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Always lot's of opinions around on what is best/worst depending on what the latest trends are.. do you have a few 'dirty secrets' on your bike?
I have a set of 2007 Manitou Nixons that are the best forks in the whole UNIVERSE or maybe just in my village, or perhaps just in my house 😳 I ended up buying a spare set when Manitou were falling apart at the seams (and prices to match :0).. Still nothing that beats them IMO!
You get the picture.. what parts do you rate that the biking world frown upon?
Original Crank Bros Mallets. I had a pair that lasted seven years before the axle went...I just love them, nothing else I've used comes close. Shame the axles are made of cheese.
Rapid Rise rear mech - never causes me grief
Superstar components in general. Everything I've had from them has been spot on.
Superstar wheels
Pace forks
My new (to me) Marin, its a beut
XTR drivetrain, it works, and works well.
But who slates XTR 😕
Old style Egg Beaters.
Hayes nines
+1 for rapid rise, nothing beats being able to shift whilst putting the power down. It's the sole reason I've not gone 10 speed.
None myself but my freind swears by his 24" frame/halo rims and creaky old ti flight 😀
Crank brothers joplin post (touch wood)
agree on the manitou forks. except for a sherman that i had that were dodgy. currently use minute and tower 29ers which are excellent.
Pace 303 Frame and Pace FOrks.
Also, sold on a bike, but LOVED dual control flappy paddle style levers.
Avid juicy 3 brakes don't seem to get much love, but i really liked mine. I have a [i]thing [/i]for poor brakes though, as they only slow me a little - which is kinda what i want.
Also the Superstar items (wheels, pedals, chain device) have worked well.
on ones, i love em.
best frames money can buy (imo)
orange five 😉
As above, flappy fire shifters on a rapid rise rear mech. Just works perfectly for me and I've never struggled with shifting accidently whilst braking.
Avid Elixr's, Shimano hubs, Crank Bros. pedals, Sram 9 speed drivetrains.
yeah Avid Elixirs are superb, run two sets (2 years, and 4 years), never let me down.
as for the Joplin.. someone above got the one that works? :p i just have trouble believing that post could work reliably if used regularly.
Avid Elixir's (apart from changing the pads) and Superstar wheels have both performed admirably on a number of my bikes too. Inner tubes in general. Never seen a need to change to tubeless because I've probably only punctured once in the last two years (possibly thanks to Specialized tyres)
Avids for me as well. Can be a bit fiddly to bleed but imo better feel and performance than Shimano. I'm close to giving up with my SLX, they're just overrated and I prefer my old Juicy 5s!
+1 for elixir's got cr's great stopping power and feel,pads are so easy to change(for me),also superstars am490 wheels,mine have had some real punishment and still run true.and the superlegero hub sounds good(hated the sound at first)
i would have said superstar chain device
but mine cracked on a cold morning ride the other day
still highly likely that it will get repaired/ replaced with the same thing TBH
Another vote for the Dual Control (flappy paddle) shifters. I use them with a normal-rise mech, can't stand rapid rise!
The shifters though are ace.
+1 for rapid rise
+1 for Egg Beaters (the simple cheap ones). Everyone else I know have gone back to Shimano, but I've just bought my 4th pair for my 4th bike.
Inner tubes
Not so much hated, but fallen out of favour, I like my Nokon cables.
rapid rise here too - only on my road bike though; I'm not a ****in pervert !
Oh, gripshift too - OK, I admit, LHS only and as I'm giving 1x10 a go just now it's not on the bike but I think it's great
Hayes Strokers...They're ugly and not that light, but they're very powerful and easy to modulate. They're doing a sterling job on my hardtail.
[i]But who slates XTR [/i]
Most folk on here, as apparently they're not 'worth it'.
- SRAM x7 and lower 9 speed - Still going, despite the strange angle the cage is bent into
- Superstar stuff
- Until recently, Truvativ Hussefelt cranks
Keeping up the brake theme (and I hate my Avid Elixir 5s by the way) I still have a lot of love for my old Hope XC4 brakes. They are not that powerful, don't have any fancy self-adjustment for pad wear and even Hope lovers wouldn't claim them as one of their finest. But they keep on working, are a doddle to bleed and if they start to rub out on the trail (warped disk, mud etc) I can just twist the dial on the lever to back the pads off a bit. Can't do that with your fancy self adjusting brakes!
Marzocchi Shiver DC's.
They're easily tunable, always plush (as the oil is sat in the bushes and seals, where it should be), and reliable to the point of silliness.
Riding chums have been through umpteen sets of boxxers/40's etc and the shivers just keep going.
Haven't seen another set at a race in years - this is good, kids think they're something fancy and new 'cos they've never seen them before 😀
i've got 2 pairs of manitou minutes, and i love them... none of this silly service every 15 hours bollocks, mine did 2 years before 1st services with no bother whatsoever... no stanchion wear, no scratches, no bother.
light too...
Superstar wheels, SRAM x5 shifters
The orginal Giant Trances,still got my 07 one & still love the way it rides.....
kenneththecurtain, I was using a shiver sc til quite recently - lovely
A guy in california stopped by me one time and was raving about how he'd not seen one in the flesh as they were so new and fancy and great
Didn't want to burst his bubble so just said "thanks". No idea what fork he was thinking of
Going uphill, Elixirs, inner tubes, narrow bars, water bottles, chocolate as an energy bar, trail centres...
29ers, 9mm straight steerer tube rigid forks, inner tubes and singlespeed.
Avid Juicy 7's and Elixir 's here too. Lot of haters out there it seems, but I love mine. Also stiff alu trail hardtails, can be lots of fun.
Another vote for Avid brakes
A pair of Superstar Superleggera wheels from the "flamewars" era,that lasted me three years on two sets of bearings with the most bombproof rims in the known universe. Never a moment's problem with them.
So good I've had them serviced and relaced with Stans Flow rims. Nice.
Gripshift. Loved SRAM X0.
The newer 10sp (and XX1) just doesn't look like it will be as good and its heavier and rather expensive. Yet to try it though.
+1 For Crank Brothers Pedals, my candy's were great until they exploded, but then they did last 3x longer than the atacs I used to use and if I'd bothered they did give plenty of warning they were getting loose, and an £11 rebuild should fix them.
Now I've got 3 sets (Cr-mo originals, stainless originals and the bottom of the top range of the new style)
Maverick SC32 forks I had mine for 5 years with no problems they just worked ( I did service them quite a bit but I am a compulsive fiddler)
Gone now because I needed some longer forks to compensate for my lack of skill