tom howard's forks look horrible. rest of it is just a bit poncy.
My Moterra had one of those stupid big mechs on the back. This must've been its first ride for me, I had only hi-viz pedals spare, but they matched well. 😀 No getting over the fatness of that carbon though. All gone a bit Trigger's Broom since then, even has mismatched rims on the 29er wheels. But the mech has gone, thankfully.
so I can’t post a photo of a colleague’s bike that has been wrapped from new entirely in inner tubes to protect it?
Yes, yes you can
Some of these bikes are genuinely awful looking, to the point that some actual thought must have gone into it, it's not like they just happen to look bad, but people have said to themselves "I can achieve something here".. I don't know whether to congratulate you all, or just close the thread and walk away.
Who knew there was a spaghetti junction in Wales?

Who knew there was a spaghetti junction in Wales?
You absolute heathen. Extra points for this dropper/brake hose calamity. Well done, you genuinely don't care
Think this photo manages to include a front mudguard that doesn’t follow the tyre curve, frame bag, top tube garmin mount, non slammed dropper, steerer tube not adequately trimmed; as well as my non matching clothing colours.
im sure someone hates water bottles too, even if that hasn’t been mentioned yet
Who knew there was a spaghetti junction in Wales?
Username checks out 😉
Think this photo manages to include a front mudguard that doesn’t follow the tyre curve,
Amateur! Look closer at @desperatebicycles errr depserate bicycle.
I'll leave it up to everyone else to decide whether they think these are ugly 'cos I don't (wouldn't have built them like this if I did!). There is a recurring theme that might upset some eyes admittedly, and each one has a few features that have already been pointed out as visually displeasing in this thread.
I'll leave it up to everyone else to decide whether they think these are ugly 'cos I don't
Eye of the beholder etc...
😉
The Glentress Gravel Manual Machine. Slays Careless Whisper and made it down Flatwhite on the Golfie at 2mph.
50mm dropper is amazing. Also 4 Fidlock mounts on it.

I see nothing wrong with that!
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Massive cassette/small chainring ✓
Frame bag ✓
Purple anodising ✓
Massive mudguards ✓
Flat pedals with drop bars ✓
Massive head tube ✓
Top tube Garmin mount ✓
At least I remembered to line my tyre logos and valves up.
"What a horrible day to have eyes"
What a great retort. I'm going looking for a reason of my own to use this.
Has external dropper routing been mentioned yet? It should have been
Ewww, I hadn't even seen that
Where's your mates inner tube bike, get it posted up?
Just for @desperatebicycle - something to take away and think long and hard about over the weekend....
Shan (mismatched different length cables 😳) and Kenevo (a tad too long) not perfect, but at least there has been some effort involved 🤣
I'll leave it up to everyone else to decide whether they think these are ugly 'cos I don't (wouldn't have built them like this if I did!). There is a recurring theme that might upset some eyes admittedly, and each one has a few features that have already been pointed out as visually displeasing in this thread.
I applaud the effort to build a bike whose sole purpose seems to make Orange single pivot full bouncers look elegant.
[I love Orange single pivot full bouncers - got 3 downstairs but I love the fact they seem to make people froth at the mouth]
@northwind to the forum please
WHAT? Oh yeah, this? Yeah I know, mismatched tyre brands, it's a sin.
![]()
I like an Ellsworth Dare. Thought they made some cool bikes back in the day (still fancy a Specialist).
I like an Ellsworth Dare.
Yeah, but... every tube on that seems designed to clash with the others. Its .. it's ... disgusting!
I had an external Reverb too. To be fair it was when they first came out and internal routing didn't exist.
(Note: NDS photo only to show the routing):

Seems bird's nest cabling has always been my thing.
Here's another old bike that will piss people off.
I turned it from a very respectable this:

...into this:

This one just looks hideous now too:

But these three are still cool:



This one just looks hideous now too:
A thing of beauty. I had a white 05 one, was at my riding peak, aged 23, spent a few weeks throwing it down Whistler bike park before leaving it with a mate who’s apparently slapdash attitude to bike security lead to it being stolen. Truly loved that bike, only reason I haven’t got another is I don’t want to ruin the memories of how well it rode (for the time) RIP
I thought that NS was street trials bike (eg an Inspired), until I noticed the (logo) lack of front brake! What model is it?
My Inspired Console, street trials bike, 24" wheels, came with fluorescent green/yellow NS rims, mounted on red anodised hubs. I liked aesthetically but unfortunately my skills really didn't warrant their attention grabbing nature.
Because I'm also a bit crap at looking after my bikes, and was living on the coast... Some years later I was glad to replace the wheels with something more stealthy, plain black rims & hubs, but with plain stainless spokes.
After years of black spokes being the must have, I decided to embrace being slightly different, mainly, like most of my purchasing decisions, cost/performance won. Now though I like the look of stainless spokes.
This one just looks hideous now too:
A thing of beauty. I had a white 05 one, was at my riding peak, aged 23, spent a few weeks throwing it down Whistler bike park before leaving it with a mate who’s apparently slapdash attitude to bike security lead to it being stolen. Truly loved that bike, only reason I haven’t got another is I don’t want to ruin the memories of how well it rode (for the time) RIP
I loved riding it, made even the roughest of tracks feel like flow trail. I don't think had another full suss since where the front and rear have worked in such perfect harmony. It was the worst bike in the world to work on though... even just changing the spring was nightmare!
I swapped it for the white SX Trail, which whilst not as much of a magic carpet was a much more fun bike. If Specialized made a modern version of that I'd buy one in an instant.
I then replaced that with the Mega, which was a very capable bike but always felt a bit boring in comparison to the SX.
I thought that NS was street trials bike (eg an Inspired), until I noticed the (logo) lack of front brake! What model is it?
My Inspired Console, street trials bike, 24" wheels, came with fluorescent green/yellow NS rims, mounted on red anodised hubs. I liked aesthetically but unfortunately my skills really didn't warrant their attention grabbing nature.
Because I'm also a bit crap at looking after my bikes, and was living on the coast... Some years later I was glad to replace the wheels with something more stealthy, plain black rims & hubs, but with plain stainless spokes.
After years of black spokes being the must have, I decided to embrace being slightly different, mainly, like most of my purchasing decisions, cost/performance won. Now though I like the look of stainless spokes.
That was a NS Traffic. It was their DJ/street/park model. I built that from the frame up, originally with Marz DJ forks but they were like a boat anchor so I swapped those out for rigids. Ended up swapping the bike for the chrome BSD BMX before realising my back wasn't what it used to be!
I could post a whole thread on all the different BMX builds I've had!
I've never had a street trials bike though, but a few of my mates did. Mostly the seatless, low slung ones with little wheels and Magura brakes. Always looked a bit too technical for me 😀
This one just looks hideous now too:
A thing of beauty. I had a white 05 one, was at my riding peak, aged 23, spent a few weeks throwing it down Whistler bike park before leaving it with a mate who’s apparently slapdash attitude to bike security lead to it being stolen. Truly loved that bike, only reason I haven’t got another is I don’t want to ruin the memories of how well it rode (for the time) RIP
I loved riding it, made even the roughest of tracks feel like flow trail. I don't think had another full suss since where the front and rear have worked in such perfect harmony. It was the worst bike in the world to work on though... even just changing the spring was nightmare!
I swapped it for the white SX Trail, which whilst not as much of a magic carpet was a much more fun bike. If Specialized made a modern version of that I'd buy one in an instant.
I then replaced that with the Mega, which was a very capable bike but always felt a bit boring in comparison to the SX.
Ha, I replaced mine with an SX trail too! Hated it, felt like it had the geo of an XC bike and the weight of a DH bike, sold it in pretty quickly
This one just looks hideous now too:
A thing of beauty. I had a white 05 one, was at my riding peak, aged 23, spent a few weeks throwing it down Whistler bike park before leaving it with a mate who’s apparently slapdash attitude to bike security lead to it being stolen. Truly loved that bike, only reason I haven’t got another is I don’t want to ruin the memories of how well it rode (for the time) RIP
I loved riding it, made even the roughest of tracks feel like flow trail. I don't think had another full suss since where the front and rear have worked in such perfect harmony. It was the worst bike in the world to work on though... even just changing the spring was nightmare!
I swapped it for the white SX Trail, which whilst not as much of a magic carpet was a much more fun bike. If Specialized made a modern version of that I'd buy one in an instant.
I then replaced that with the Mega, which was a very capable bike but always felt a bit boring in comparison to the SX.
Ha, I replaced mine with an SX trail too! Hated it, felt like it had the geo of an XC bike and the weight of a DH bike, sold it in pretty quickly
It was good raked out with 180mm forks on it 😀

Possibly the ugliest bike I've owned. The headshok was replaced with a lefty, which improved things a bit, but not much.
it was a great bike though. If it didn't eat rear dropout bushes I'd have kept it for longer and probably put some gravel bars on it. that would keep everyone away as they'll be busy vomiting into bins at the sight of it.
This just popped up in Instagram and I immediately thought "I know just the thread...". Not a fan of Pinarello wavy forks either, but this is an aesthetically displeasing triumph!
Not quite sure this is the best thread for this, but it's got to be a bit rogue to do bike packing on a BMX!
… with no brakes 🤯
at full compression on that pinarrello your hands will be level with the top of the tyre if riding in the drops.
for anything that is going to come close to bottoming out even a XC fork, I want (or need) some way of holding on hard enough. on a drop bar bike, thats the drops.
and the follow up point, how am I going to hit something hard enough to do aformentioned fork bottoming, with my hands that low and my arse that high?
and thats before we get to the non matching seat stays and the top tube that gets a bit lost on its journey from steerer to seat post.
@northwind to the forum please
WHAT? Oh yeah, this? Yeah I know, mismatched tyre brands, it's a sin.
![]()
Did you make the rear triangle in metalwork class?
I think your first mistake there is your concept of the word 'triagle' 😉
on that pinarrello...
I rather notice the humungous rear mech, the pointlessly purple solid chainring and the top tube hump meself. Gopping, as I heard a yoof say once.























