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Coloured components. They are the prime indicator of something with no taste.
Also tan wall tyres and SRAM stuff.
They are the prime indicator of something with no taste.
🙁 my brake pads even match the blue bits on my bike
A 'colour theme'.
Knowing there’s a fatigue life for aluminium I’d trust carbon bars more.
Carbon degrades too.
Tyres that weigh less than a kilo each.
clipless pedals
saddle bags
rear mudguard
reflectors
bell
bar ends
Anything that requires a deep fat fryer for its application. 🤣
Something on this bike, can you guess what?
Anything labelled SRAM
They do make very good Garmin mounts, TBF.
Bell (until this year where the walker count went so high during lockdown that I got one for first time ever and it is great, actually get many “Thanks” from walkers from a non offensive bell that I didn’t get when shouting at them from a distance)
This! A bell has been the greatest 'upgrade' I've fitted this year. It's like a grumpy walker neutraliser. Love it.
As for things I'd never fit to my bike....umm those daft 'mtb specific' velcro straps. I mean come on.
Much wider bars.
My much repeated history of bars goes like this: Go 20mm wider - have a huge tree clipping crash, trim them back 10mm. Go 20mm wider again - have a huge tree clipping crash, trim them back 10mm.. etc.
Also:
Skinwall Tyres. Been there, the first time and again in a retro throwback. Ridiculous.
Coloured grips.
A phone (seriously, WTF?).
Massive satnav/Garmin gizmo.
Static seatpost.
Dropper post under 175mm.
Bars anything other than 800mm.
A front mech.
Cassette with more than 42t.
Anything with "Commencal" written on it.
Genuinely feel better for getting that off my chest 😆
Northward have you ever owned any king hubs?
They are beautiful 🙂
Something on this bike, can you guess what?
The massive loop of cables beneath the BB? (am I seeing that right?)
A bar-mounted map holder.
And then I fitted a bar-mounted map holder. They're excellent.
aluminium bars
Tri bars.
Unless on a full time trial bike
Phone, definitely not, I'm as addicted to the stupid thing as my wife is at texting endless moaning messages when I'm riding.
Electronic shifting, aside from the cost, I spend all my days surrounded by electronics, computers and other digital torture devices. I like my leisure time as mechanical a possible. (although I can't shift the idea of an ebike at the moment).
A Race Number, nope, I toyed with racing years ago, it brings out the worst in me and must makes me stressed and unhappy.
Carbon Wheels, I can't bring myself to put anything that expensive in harms way, plus I struggle to see the point other than for car park bragging rights.
Metal pedals, perhaps?? Some people don't like them because they're "cheap" but IMHO it's the correct material for the application, I see no downsides.
Chaka, either the pointless wee mudguard or the honkin shoes!
Carbon bars: tried that, fitted & torqued to 4Nm, two rides in, bars start to spin. Tighten to 4 Nm, 2 rides in bars start to spin... that was it for me, back on with the al ones. Plus carbon and b/p luggage? Not for me. To be far, other than a road bike frame I’d pretty much avoid carbon (except for the forks on my forthcoming gravel bike, obvs... 🤷🏻♀️🤦♂️
Carbon rims? I could buy a house for that...
Tan sidewalls: leak sealant and look shite, and always reminds me of the abomination of a continental race tyre I had that seemed possessed by the devil and wanted to kill me BiTD...
Stupidly expensive components. I still smart from the Ringlé stem that cost me £125(with discount) which I got 3 months use of due to 1” to 11/8th steerer change... missed XT so put a XT shifter on the SodaMAX, turns out the SLX is nicer shifting... wouldn’t even consider XTR these days. I’d prefer to run Hope brakes but the cost... so it’s SLX 🤪
Tubes.
Fizik saddles: they just destroy me nethers as in actual bleeding. Mtb and road both... never again.
Non harness/easy detached luggage for bikepacking.
Them weird thumb things on yer bars: didn’t work for me at all.
Sub 750mm bars. 780 probably the sweet spot for me but usually can’t be arsed to cut down from 800mm... (I’d have to do them all the same...).
Skinny tyres: I’m liking my 2.6s thank you very much...
Anything carbon fibre.
SRAM – Mainly as I’ve never found anything if there’s that Shimano don’t do better.
Iv always thought this. that was until XD free hubs x01 11 speed cassettes came out which are undeniably way better and lighter than Shimano - even XTR.
For the last 2 years I paired these with Shimano XT derailleurs and shifters due to being cheaper and better. However I recently swapped to x01 mech and shifter and I have to say - they are definitely NOT cheaper but 'grudgingly' they are better. Shifting is better and the clutch works more consistently (Its sealed better - doesn't dry out and get stuck or turn to rust like XT sometimes can).
From what I hear though - to get the good stuff with SRAM you have to pay for the top end kit.
Haven't tried any of the 50T dinner plate stuff though
42T is the perfect number for me
This! A bell has been the greatest ‘upgrade’ I’ve fitted this year. It’s like a grumpy walker neutraliser. Love it.
You need to try a horn. Guaranteed smile raiser. Even the grumpiest of walkers will give you a cheery wave.
Honestly, I’m struggling to think of a part I wouldn’t fit purely on principal. Theres plenty of stuff on this thread that I’ve said I’ll never use, that I’ve gone on to use as needs have changed.
There’s companies I currently won’t buy from, but that’s more to do with the people who run them, rather than the products they make.
Hope brakes, tbh it’s probably the level of evangelical love on here for a brake that seems to be expensive, overly sensitive to set up and doesn’t seem to have any initial bite (apparently that’s modulation) that makes me happy to stick with shimano, sram or even juin tech, which have all been faultless over many years and bikes. Yes you can take hopes apart with a spoon to replace an o ring but life’s too short for that.
I'd give owt a go, me. Never say never 🙂
Back for another round - carbon wheels. Three or four times as expensive, but not actually lighter than DT 1501s and much more fragile.
Flat pedals on anything other than my town bike and pump track bike. I'm not a beginner.
Flat pedals
Shimano brakes
SRAM brakes
Santa Cruz frames
Specialized tyres on anything other than the hard tail/spares bike
That little chain joining pin Shimano do
Clippy pedals on anything other than a road bike. I'm not a beginner.
A front mech.
For me it's overpriced snakeoil shite, like those "vibration damping" grips. Made for mugs with more money than sense. And tyres that cost more than car tyres.
I’d give owt a go, me. Never say never
There is much wisdom in this. If you haven't tried something you are not really in a position to judge. One of the advantages of working as a bike mechanic is being able to see / try / fix things without having to buy them first. Second hand purchases also work.
Wait, I know. The day I fit MX style hand guards to any of my bikes, please commit me to an appropriate institution.
A fake Spur bell.
I had a real one but the bike got stollen. Got a fake one one as it was an eighth of the price. It just made me sad every-time it did a really-not-as-nice ping.
I just run around carrying my bike frame. Really makes the trails come alive.
A Bell.
Whenever I put one on my bike, peds are giving me "What's wrong with a cheery Hello?" when I don't have one "What's wrong with using a bell" You literally can't win, so they get the cheery "Hello, room to squeeze past?" as polite as you like, if they don't like it, **** 'em.
carbon wheels. [...] much more fragile.
In my totally non-scientific experience, they're about as easy to ding as a metal rim, but they tend to stay true. which to my mind is a win...
Gaudy bright hope stuff
Frame straps
Manitou forks
check
check
future check
Anything oil slick
check
An over priced multi tool stuffed into a steerer tube
check
I’m exactly the opposite in that the only carbon on my bikes are the bars. My reasoning is that carbon is very strong in the direction it is designed to be strong in but weak in the direction it isn’t. The chance of bars picking up an impact like this (rock strikes etc.) is much lower for bars than frame or rims due to their position high up and at the front of the bike.
Well yes, Carbon is "very strong" in tension, but you need to put it in a matrix (typically epoxy) which is kind of the limiting factor...
Carbon bars probably aren't making the best use of Carbon as a structural material Vs a frame tube, it's effectively bending a cantilevered composite tube on either side of a stem. In doing this you're relying on a mechanically clamped connection (the stem), introducing a potential stress riser at the most stressed point on the part, to hold it without damaging it, all while you heave about on the end of a lovely big moment arm.
It might not actually require an impact to create a potential sudden failure to a carbon bar. you could well argue that Stems clamped onto Carbon steerers are an even scarier prospect, although fitting an appropriate bung can help there, Carbon bars tend to be hollow without any internal backing/clamp block to help with those clamping/leverage forces that can, over time break down the Epoxy, leading to a failure...
Frame tubes (and to some extent fork legs) tend to transfer loads more longitudinally/torsionally, making more use of the tensile strength of the carbon fibres (they often have larger cross sections too), and the connections tend to have a continuation/overlap of fibres across them to better transfer loads to the next member...
I'm not against composites for any part, but I think it's just about the riskiest application on a bicycle, and there's maybe an argument for only using integrated bar/stems if you're going for composites rather than a clamped ones? (discuss)...
In terms of things I would never use?
There's not actually that much TBH, at one point I might have said 650B wheels, but life's too short to bear a grudge.
I'd maybe even consider an E-bike one day when I'm old and knackered...
Maybe Carbon Rims with rim brakes? the poor wet braking/big descent delamination risks being the deciding factor, but then disc are becoming the norm now so it's hardly an issue...
As for not fitting a bell?
Get over yourselves, it's only a bell FFS, it's the easiest way to pacify red-socked wanderers...
The day I fit MX style hand guards to any of my bikes, please commit me to an appropriate institution.
I'd give them a try, could be v useful in certain places and certain times (e.g. gorse season).
Electric motor
On-One rigid scaffolding pipe steel forks
1 gear
Colour co-ordinated Hope parts
Triple chainrings
Shimano hubs
SPD pedals
A QR seatclamp. That big issue seller looked pretty guilty. Once bitten, and £150 later, twice shy.
Non Hope brakes. - You're used to what you're used to.
Non hope brakes
Flat pedals
Boring black/silver bits when you can have matching collar and cuffs
round chainrings
700C wheels, a bell and carbon bars.
JUST NO!
indicators / brake lights, despite how much "entrepreneurs" seem to think cyclists need them.
Interestingly I was standing next to the designer of a very top end trail bike, helping present it to the press, when he received a call from a German journalist to ask if it was possible to fit a kickstand. 🤯 So I’ll say a kickstand, I’ll never put one on my bike. Unless maybe I go to Germany!
What is it with older walkers and their obsession with bells rather than an “excuse me”.
I just shout "Ring Ring", always gets a laugh...
