I’m surprised we’ve got this far without anyone mentioning spoke protector discs (aka ‘dork discs’).
I’m guilty of many transgressions judging by this thread - though many sacrifice sartorial elegance for function, which is fine by me. To paraphrase an earlier comment, nothing says you’ve given up on life more than not riding (or compromising your ride enjoyment) because you’re worried about how you look.
I was coming to ask if the rubber duck thing was real, as in the post above. Is this an area-thing? Where are people riding with them?
I know a guy who's had one on his bike for about ten years.
Also, a local lass who I fully expect to go pro won our national enduro champs for her age group (and tends to beat the elite times) and races with one on her bars!
... in no way am I advocating such behaviour though.
I’m surprised we’ve got this far without anyone mentioning spoke protector discs (aka ‘dork discs’).
How about front brake disc covers? Don't see them very often. I used to run one on my moto after bending a disc "out whoop-whoop" once.
Road/gravel frames in xl which have disproportionately long head tubes look grotesque compared to their svelte, perfectly proportioned, medium sized models.
Pencil case-like, barrel-shaped bar bags on the front of gravel bikes. Unless of course they’re actually full of pencils, protractors etc.., which is then justifiable.
Kashima forks and shock but not dropper post. Fur coat and no knickers!
+1 for anodised expensive tat.
I’m surprised we’ve got this far without anyone mentioning spoke protector discs (aka ‘dork discs’).
How about front brake disc covers? Don't see them very often. I used to run one on my moto after bending a disc "out whoop-whoop" once.
I keep getting adverts for disc covers on Facebook. The selling point seems to be keeping your rotors clean. I was going ask if dirt and mud somehow doesn't ever get in from from the non enclosed side but didn't want to rain on their parade, or engage with the sponsored post.
Road/gravel frames in xl which have disproportionately long head tubes look grotesque compared to their svelte, perfectly proportioned, medium sized models.
Pencil case-like, barrel-shaped bar bags on the front of gravel bikes. Unless of course they’re actually full of pencils, protractors etc.., which is then justifiable.
Kashima forks and shock but not dropper post. Fur coat and no knickers!
+1 for anodised expensive tat.
Agree.
Guilty. I keep snacks, a pump and my phone in it.
Agree, although no Kashima items have ever been known to match.
Nice if done tastefully and all colours are the same shade.
Kashima forks and shock but not dropper post. Fur coat and no knickers!
ooh...ooh...that's me!!! What do I win?
I think we need a scoring system.
I keep getting adverts for disc covers on Facebook. The selling point seems to be keeping your rotors clean. I was going ask if dirt and mud somehow doesn't ever get in from from the non enclosed side but didn't want to rain on their parade, or engage with the sponsored post.
They're using them at DH World Cups to keep braking consistent so they must be something we all need ... right?
People riding round trail centres (so never too far from the car) with backpacks that look big enough to go on a weekend away with.
Kashima forks and shock but not dropper post. Fur coat and no knickers!
Guilty m'lord, but that's how my Levo came. I may put a (stupidly expensive) Fox Transfer on when the AXS dies, but it's pointless as the fork and shock Kashima don't even look like they are even trying to be the same colour. Can't really see the shock from the drive side.
Big AXS mech, dropper not slammed, cables wrong side of head tube 😊
You would hate my bikes then! The maximum drop any of my seatposts have is 180mm.
I can't stand when a dropper is not slammed. Any post showing looks weird to me. And obviously means that you're missing out on travel.
@TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR: Haha! It’s either edgy or a faux pas. Like a tailored suit paired with expensive trainers! 😉
…and you dress to wrong side!
I can't stand when a dropper is not slammed. Any post showing looks weird to me. And obviously means that you're missing out on travel.
conversely, (and I know this has improved with things like the oneup being manually adjustable,) any time I see a dropper slammed in the frame I think it looks like someone has just thrown the bike together from a pile of bits and not actually "fitted it" to their body shape and preference. Like brake levers right up next to the grips.
if you don't have the top position as your ideal/efficient pedalling position, what even is the point of a dropper?
I'm a long leg, short torso bloke though, so even by 210mm post has aboout 60-70mm extra shaft showing. I'll never have a slammed dropper.
I can't stand when a dropper is not slammed. Any post showing looks weird to me. And obviously means that you're missing out on travel.
conversely, (and I know this has improved with things like the oneup being manually adjustable,) any time I see a dropper slammed in the frame I think it looks like someone has just thrown the bike together from a pile of bits and not actually "fitted it" to their body shape and preference. Like brake levers right up next to the grips.
if you don't have the top position as your ideal/efficient pedalling position, what even is the point of a dropper?
I'm a long leg, short torso bloke though, so even by 210mm post has aboout 60-70mm extra shaft showing. I'll never have a slammed dropper.
whereas I’m the opposite so I always get a slammed dropper with the perfect pedal height.
I'm a shorty legged long torsoed gent, so my 170mm dropper is pretty much slammed (only built the bike yesterday so I'm still fine tuning it). And that's on a ML Bird Aether 9 with a widdly seat tube. My old 26" Rocket has a 120mm dropper with maybe an inch of shaft showing.
m a long leg, short torso bloke though, so even by 210mm post has aboout 60-70mm extra shaft showing. I'll never have a slammed dropper
Snap! Me too!
At least with a bit of exposed post there's somewhere for people to add their clip on mudguards 😉
I think the only bike/post combo I could slam my post is the 225mm one I have on my Stanton - but I shimmed it down so I could have some of the silver post showing 🤣
I can slam the dropper on my Roscoe but it's only 150mm (stupid spec on a large frame) so it would be too short by around 20mm. I was going to buy a OneUp and but will be selling the bike soon so no point really.
Saddles pushed forward all the way on the rails. Was a trend a few years ago to "size up" and compensate by sliding the saddle too far forward.
Just looks wrong.
Black. Ok on tyre tread, brake blocks and possibly cables. Groupsets though? Bloody awful. Rims no, apart from very deep carbon ones which need tan side wall tyres to break them up. Chunky stems. Big fat frame tubes. Dirty great cassettes. Just use a triple mech. It won't pack up, won't drag the ground and weighs less. MTB uniform.
Not really looks although they look sill but full face helmets when riding the red runs. Be careful. Can't agree with the goggles with open face helmets though. That's how we used them on motorcycle helmets for the last century and that's where you MTB helms' come from.
Just use a triple mech
im pretty agnostic on most bits, but no way Im going back to front mechs, aesthetically or functionally they suck
functionally they suck
Nope. My commute bike has a triple on the front and I love it. Quite often late at night I make it a nice hot chocolate, and a biscuit, as a bed time treat, read it a story, then tuck it into bed. Which is more than I do for my own children.
Doubles do suck though.
Just use a triple mech
im pretty agnostic on most bits, but no way Im going back to front mechs, aesthetically or functionally they suck
Errmmm - aesthetics is in the eye of the beholder and those huge rear cassettes look ugly to me and I have no issues at all setting up and using front mechs
I would have a front mech and a better range of gears.
Bikes are for riding and you can't see most of the bike when you ride it. If the bike is comfortable, reliable and easy to fix when it goes wrong that will do for me.
functionally they suck
I would love to see some science on this, I reckon functionally, 1x is probably worse. I drop more chains on my 1x CX/gravel bike than my 2x gravel bike, although on both it's still a vanishingly rare occurrence.
I have to straight the hanger of the 1x bike more often, presumably due to the bigger mech.
I can't prove it, but I'm fairly certain that on average the chain spends more time at greater sideways deflection on the 1x bike, and I'm pretty sure this HAS been shown to be less efficient.
Last time I saw a comparison, 1x was about 25g lighter than 2x for two otherwise equivalent groupsets.
So yeah, functionally I'll take 2x with no compromise on gear range, less weight on rear wheel, less expensive/vulnerable kit dangling off the rear axle, and greater drivetrain efficiency.
I think 'peak MTB drivetrain' for me was the 2x 10spd SRAM drivetrain with (from memory) 26/40 chainrings and perhaps 11-36 cassette.
Oh, and back on topic, it looked better with a smaller rear mech and cassette smaller than the big ring 😎
Errmmm... Try reading the thread title 😉
Personally. I find a tipped down saddle nose angle on an otherwise well spec'd high end bike aesthetically abhorrent. Even perfectly flat looks pretty horrid to me if it's on an mtb with its dropper post dropped all the way down to the seat tube collar .
Yes, this thread is for being picky about how things look not how they function.
1x looks infinitely better than 2x and 3x, even with dinner plate sized cassettes, and I'll die on that hill.
Die then - 1x12 for MTBs is gopping
Massive electronic front mechs the size of a packet of fags on a £10k road bike is a challenging look.
Yes, this thread is for being picky about how things look not how they function.
Please sir, Kimbers started it! 😎
Agree on motorised front mechs, although I guess you could disguise it with an aero cover and save 5.8w? 😂
e bikes. Face it, they're all gopping aren't they.
Definitely not the case , unless you are only referring to the ‘ebike of the year’ ?
Front mechs are crude, ugly devices. Wasn’t it the now King Charles who called them ‘a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend’?
Any form of gears on bike are ugly.
Honestly, a lot of bikes with massive wheels look aesthetically not right. I think it's where the frame geometry has clearly been wrapped around wheels that are big just for the sake of it - many 29" MTBs in small look a bit wrong. And as Bikeradar pointed out this week*, 32" bikes are absolutely gopping for the same reason.
*in a complete failure of self-awareness, given that Bikeradar has been banging on for months about how 32" are soooo much better than anything else out there, even in the face of various readers and commenters explaining that nobody effing wants them
Kashima forks and shock but not dropper post. Fur coat and no knickers
I removed a Fox Factory post with Kashima from my bike and replaced it with a longer-travel OneUp Components dropper post with a black shaft and I haven’t replaced my Fox Factory 36 forks or Float X shock - both with Kashima!
Yes, this thread is for being picky about how things look not how they function.
1x looks infinitely better than 2x and 3x, even with dinner plate sized cassettes, and I'll die on that hill.
It's fine to be wrong.
Anyone, male or female, that isn't built like an athlete, wearing lycra
Sumo wrestlers are technically athletes.
Yes, this thread is for being picky about how things look not how they function.
1x looks infinitely better than 2x and 3x, even with dinner plate sized cassettes, and I'll die on that hill.
It's fine to be wrong.
Indeed. Sometimes it's better to be wrong.
ENORMOUS WHEEL / FRAME LOGOS in bold all-caps when viewed from the side, especially those logos scaled up on deep section rims
Ooh, i'd follow this with graphics that looks cheap. The OEM wheels on my new EEB are guilty of this.
My eeb. Big bulky bastard. I was trying to find one that I thought was aesthetically pleasing. Gave up and just went for an ugly green tank.
Sumo wrestlers are technically athletes.
<googles sumo wrestlers in lycra...>
My eeb. Big bulky bastard. I was trying to find one that I thought was aesthetically pleasing. Gave up and just went for an ugly green tank.
I quite like that.
Apart from the headset routing and shit white graphics
