[Closed] Worst, best bike product

My Juicy Ultimates were fine for 3 years....then sold.

Sorry that doesnt help

Glad somone had some luck with them

Dropper seatposts.

Not any one specifically.

I never had any problems with 2 sets, still got a set of Ultimate levers on Elixir calipers, CBA to sell as I'll recoup so little, but they worked perfectly, so I'll use them sometime!

Avid XXs are another story...

All avid juicys. Terrible things.
The hope bleed kit w/tyre adaptor thing. Shit.

Three set of Avid Carbons/Ultimates here all work well.

Best product, we keep having this thread so thought easy 🙂 then thought about it: discs brakes cool but I have one bike with 'trick V brakes and they are pretty damm good to. Tyres are now pretty amazing compared to say ten years ago. All the kit now works so well. Modern geometry is great. Seats are now effective, stems and posts light/strong don't brake.
Probably modern suspension, especially forks, they are now great or have been for a few years, I struggle to tell the difference between the upgrades/newmodels of the last few years but they are amazing.

Bad, external bottom brackets don't seem to me to be worth the increase in performance for the time to failure. I have an SS bike with 'almighty' Shimano UN square taper and it is living forever, every ISIS and external has been changed numerous times in its life time so far...
Multi linkage full sus bikes are close, very effective but is the performance worth the hassle, and many seem less fun.

I will be interested to hear what others think....

Ooops sorry if I've missed previous versions of this thread - does it count as best, worst thread....

Worst? probably most Crank Bros products. Beautiful execution, crap quality. Their stuff looks so good, you want it on your bike, but thrice bitten etc...

Best? Hope.

bike with 'almighty' Shimano UN square taper and it is living forever

plus one!

XTR V Brakes, Grip Shifters. I really like the idea of grip shifters but they just didn't work. It'll be interesting if the new ones are any better.

I love my SRAM Attack grip shifters. They work perfectly with my XT mechs and I can trim the front mech adjustment on the fly.
I'm looking at the new X0 10 speed grip shifter but that only works with SRAM rear mechs.
Worst product? Any model Juicy brakes.
Best product? Reverb.

I presumed the OP meant flagship/rated stuff that was actually a load of tat in real life.

Grip Shifters

I found my Juicy fives worked perfectly...until the started rubbing and wouldn't stop rubbing. Had no issues with stopping power though.

I found my Juicy fives worked perfectly...until the started rubbing and wouldn't stop rubbing. Had no issues with stopping power though.

I assume this means you could never go in the end, hence no issue with stopping power!

Sealskin gloves. Sock are great but never had their gloves last more than a couple of rides despite the hype.

Best - Power link (or similar). How did we do without them?

Worst - [url= http://www.wiggle.co.uk/k-edge-dirt-acs-chain-device/ ]K-Edge chain device[/url]. Made of some sort of soft cheese. Pathetic.

APF

New rear crudcatcher. Looks nice, doesn't actually work. Well, OK, i did get mine to stay in place eventually but I can't help think that fitting a mudguard shouldn't require a lathe.

Doubly annoying since the old Crudcatcher was so damn good.

Best
Shimano UN series BB's
Thomson Elite seat posts
SDG Bel air saddles
The hope brake (mono's) that I have - 7 years and only one caliper rebuilt and still going stong.
Hope hubs (are there any bad ones)?
Shimano XT hubs, cranks, mechs, shifters....
Marzocchi Forks - Marathon's years of loyal service.
SPD's -they are all good
Continental Gator Skin Tyres
Campag's Ergo shifters
Miche Racing Box hubs - smooth and cheap
Sapim Race spokes
R853 tubing
TA specialities chain rings

Worst
BBB skyscraper seatpost - lasted a few rides and bent
Race face seatposts - the binder bolt kept on breaking
ISIS BB were there any good ones, I hate them.
CB pedals pre 2012 - EB2's and EB3's are decent but the previously they fell apart.
Old CNC machined cranks - they cracked like my wife's gold middleburns

Best - X0 Grip Shifts. Love these. Haven't put a foot wrong and for me they're so much more intuitive than triggers. Quote numerous advantages such as being able to trim the front mech, being able to move up/down many cogs on the cassette etc...

Most things by Shimano that are drivetrain related.

Worst - most other things made by SRAM. My god-awful SIDs which kept getting twisted lower legs.

This was pretty poor.
[IMG] [/IMG]

Best...

Disc brakes...Hopes IMO 😉

Worst....

dropper seat posts....... 😉

Simples! 😛

Best
Avid brakes when they're new

Worst
Avid brakes after you've tried to bleed them and the seals stop working

Sealskin gloves. Sock are great but never had their gloves last more than a couple of rides despite the hype.
For me it's the socks think the gloves are spot on

A hardy perennial, but shimano spds (particularly the higher end ones) are a great product.

Worst product I've seen in quite a while was a USE seatpost. Flat out would not clamp the seat securely and with the design it's easy to see why.

"ISIS BB were there any good ones"
The superstar one is meant* to last well, though I can't help thinking the machined recesses in the shaft must make it as flexy as square taper BB's
Though I've found shimano octalink BBs alright? (about as good as shimano HTII, if not better)
*I have no actual evidence to back this up ..

Some stuff I dont like:

Rockshox forks with 'powerbulge' lowers, when the (lower?) bushes wear out, you have to buy new lowers ..
KS/Pure Race remote lever mk1, managed to break one (I've had 2) by pushing it ..
KS/Pure Race remote lever mk2, using it as a lock-on grip clamp means taking all of your hand off the grip to use the remote lever? Positioning it inside of the brake/shifter means I can operate with a little 'hand shuffle' along the bar
Thomson post, that CNCed surface finish seems to wear quicker than if it were flat/smooth, so it wears out of tolerance quicker?
'Traditional' single vertical bolt seatposts. If they don't have 'grip indents' on the clamp parts, they slip (eg 'PUSH').
If they do, the saddle angle effectively becomes 'indexxed', I always end up with one setting either side of where Id like it. So XC nose down, or FR nose up
(external cam) QR seatclamps with little spacer plates behind the cam. Seem to wear out very quick, slide out from where they should be and generally obstruct the cam operation
external cam QR skewers (ie not shimano) with those rubber bits against the cam. Wear out too quick
DT Swiss RWS skewer. They though plastic was a good lasting material to make one half of the ratchets from? [Newer ones may or may not be better now]
Maxxis tyre sizing. 2.25" as big as 2.5". some 2.1" as big as or very nearly as big as 2.35". Vastly different 2.1" sizes
Similar story for continental. Way bigger than most or way smaller. Differing actual tyre sizes in the same tread pattern/quoted size (eg 2.3" speed king, both in wire)
Bontrager also have differing actual tyre sizes to quoted for the same tread pattern (eg 2.2" ACX folding vs. 2.2" ACX TLR folding)
Continental 1.75-2.5" inner tubes. Probably the smallest/thinnest tubes I've ever used, have to be stretched a fair bit even to fit a conti 2.3", let alone a 2.5", nor a 'proper' 2.5".
Bontrager upto 2.35" tubes also similarly way too thin/small.
M760 XT/LX chainrings, light but really soft aluminium. Managed to kill a drivetrain off in approx 4 months one winter. [SLX chainrings have lasted my drivetrain 2years+]
Hope XC steel freehub. A steel freehub and it still has casette guages in it
Shimano freehubs. Lockup almost solid or a loud bang/snap and go free mid ride and generally non-servicable. Quiet though, and SLX/XT are faster pickup than hope nowadays
Crown races without a split in them, when the ball bearings dont directly run on the crown race. Why? Its just a faff to install/remove
Carbon soled SPD shoes where the cleat can't dig in properly (like it does with nylon), carbon then flakes away, cleat slips around
SPD shoe soles that snap (have had 4 pairs so far)
Transfil outer cable that was really difficult to cut/wouldn't cut clean (even with shimano cutters)

Some good stuff?
Don't think I've broken any handlebars, stems (had a bontrager stem with bolts that were skew from new), my steel frame is still going, some 'zocchi MX's from 2004/5ish are still going

Too many suspension forks, ime*.

Utter junk in some cases and expensive, OTT technically and under-reliable in others. Good ones are really great but there's a lot less of them than there are the 'wouldn't with a barge pole' forks and they're not always the expensive ones either. They've been around long enough to be a lot more reliable and durable than many of them are, especially at the price.

I've had it with forks annoying me on a ride by clunking, loose bushes on new forks that rock and knock, having odd intermittent faults that need them to be sent back, needing attention all the time in fear of premature wear, feeling sticky too often, or leaking air, oil or both. Picking a sus fork feels like a lottery of 'will I get a good one or something that I'll regret ever fitting?' and that's how it's been since the 90s - at times you find somethig solid that you stick with for ages until they die, and then have to go for a gamble again. (*Credit due to Rockshox for making some forks that do what they're supposed to over recent years, ime. Rebas, Recon and Revs have all been generally good, and the old Z1s too)

Good
Disc brakes - they work!
fox rear suspension units - awesome!
140mm + suspension forks - stiff & plush - brilliant
sealskinz socks - i can feel my toes at the end of a ride
Reverb seatpost - initially thought it was a total fad, but brill now
tubeless tyres - no more impacts!
700mm + wide bars - how did i manage with 450mm bars?
10 speed rapid fire transmission - genius
Great affordable lights - keep fit in the winter!
modern cycle clothing - life is so much warmer now!!

Bad
Avid brakes
press fit bottom brackets
to many different sizes - keep it standard
The marketing man's wet dream of the 29er

I took a 15 year sabbatical from biking - which you can probably see on my list of likes - things which were not available in the mid-90s!