I had a go on a Trek Madone yesterday, and for the first time in my life I hated a bike from the moment I got on it. It just felt slow and dull compared to my own bike.

What bikes have you instantly hated and why?

mk 1 blur – so wrong in every way

Kinesis Maxlight

dunno I just felt to high up, like I was perched on top of the bike rather than in it.

had one ride on a mates Kona manomano, felt ‘orrible.finished the ride on a MkI spesh enduro expert, more pleasurable by far.

Specialized FSR comp ,heavy and slow whitted…….the bike ,not me LOL 🙂

anything over 30lbs

Full carbon Scott Genius. Too tall and the supension on the rear just felt plain weird, it was the shop owners own bike so was setup right too
Oh and had those dual control levers…

Orange ST4… I know its been getting really good reviews but I just didn’t like it at all.

Really wanted to becasue I have other Orange bikes but it just didn’t work for me.

older superlght

whyte 46

Roberts genesis custom I had built. Was months late and rode like cack. And the head tube flared like butter.

Looked gorgeous, mind.

I have never tried one, but I know the owners rave about them, but to me the look like they have been welded from girders.

Now the P7 on the other hand looks spot on 😉

Giant Anthem X.1

Horrible.

Full carbon Scott Genius. Too tall and the supension on the rear just felt plain weird, it was the shop owners own bike so was setup right too
Oh and had those dual control levers…

I had a few demos on these back when I worked with bikes. They never felt good. I set up the suspension myself from the manual, then talked it through with my contact at Scott, and on a separate bike let the workshop set it up. They always felt too bouncy when climbing and just plain boring downhill.

One of the early Whites was terrible as well, can’t remember the model.

I instantly hate the majority of demo bikes i try, they always seem to be badly set-up with the staff ‘following guidelines’ for frame/fork setup meaning its far too stiff/soft and not at all ballenced. After pottering around dissapointed 5 mins twiddling dials and sorting springs/pressure usually has them feeling much better.

Yeti 575 – felt very similar to the Mongoose Teocali I was looking to replace except much taller – I was sat on top of it, not riding it.

Scott Genius – didn’t hold traction on the climbs, couldn’t steer it going down hill. I’m willing to believe it was shock setup and/or tyres but I didn’t like it one bit.

Whyte 46 – I didn’t hate it as such but thought it was an odd/interesting ride. I quite enjoyed it but even after a 3day test I still noticed the odd ride. There was something about it I don’t think I’d ever have got used to (And my main FS bike at the time was a Whyte JW4)

Not really tried a 29er I like. They feel ponderous, slow, it’s difficult to pick the front end up and I ride with flats so always end up hitting my foot on the wheel. I did have a quick go on a Jones which felt really nice, but your more everyday ones were horrible.

Pretty much any aluminium hardtail I’ve ever tried. I think I’m just too soft.

Giant Trance X1. The long stem didn’t help matters, but the whole thing just felt so wrong 🙁

I bought a second hand Balfa BB7, it was ragged and needed some work to get it going which put a downer on it before I even rode it. Then rode it and it just felt so wrong. Alu front end and steel back made it feel unbalanced and on a couple of times I felt like I was going to flip off the back as the rear end dropped so much quicker than the front.

Replaced it with a Turner DHR – Now that was NICEEEEE!!

When I was buying my current bike, I demo’d a big bunch of bikes one after the other and the only one that I instantly didn’t like was the Orange Five – I know that’s close to heresy on STW, but it’s sadly true…..

carrera, boardman, genesis… anything bought from a catalogue by a chain/distro and branded by themselves really.

First gen Blur LT – felt wallowy and too tall.

Spesh Enduro, my missus tried a Spesh Saphire and found the same thing, just dull to ride really.

Lapierre Froggy – although it only weighted 36lb I’ll be buggered if I could get that thing up to speed, it always felt like it wanted to coast to a stop rather than pick up speed. Doesn’t say a lot for a Freeride bike when I was only impressed by how well it climbed (it really did climb well mind!)

Specialized Stumpjumper FSR – dull, soft and reluctant.

Genesis Altitude 853 tubed one. Not a nice ride to me. Too stiff and harsh for a 853 tubed steel frame. People rave about them, but I just sold mine after a few month or so. To change it up a little, the best bike I owned was a specilized hardrock. The one that looked like a poor mans Cove Stifee. Was one of the chapest bikes too I have had! But such a good comfy frame.

GT hard tails, but it has been a while. I’m the wrong shape for them, they just feel a bit wrong.

First Whyte 46, wanted to like it, mags loved it, rode one for three days, but way too tall and I could not get it to use its travel. Had a GF Cake, ok on the demo, but could not live with it. Tried hard with a Patriot 66 for a year but never sorted it.

always felt like it wanted to coast to a stop rather than pick up speed

DH tyres perchance?

It’s easy to dismiss bikes that are slack, or heavy, or little, when you’re not getting full potential out of them. I don;t particularly love my BMX, which I reckon is because I never really rode one until I was 30. And I didn’t like a Big Hit that I owned for a short amount of time, I suspect because they are ace for blatting downhill, whereas I am not.

My dad’s road bike. Such sharp geometry that if you take your hands off the bars for a second you end up crashing your face off.

Oh, and my mate’s old DH bike that had some old Marzocchis that were so horrendously flexy they caused me to crash the one and only time I did a run on it.

Kona Lavadome. Too long.

Also anything with late nineties Rock Shox on. Bleurgh!

Controversially, I didn’t much like the Cotic Soul I test rode.
I felt like all my weight was over the front and the steering felt caster-wheel-like. It felt great climbing, but all wrong pointing downhill.
I’m sure the position could have been altered to suit me better and/or I could grow to like it over time, but some bikes just feel “right” when you sit on them and this didn’t to me.

Antony, they were only 2.4 Rubber Queens so not excessive (800g ish)

I have no experience of Rubber Queens. 🙂

carrera, boardman, genesis… anything bought from a catalogue by a chain/distro and branded by themselves really

That’s just being an eliteist snob, IMO.

Giant Reign,

I’ve ridden a friends and rented one. Felt like riding an old sofa. Admitedly I think all full suss’s feel wierd and these probably weren’t set up properly for me but it wallowed and sucked all the life out of my pedaling.

Have liked other full suss’s though.

I hated my 456. I didn’t get on with the Mary bars, but couldn’t justify new bars so rode it for a while, but really didnt get on. Bought some Outland risers and things didnt get much better. Got a Kona Scrap with had much higher risers (for the GF) and my hands felt in a much better position when I took it out and it rapidly became my favoured bike, while the 456 gathered dust. Eventually I got round to new high risers on the 456 after going out with the GF and wanting to ride her bike and we are finally getting along (me and the 456). On reflection I would have been pretty gutted if I had sold it, but we close to parting ways (again the 456 – still with the GF)

test rode a Cannondale Raven – odd and wrong. indeed, did any body ever buy one?

Kona Jake – too slow on the road and not beefy enough for me off it. Great commuter though – apparently!
{dons flame proof suit and runs}

My first full sus – Coyote FR1. Funny thing is that after my first ride I was really down and miserable as it felt slow and unresponsive. But after a year of riding it I loved it, and its now one of my all-time favourite bikes!