[Closed] Worst bike "improvements"

29er specific saddle.

Road bolt thrus with disc brakes make complete sense. Means the disc is always in the right place with no fuss.

Bigger MTB wheels make a significant difference where I live. I didn't run out and get them cos I thought I must have them, I ended up with them and realised how much better they were all on my own.

Try again.

Press fit BB's

Wheel sizes has gotta be up there, especially with STW proclaiming 27.5 ain't dead.

Press fit bb's for the win, I'll not go near one. Seen some great bikes and discount them on that alone.

Road bolt thrus with disc brakes make complete sense. Means the disc is always in the right place with no fuss.

As opposed to quick releases?

Press Fit BB's are a good call. I have two bikes with them  - one over 10 years old and on its original BB - and they've been fine for me personally, but seen so many issues with them and now the industry has seen the error of its ways.

Suspension, gears, disc brakes, freewheels pneumatic tyres, pedals, cranks...

Road bolt thrus with disc brakes make complete sense. Means the disc is always in the right place with no fuss.

As opposed to quick releases?

Yep. Seen loads of folk with squint wheels or wheels coming loose because the axle hasn't been correctly aligned in the dropout before the QR was tightened.

It wasn’t a huge problem with mountain bikes. It still isn’t on mine.

Boost is bollocks, though.

I like bolt through. Better solution, wheel can't fall out. There's a thread on here today about someone's wheel falling out, and my daughter's does too occasionally. Maybe it's a mystery issue with the QR design but it can't happen with bolt through.

Biggerer wheels.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with 26" wheels but a lot of gullible people fell for the marketing BS, which dragged the MTB scene in that direction.

All bikes should have bolt through axles.

I also still think 29ers genuinely added something well worth while.

Spoons.

a lot of gullible people fell for the marketing BS

I'm not convinced that's what happened. It felt like the entire industry pretty much took other options off the table.

Basing mountain bikes on bicycles rather than motocross bikes was the worst technical decision made. We seem to have to to where we should have started now.

Picking children’s bicycle wheels came with that initial cockup. Also now resolved.

Forgetting to include the motor was the last mistake...

All bikes should have bolt through axles.

I also still think 29ers genuinely added something well worth while.

Despite my previous statement, I agree with these statements.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with 26″ wheels but a lot of gullible people fell for the marketing BS, which dragged the MTB scene in that direction.

Yes.
And No.

I've a few mates that were 26er die-hards. Then got bikes with bigger wheels and realised how much better they were. Not gullible people mind, but people who know how to ride a bike, and what they want from it.

Myself, I had a 27.5 but ended up selling it to create some cash to buy my gravel bike. But have two 26er MTBs to do MTB duties. The Inbred SS I really enjoy riding. It's brilliant actually in a very simple way. The 26er FS I don't get along so well with, and certainly, whilst it is a more capable bike than I am a rider, I increasingly feel 'disadvantaged' compared to mates who have bigger wheels and, at least as importantly, more modern geometry.

So, not having tried a 29er, I can't speak directly from personal experience, but reckon the big wheel debate has pretty much been won, albeit modern geometry also being a key factor.

Interesting. I've ridden all wheel sizes bar 29+, I just don't feel any significant difference (albeit I accept tests show 29ers slightly faster, which is important to molgrips et Al, and those at the sharp end of racing).

Wheels falling out? FFS. What has happened to common sense?

E-bikes! On a planet that is constantly being educated that we use too much energy, they create ebikes, when people were perfectly happy before them.

I'm still fun at a party I promise haha😂

E-bikes! On a planet that is constantly being educated that we use too much energy, they create ebikes, when people were perfectly happy before them.

And the chemicals used for the batteries.....

Still don’t know anyone who uses 35mm bars

Always hated qr spindles - bolt through feels like coming home. Every bike should have them.

29er is perfect for most UK riding and even better for loads of other countries like large parts of usa.

Ebikes are or could be brilliant for commuting, not mention getting the older and less mobile out on bikes. For those worried about pollution they must be less polluting than any other uplift system.

So we are only on press fit BBS so far which are clearly rubbish.

I would add 12 speed.

Boost, definitely. Massive change for tiny, imperceptible benefits.

I’ve a few mates that were 26er die-hards. Then got bikes with bigger wheels and realised how much better they were.

Sure it wasnt the fact that the new bike was longe and slacker too. Trouble is it's almost impossible to compare eggs with eggs as 26er bikes with modern geometry dont exist. My mk10 liteville 301 is as close as you can get to modern geometry on a 26er and I love it. I'm not anti big wheels...I just think they should be incorporated into bike sizing. 29er makes total sense for XL giants. Would be nice to see 26er wheels on small frames for little people. Scaled sizing is another Liteville idea...clever those Germans

Internal cable routing

I’ve ridden all wheel sizes bar 29+, I just don’t feel any significant difference

Honestly, try a 29+ bike.
It does feel different, good different too 😉

Still love my 26" SS though.

Individual bike manufacturers getting funky like Giant with the overdrive headset.

U-brakes on early MTBs. They didn’t last long.

Whoever suggested ‘29er’ is ...wrong. So wrong. 29er is good. So good.

Still love my 26″ SS though.

Snap. Especially with 2.4s on.

Still don’t know anyone who uses 35mm bars

I do!

Bike came that way, I don’t see the point and now my light mount doesn’t fit.

Fox's 15mm front through axle effectively forcing RockShox to abandon their 20mm, which they're now having to try and make up for with Torque Caps. Back to 20mm front axles will be next..

1.5” steerers were a bit of a flash in the pan, I’d like to see a 1.5” / 35mm stem just for the sheer scale of the thing.

F

I skipped straight from 26 to 29 so would say 27.5".

But then I would, wouldn't I.lol

Spoons.

This needed applause.

26" bikes. Just an evolutionary dead end.

We should have gone straight from the pioneering men and women of the Rough stuff fellowship to the various flavours of 700c.

Instead we spent a wasted thirty years trying to make 26" work, driven by marketing kool-aid and poor manufacturing.

We're not quite there yet as we still have that daft 27.5" standard, but we're getting closer.

1.5” steerers were a bit of a flash in the pan, I’d like to see a 1.5” / 35mm stem just for the sheer scale of the thing.

1 1/8 steerer top and stem is one of my least favourite aesthetics on a MTB - looks so weeny, esp on a burly trail FS. 1.5 looked miles better, but as it was like five grams heavier than tapered it was obv totally unacceptable.

- ISIS bottom brackets

- Shimano dual control mtb brake/shift levers

Those Shimano mtb floppy lever brifter things.

Instead we spent a wasted thirty years trying to make 26″ work, driven by marketing kool-aid and poor manufacturing.

I'd refute this completely, not the least because there wasn't, until comparatively recently, anything to 'market' 26" wheels against. Unlike when eventually 29" and then 650b/27.5" were dreamt up and the marketing departments went to town, 26" was the "go to" size.

As for 'poor manufacturing' this is also, I'd suggest, complete rubbish. 26" wheels were made by all manner of quality of manufacturers and for frames built by all manner of quality of manufacturers, just as 650b/27.5" and 29" wheels are now. 'Poor manufacturing' may be responsible for the quality of a product but is unlikely to be responsible for retention of an old standard or move to a new standard. Indeed, given the maturity of 26" wheels as a standard, its arguable that the quality of even lower end rims etc is pretty good.

Still don’t know anyone who uses 35mm bars

I do. They've now discovered that Spank Vibrocore bars are very comfortable, which is definitely because of the revolutionary Vibrocore technology and has nowt to do with them being 31.8mm...

In terms of component changes, I'll offer up Shimano's new "inside routing" which is listed as a feature for their new 12 speed groupsets' brake callipers.

Essentially the hose attachment has moved to the opposite side of the calliper. Whilst previously (on the outboard side) the hose attachment sat directly over the seat stay/fork leg and ran straight to the hose braze-ons on, it now sits a good inch or so away (inboard) meaning that the hose has to be bent quite markedly to reach the braze-ons; looks messy too & doesn't appear to offer any benefits.

Silly wide handlebars. I used to ride 700 to 720 mm bars 15 years ago and often got comments about how wide they were. Then, a couple of years ago I borrowed a newish bike from a friend. It had 800 mm bars and I kept clipping trees. I figures that all the people raving about wide bars must know something and it was probably just a matter of getting used to them, so I bought some 800 mm bars to see, figuring that I could cut them down if need be. I tried them at 800 for a few rides and just kept hitting trees, so I cut 10 mm off each end and tried again. I eventually cut them down to 750 and they feel ok, but not really any better than the 720 mm bars on my old bike.

I first tried out 29er on a rigid bike (was riding rigid 26er a lot at the time). It made a huge difference.

29er was pretty much a niche rider pushed change, and with good reason, it's better in nearly every way. 27.5 is a bit pointless, was clearly used as a marketing gateway, and now we can't get stuff for our old 26ers so easily.

Boost though... Isn't a bad idea, but other solutions could give the same wheels strength/spoke tension benefits without changing hub standards (and with a small weight saving).

And road bike bolt through is essentially a solution to people that can't use a QR properly.

In terms of stuff I've bought into... Bar ends? (although they were useful back when bars were tiny) Really weird shaped tubes? (see the latest Specialized full sus where they're making a feature out of having round tubes!)

Most things in the cycling world, be it road or mtb, have evolved quite well I'd say. It's more about human nature rejecting change or the initial release of something that will be good but needs work - 29" wheels and the geometry that gets the best out of it feel and function wise for example.

Wider bars work on some bikes. I have always found 730mm to be my sweet spot, then got a new bike on which they felt uncomfortably narrow. Went to 780mm on that bike alone and they feel spot-on.

So I guess in general it is horses for courses and most products are better than their previous ilks.

If I had to pick one, I'd probably go with press fit bottom brackets.