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SRAM gears. I love the 'clunkiness'.
Stan's rims.
Specialized tyres. Light, grippy enough and easy to set up tubeless.
XT front brakes. Faultless (but bizarrely have had nothing but trouble with XT on the rear).
Charge saddles. Spoon, Scoop and knife all good. Shape is spot on.
Superstar pedals.
Drivetrain: Shimano. Deore upwards just works and is cheap compared to the competition.
Brakes: Hope. Fully serviceable on the kitchen table and I love the feel of them. The looks are a bonus.
Wheels: Hope hubs (see above) and Mavic rims, although that may change as I want to go wider.
Dropper post: Reverb. Although riding with ANY dropper is better to none!
Thomson stem and seatpost
WTB Rocket V and SST saddles - comfy designs that have stood the test of time
Salsa Woodchipper bars
Mavic rims
Wheelsmith spokes
Chris King hubs and headsets - still running after over a decade of hard use
Surly tyres - not light but they last really well
Alpkit Gourdon bags - waterproof, far cheaper than any other bag
Deore steel chainrings - no aluminium ring comes close to lasting as long and they shift really well
Grip shift shifters - shame the new type 2 mechs are utter gash
Shimano bush based jockey wheels - simple but brilliant design. No more seized jockey wheels
Shimano square taper bottom brackets - outlast every other bb
Middleburn cranks - again, they outlast every other crank that I have used
Avid BB7's. Original Avid sintered pads, get them good & hot when new. Full length outers, stainless inners. With decent sized rotors they can work as well as hydraulics. I've actually got a spare set that will go on my new Orange 5 if the XT's ever give me a problem.
King bottom bracket just goes on & on, can be stripped down to clean out.
Salsa seat clamp just does it's job, when Hope etc have slipped
(29.6 size, so but undersize for closest 30mm).
XT hubs, grease them up properly from new & once a year.
Surly hubs on the SS, again they just go on & on.
Thomson stuff, obviously.
White Industries "Trials" freewheel. Been on for years.
Cane Creek S3 headset.
Off-bike...
Topeak Hummer tool.
Lezyne alloy-drive pump.
Hope for pretty much everything where it's an option. Maybe not always the lightest, but solid and know if there's ever a problem it'll be easily sorted, either with a cheap spare bit or just popping it in the post back to 'em.
SRAM drivetrain, but with Shimano cables, outers and cassettes.
KMC chains.
J-bend spokes.
Hope for pretty much everything where it's an option. Maybe not always the lightest, but solid and know if there's ever a problem it'll be easily sorted, either with a cheap spare bit or just popping it in the post back to 'em.
KMC chains.
J-bend spokes.
Yes!
Plus:
Shimano cranks.
Saint shifter (SRAM feel, Shimano reliability?)
Continental (black chili only) tyres - best compounds by a mile (carcasses tough enough for my riding but it's not relentless rocks).
Gravity Dropper dropper posts - they just keep working.
Stans rims.
Cane Creek shocks.
Charge saddles.
Thomson stems
Specialized BG saddles
Specialized control tires
Shimano hydraulic discs
Shimano Hollow tech ii cranks
Sram xo shifting
Odi lock-on grips
Shimano SPD pedals
Stans no tubes sealant
Maxxis tyres. They don't fall to pieces like all the other brands I've tried.
Deore chainrings. They work and last for ages.
DT hubs for me-either 240s or 350s. Had several sets of both and have all been totally trouble
Free with minimal/no maintenance
White industries free wheels
Dt 240 hubs or older hope
Square taper bb with rs7 Middle burn arms
Grip shift
I'm going to give Maxxis tyres a go after reading this thread.
Giro helmets. My head is a doppelganger for their medium. Road and mtb. They disappear in use.
Other brands will suit other heads. But mine is definitely Giro-shaped!
On single speeds it's WI freewheels and final cog - lovely things,
A fan of SLX chain sets, XTR shifters, Conti tyres, kmc chains, avid brakes Thompson stems and posts, On One frames - I realise that list has brands on it others are really not keen on.
But the one bike part that is fantastic is a Chris King headset, they are now on most of the bikes here (which is lots) and every one I have bought has been second head and everyone has remained perfect. We never need to touch them, we have replaced bearings in all the brands but never a CK!
Hope Hubs
Chris King headsets
Middleburn stuff generally
Shimano spds
Thompson seat posts / stems
If you mean fit and forget. . .
[b]The love list:[/b]
Mavic 721 rims - indestructible, not too heavy, never have to worry about them.
WTB saddles - simple, get on with the job, strong.
SLX brakes - super cheap, plenty strong, good for ages if you don't faff with them.
Rock'n'roll blue - lasts, clean, especially good in sandy areas.
Finish line carbon paste - excellent for dodgy seat-tubes like ragley
Hope seatpost clamps - nice looking, good brass bushing
Shorts - Race face for baggies [e.g. Ambush], Endura for liners.
XT derailleurs and shifters: My nine-speed has worked every time, first time for 6 years. Zero maintenance.
[b]The hate list:[/b]
Sram brakes, especially Elixirs. Both died on a hire bike in Gran Canaria this week. Walked 12K down a road as had no brakes. Unacceptable.
Salsa seat-clamps: No bushing, small allen key rather than finger tip barrel adjuster.
Tioga tyres: Washed out on me several times, especially poor on hard, wet surfaces.
SKS mud-guards: Not fit for purpose. Bin.
Easton carbon bars
Thomson stems
SRAM 1x11
Hope hubs (originally used as CK didn't have an XD driver option at the time but I've grown to love them)
Shimano brakes
Rockshox forks and dropper posts
Maxxis tyres
DT Swiss rear axles
All the above are on at least 3 of my 4 current MTBs, so if i'm using that as a qualifier, I should probably include Santa Cruz frames 8)
Special mention to TLD kit too (helmets, xc gloves and pads)
ODI Long Neck grips in 143mm size.
The best grips ever made bar none - have used them for 20+ years. All three of my bikes have them fitted.
When ODI stop making them is the day I stop riding bikes.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/odi-longneck-bmx-lock-on-bonus-pack/rp-prod11718
ajt123 - MemberSKS mud-guards: Not fit for purpose. Bin.
Eh. They make some of the best road guards, and the best front mtb mudguard (the Shockboard). The shockboard's penalised a bit for its terrible mounting hardware but compensates by being easily attached with cable ties.
Hope hubs - reliable, noisy and easily serviced
Shimano cranks - reliable and easy to fit
Stan's rims
I have recently started using shimano brakes (came on an ex-demo bike) which I have regarded with deep suspicion but have surprised myself by quite liking. Although jury is still out as the front has developed a random habit of pulling back to the bar occasionally with no bite.
SDG saddles just work for me
Northwind - Member
ajt123 - Member
SKS mud-guards: Not fit for purpose. Bin.Eh. They make some of the best road guards, and the best front mtb mudguard (the Shockboard). The shockboard's penalised a bit for its terrible mounting hardware but compensates by being easily attached with cable ties.
The rear ones are the ones I hate.
Mudhugger all the way. Actually. . .
Good point. If they still made them then Suntour XC Pro greaseguard hubs would be right up there. I still have a set on my commuting bike that must be 20 years old now. Brilliant thingsIt's a shame Shimano don't put a grease nipple on the hubs
Shimano drivetrain (not hubs though)
Charge Spoon Saddle
KMC Chains
[b] Mudhuggers. [/b] Especially the rear one. Awesome.
leffeboy - Member
It's a shame Shimano don't put a grease nipple on the hubs
Good point. If they still made them then Suntour XC Pro greaseguard hubs would be right up there. I still have a set on my commuting bike that must be 20 years old now. Brilliant things
They dont - but it is easy to DIY, as fitted to all my bikes-
(This thread seems especially useful by virtue of seeing this stuff in aggregate).
[b]SLX chainsets[/b]:
The jump from entry level stuff I started with to SLX seems much bigger than the jump in quality from SLX to XT or above. SLX works well and is cheap enough I don't have to worry about smashing bits of it.
[b]Spank[/b] bits:
Subrosa rims have a reputation for being almost indestructible (unlike their wider ones) and seem to have put a stop to pinch flats for me even at lower pressures than I ran before. While I'm sure there are lots of 35mm stem and 760mm bar options I'd find just as good, their Spike stem and Spoon risers are lovely.
RustyNissanPrairie - Member
They dont - but it is easy to DIY, as fitted to all my bikes-
Thanks. Neat mod. I like it. 🙂