[Closed] Worst bike you have ever owned

GT Xiang. Nicely made, looked good. Biggest pile of poo it's ever been my misfortune to swing a leg over. It tried to kill me on several occasions. A genuine piece of nastiness that should never have seen the light of day. Utter shite.

Pronghorn PR6- FS Carbon
The downtube delaminated on it's fourth ride, shortly after my teammate's had done the same thing in the same place.
Also in the team two others broke and one never arrived. The only one which both showed up and didn't disintegrate in the first couple of months got nicked! Many, many bolts and pivots across the five bikes, not one of the threadlocked, one bike literally shook itself apart.
Warrenty support was non-existant, although they were team bikes we had all paid a significant amount for them and the team folded after threats of legal action from the riders. Utter, utter, sh1te.
Their hardtails were made by someone else and just had their stickers on (exact same frame as the top-end Raleigh M-Trax for example) and actually held together, still got a couple of those, but I wouldn't go near the company with a sterilised barge pole.
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Best bike was an Intense Series 1 Slopestyle. Years ahead of it's time.
Fantastic in every way.

Probably my Pace RC303. Laughably small for a large frame and then it cracked, as they all did. Got an RC305 under the warranty and sold it on immediately.

Best bike was an Intense Series 1 Slopestyle. Years ahead of it's time.
Fantastic in every way

Mine turned left better than it turned right, and the pivot bolts kept coming undone....

One thing I learned from that experience is to never waste cash on a custom built frame again

that sounds a painful tale of woe SSS!

Marin Rock Springs, 2004 model I think
Always felt like I was perched on top of it and along for the ride rather than actually in control
It was my first full suss and a reintroduction to MTB after a few years with minimal riding so it served a purpose and instead of putting me off completely led to buying a Commencal Meta 5

The worst bike I ever owned by any tangible measurement was a GT i-Drive Comp from Halfords, but I can forgive it because any MTBer who’s been involved with it for more than a little bit would know a Halfords only GT from a million years ago meshed with a load of non-branded and bargain basement stuff would be crap.

I think GT I-drives rode pretty nicely. The I-drive did a great job of minimising pedal feedback whilst keeping the suspension active for its day. Perhaps it was just the cheapo spec that ruined yours.

Tough one this, Raleigh Grifter springs to mind as being way too heavy for a kids bike - but I did have a lot of fun on it.

In the MTB category probably an On One Inbred Singlespeed - just hard work and not very pleasant in anyway.

Spesh sx trail. Weight of a dh bike, angles of an xc bike

Loved mine. They were ahead of their time back in 05 as were the Enduro's.

Loved my Kona Koa too. Had some great times as a teen ragging it around the woods and ruining the geo with RSt Mozo Pro 4.5's....

Worst bike I had was a Patriot 66. It was bought as a substitute for a DH bike and a hardtail. I ended up loathing it; it climbed like a pig yet was horrible on the descents. I hated it so much that I stopped riding for a while and sold bits off it. A truly hateful bike.

The first GT Zaskar Elite 29er. Very, very pretty and graceful looking but a horrible thing to ride trails on. Steep head angle and a stem about a foot and a half long combine to make it particularly unwieldy. I'm forever ****ting my front foot against the back of the front tyre when I turn as well. It's almost like it's a road or touring bike that's been given some mildly chunky tyres and told to go and pretend to be something it's not. I tried it on trails a couple of times and just could not gel with it, and no-one has wanted to buy it for even a few hundred quid (it was £1,300 new!) so it gets used purely for dragging the youngest to school. Which it can't even do competently because the rear QR keeps working loose. It's a truly hateful thing and it's put me off 29ers for life.

Worst was my Raleigh Marauder, second worst my Carrera Krakatoa- but they weren't bad bikes by the standards of the day, in fact the Krakatoa was bloody nice for 1990. But by modern terms, rubbish.

So a fairer answer, my Ellsworth Dare, it was just shite. Bad geometry, not very good suspension, less capable than my trailbike at the time and I couldn't look directly at it without dying inside. I literally rode it twice then sold it, I was close to just throwing it in the scrap metal bin and my ad said something like "Here's an ellsworth dare, it's awful, but it comes with a good shock and it's dirt cheap, don't blame me when you hate it".

My Camber was second best. It wasn't terrible, it was perfectly adequate, but it was so completely pointless- worse at basically everything than a stumpy, not any lighter, and though it pedalled a little better it still didn't pedal well. So it was basically either an overweight inefficient XC bike, or a kneecapped trailbike, either way it was stupid.

Not sure....it was either an Orange X1 or a Massi full susser. I didn't own it long enough to remember its name. I snapped the shock mount in faily short order, it went back under warranty. I reckon they gave it to an work experience welder to fix it....there was a massive blob of weld which was supposed to 'mend' the mount. I swapped it with the Massi rep for something else, apparently he liked it! Rode like a pile of poo.

The X1 was heavy with a pogo stick unit for a rear shock. I had some Rock Shox Quadras on the front and they were dire.

I had an On One Scandal too, that was horrible.

dans160 - Member
GT Xiang. Nicely made, looked good. Biggest pile of poo it's ever been my misfortune to swing a leg over. It tried to kill me on several occasions. A genuine piece of nastiness that should never have seen the light of day. Utter shite.

richmtb - Member

Pace RC305.

I just never got on with it. It was too stiff, too steep and the I couldn't work out why I could never get the rear brake to stop rubbing really badly, turned out the rear brake mount was out by a mile.

I sold it, I didn't miss it

I concur with all of that. By far the worst bike I've ever owned as well. I bought it, built it up and hated it from the first time I took it out. It just felt dead. felt like it was made out of lead, or old scaffolding poles, or something. Horrible thing!

Worst riding - on the wrong trail (anything that's not big big lumpy rocks), Kona Coiler that I bought cheap a couple of years ago. 180mm forks help the angles, but not the bb height, and the frame is a bit on the small side for me. Well OK a lot on the small side. But it ploughs through stuff nicely.

Worst overall bike - OO Ti456. Or "the on two" as it became christened after snapping 3 months after purchase.

Got a warranty replacement that I didn't really want (as it was clearly a design issue not a one off manufacturing defect). Ebayed it and bought a Kona Hoss frame for a fraction of the price (and a bit of a weight penalty) on the basis of what was available cheap online, that lasted until I went 29er (and one day will be reincarnated as a singlespeed) and rode quite well, with no fear of anything breaking.

In the MTB category probably an On One Inbred Singlespeed - just hard work and not very pleasant in anyway.

Yep another vote for the inbred. Wanted to love it, I thought steel and singlespeed was a recipe for fun times... but fun times were not experienced.

And although I was always a bit of a GT fanboy, both the Zaskars I've had were flipping boring to ride too - climbed well but that's it.

My Camber was second best. It wasn't terrible, it was perfectly adequate, but it was so completely pointless- worse at basically everything than a stumpy, not any lighter, and though it pedalled a little better it still didn't pedal well. So it was basically either an overweight inefficient XC bike, or a kneecapped trailbike, either way it was stupid.

Out of interest what Camber did you have? I have a 2012 Camber Expert, last year before the 29ers took over

Cannondale Super V 700. Just crap, headshok needed more TLC than a Russian internet bride, weight was comparable to a DH bike and like most other 'Dales of that era it cracked.
Bought a Litespeed Pisgah instead which was a joy.

that sounds a painful tale of woe SSS!

I have perhaps been lucky never to have had a really poor bike, but the one I liked least, or perhaps I should say was most disappointed with because it behaved woefully below expectations, was a Ragley Ti. I wanted a longer travel/slacker head angle version of my Litespeed Kitsuma, what I got was a harsh riding lump. Strangely I had ridden a 18" version that seemed much nicer than the 20" version I had

Specialized Epic. Purely because the proprietary rear shock was terrible and lasted a matter of hours. Sweamrs called the bike "problem child". To be fair Specialized were okay to deal with but it has put me off the brand since.

rascott - Member

Out of interest what Camber did you have? I have a 2012 Camber Expert, last year before the 29ers took over

A 26er Pro, I think. The red one.

Intense Series 1 Slopestyle (sorry Dan). Loved the aesthetics, the brand and the idea behind the bike. Even have the perfect terrain for it on my doorstep.

But... steep angles, choosing wrong way on a size cusp... it wasn't to be.

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Cotic BFe. Small and cramped with geometry not suited to long travel forks. A jacked up XC bike, with high BB and too slack seatpost. It was as harsh as a budget ally BSO.

Looked good, was light enough and well made though!

I'm another proghorn victim.

The first ride: main pivot bolt comes undone.

One month old: blown shock

Four months old: snapped frame.

No name road bike when I was about 11,wanted a bike,and it was in my mates backyard,dying.It had been there for 2 years according to his mum,she happily gave it to me.Cleaned it up,greased all the bearings,new pads and cables,may well have been ok for all I know,it had 5 gears and the frame was so much too big for me,I could barely get my feet on the pedals,never mind the floor.I rode it all over for about 6 months,one day I left it outside my mates,and their coal deliveryman reversed over it,and then dropped a ton of coal on it. It put me off bikes for years.

my last one whos forks snapped after 2 rides

Intense Spider FRO (2008), it replaced my classic Blur which had worn through its chainstays. The Blur was awesome, I didn't like the replacement Blur XC, and the Blur LT was wasted on me. So I ordered a Spider FRO, which took about 6 or 7 months to arrive, it looked the absolute thang. The stickers started peeling off even before I'd ridden it, it was extremely twitchy, it threw me off repeatedly. I got Marzocchi Corsa forks for it which never worked properly and replaced them with SIDS, which also never worked properly. The Platform shock made the VPP act funny I liked the big Air shock on the Blur. I haven't ridden it for years. I should get rid of it really.
Trek Portland (2010) - I wanted it for the Bontrager Wound-Up copy forks - they looked great. It handled like a dog, Trek road geometry of course - I should have thought about it after being asked to test ride a Trek Madone for procycling in about 2007/8 which I couldn't get to go round corners either (the Colnago EPS that they got me to ride after was perfect - just like my Merlin CR64, which isn't surprising really as all that Tom Kellogg geometry was De Rosa). I used it for riding a 40 mile a day commute with panniers for which it was acceptable. The Shimano cable discs were impossible to set up properly to get power from. I rode it at the first 50:50 Gravel Dash - it was completely unpredictable whether it would dig into a corner or go wide, or just get round at all, the brakes did bed in properly though after descending off Bulbarrow Hill. I haven;t ridden it since either - that must go as well.

I havent had any absolutely terrible bikes,theyve all been varying degrees of good, but the worst bike i have had was an ibis mojo hd.

In isolation theres nothing wrong with it ,it was actually a good ish bike, but in comparison to others it just doesnt justify its high price tag at the time .

Genesis Day One Alfine. Piss potting with the matching dots for gears and the gas pipe frame.....it were like pedaling a Barge through quicksand. Utter sh1te!

2009 specialized FSR - just crap in every possible way.

More recently. 2016 synapse Di2 disc - shit,

A Marin Mount Vision Pro back in 1997, horrible bouncy thing that managed less than 100 miles before i sold it on

Back in the day, my first mtb was a Carrera Krakatoa, as Northwind, and I loved it for a while.

Then I realised Halfords had sold me a bike far too large and the left pedal snapped out of the crank arm as the thread only went in to hald depth before bottoming. Most odd.

Got a refund and swapped it for a Raleigh Montage (think that's one higher in the thread). Loved that bike, so much so that I got another when it was stolen. That was also stolen so then bought a 91 GT Timberline. It was so heavy but great to ride.

A few other bikes after and I've never really hated any of them, except a 2006 (iirc) Heckler that I just couldn't get on with. Had a Superlight at the time and loved that (still do), but the Heckler was like a tall, short trampoline, with no grace or finesse. Just bounced everywhere.

Had a mk1 Piglet too, which was great downhill but felt dead everywhere else. Had paint issues so swapped it for a Marley in the end, which was promptly sold without ever been built up.

Raleigh Shopper - nothing majorly wrong except the basket is a hindrance sighting on steep rocky enduro trails

Ragley Big Wig MK1.

I kept breaking it and always miles from the car/ home. Must have been made of cheese.

Not had enough bikes to have truly had a dog but my Heckler was the closest. New shape 26er model. Was great fun on xc trails but I really wanted it for bigger stuff so rebuilt it with big forks and a coil. And it was crap 🙁 just didn't feel confident on anything anymore.

twonks - Member

the left pedal snapped out of the crank arm as the thread only went in to hald depth before bottoming. Most odd.

Mine had exage cranks 8) And exage hubs that are actually still good today, old shimano was amazing, the altus gears on it lasted basically forever.

Not had enough bikes to have truly had a dog but my Heckler was the closest. New shape 26er model. Was great fun on xc trails but I really wanted it for bigger stuff so rebuilt it with big forks and a coil. And it was crap just didn't feel confident on anything anymore.

Surely that's not the bikes fault? Isn't that what mbr used to do with bikes that weren't orange 5s? 'We changed the spec of this bike and it wasn't very good afterwards, so 2/5...'

Followed by 'we spent a fortune upgrading this orange 5, now it's brilliant. 5/5'

Surely that's not the bikes fault? Isn't that what mbr used to do with bikes that weren't orange 5s? 'We changed the spec of this bike and it wasn't very good afterwards, so 2/5...'

Followed by 'we spent a fortune upgrading this orange 5, now it's brilliant. 5/5'

Thankfully never actually owned one but I took an Orange 5 out for a demo ride (proper ride on proper Lakeland trails - actually I was doing some ride leading for the shop in question so it was easy to just nick shop bikes to try out).

It was without doubt the worst bike I have ever had the misfortune to ride. Handling was atrocious, the single pivot design had severe brake jack and (to me) the angles felt all wrong. It was a 2004 or 2005 model.

The best bike I ever used for that ride-leading was a Cove G-Spot which was just superb - it swallowed all that the trail could throw at me and still remained perfectly calm and way more capable than me!

tomhoward - Member

Surely that's not the bikes fault? Isn't that what mbr used to do with bikes that weren't orange 5s? 'We changed the spec of this bike and it wasn't very good afterwards, so 2/5...'

Followed by 'we spent a fortune upgrading this orange 5, now it's brilliant. 5/5'

Those were the greatest MBR reviews of all time. "The inbred came with a u-turn fork so we wound it out to 140mm, 10mm longer than the max and 40mm longer than the recommended, and rode it like that all the time. It rode like shit for some reason".

And "The Five is the most expensive bike in the test and over the budget we set for the test. So we spent another £300 on the maxle upgrade and new brakes. And now we're giving it bonus marks for the brakes and we're going to slag the other bikes for not being as stiff. Meanwhile the Lapierre is £300 under budget but it had bad brake pads that would cost £10 to replace, so it gets a point off."

Specialized Epic. Purely because the proprietary rear shock was terrible and lasted a matter of hours.

My 2004 Epic is still on the original rear shock

The only one that sticks in my mind as something I just didn't get on with was an Orange P7 from about '99/00. Everything about the ride was rubbisherer than the low-/mid-level Kona I was supposedly upgrading from. Luckily, it was stolen within a few months and I stuck with my old Kona for many happy years after.

Right now, I'm grudgingly holding onto a cheap, nasty Charge Plug 0 as my commuter. It was dirt-cheap and does the job, but has all the life of a stoned iguana.

1999 GT XCR4000 for me. Bought to get back in to riding after 5 years or so off. Instead, it put me off for another 5 years! Heavy, terrible suspension, terrible geometry. Yak.

If any of you saw my confession of how many bikes I've got through in the last decade, you'll agree I'm bloody lucky I've somehow avoided buying any total dogs in the current century.

The Pronghorn owners are winning this thread IMO.