're hsaving to get off and push going downhill then you might even want to go 3x10 🙂

29er
Powermeter
Wider bars (still only 700mm mind!)
Shimano brakes
Windproof/ Waterproof SS jersey (Etxeondo Gabba copy)

Water Bottle

Very good shout! Also a Mt Zoom handy strap 😀 Such a joy to not have a pack and travel light!

Nothing new to add, but a dropper - I was very anti-dropper, the very first clunky heavy ones seemed pointless, when they started to get good I discounted them as pointless and 'anti-social' because prior to droppers we used to stop every time the trail went up or down to move the seats and chat would happen.

When the first of our number got them I REALLY hated them, they do what they're supposed to do, make it possible to ride the whole trail without stopping to move your seat, which if you haven't got one and everyone else has... you're going to get left behind - short climb in the middle of a downhill section, you're going to blown away.

In the end I was forced into getting one, love it - I means you ride a trail, not an uphill bit, then a downhill bit, then a sort of flat bit, then another downhill bit then a uphill bit - I thought it would make it easier and the exorcize element of riding would be lessoned - if anything it makes it harder now without the little breaks.

Most other things I either knew I'd want the second I saw them (Hydraulic discs) or went along with knowing they wouldn't be game changers and they're not for me. (1x drive trains and or narrow wide, carbon, Strava, wide bars.

The one 'new thing' I thought I would like, and hated is tubeless - I rarely get punctures, have no desire to run my tyres at 10psi and turn the simple task of changing tyres into a MASSIVE faf.

Dropper, 29er, kneepads and suspension (that last one was a while ago).