I very rarely regret purchases bike related. Wince a bit at the cost of some but never actually wonder if I’ve made a mistake – until now.

After a few threads and posts about wheels, it was determined that I prefer riding my hard tail with 650+ wheels. They just feel very secure and take the edge off a quite rigid carbon frame.

Having made that choice I fancied treating myself to some new wheels for said bike.

Also, having loved the sound of Industry nine hubs since I first heard them, I went with some Reynolds Black Label Carbon wheels from Wiggle. Great savings but still rather silly expensive when the dust settled.

The wheels ride lovely. Nice and light (for what they are) and just give that warm fuzzy feeling of quality and performance.

That is however until I stop pedalling. The first few rides in, I loved the sound of the freehub. Now only a few more and it is as irritating as hell. Even fellow riders take the yellow liquid and make loud obnoxious hair dryer sounds as I go past. Shame I can’t pedal everywhere!

Not sure if it will annoy me to the point of selling them (probably not tbh) but although not as loud as Hopes, the pitch and frequency of the sound isn’t quite as attractive as it once was….. bugger.

Anybody else made a similar daft purchase and regretted it quickly?

Nope never !!

Horses for courses, jumpers for goalposts.

I happen to enjoy the unfeasibly loud Hope freehub. I’m currently still twitching from the purchase of a PRO drop bar dropper lever, it was FIFTY pounds.

Also some LTD edition Oakley’s but they were worth it right?

Yes, some Ti axle, elastomer sprung, Onza clipless pedals.  Satisfied my desire for light weight but in reality a bit of a death trap.  Well maybe not death but pain and blood loss for sure 😀

@Merak My Hope reference came across wrong as I too love their sound. Have had Hopes since 1998 and never felt like the noise was too much.

Swapped Hopes for these I9 wheels, which compounds the lack of love the new wheels are currently getting.

650b, Tried it with two different hardtails (1 alloy/1 steel) that lasted less than a year each before admitting I’m a fully committed 29er convert. Would like another steel hardtail though.

I’ve had a couple of ‘wtf have I just done?!’ Or ‘this is getting a bit silly now’ moments where I’ve got a bit carried away, even for me, but generally no regrets. A few things I wouldn’t buy again though.

Ge really anything which hasn’t lasted as long as expected.
Richey pedals, FSA titanium bottom bracket, Rockshox Rebas.
Didn’t particularly dislike any of them in use, just died pretty quickly leaving me wishing I had stuck with Shimano or Manitou rather than going for something a tiny bit lighter and much more fragile

I had some nice Middleburn cranks, 10spd xtr and hope brakes on my hardtail.

All bought used.

However when it came to get replacement parts/consumables it all seemed too expensive so I mostly replaced with new Deore stuff which works as well or better and the price is much more palatable.

Can’t say I notice much weight difference

A set of Deore mechanical disc brakes and hand built wheels from Merlin circa 2002. I was a student at the time so mega expensive for me.

The brakes sucked and the wheels buckled easily. Gutted. Should have just not bothered or saved my pennies for a new bike.

Just grease the freehub ratchets, it’ll quieten down if that’s what you’re after. Even Hopes can be made to run quietly.

RE expensive kit – it depends. If something costs a lot and lasts a long time then it’s £ well spent, you get the quality of function over all that time. I have 240 hubs that are 15 years old, 2 bikes with SON dynamo hub and light systems that I see as practical investments, a couple of framesets that were pricey but after many years of regular use without getting bored of them they look like a good buy. If kit looks likely to fall into that category I can justify the price within reason.
If it looks complex, unproven or spares may be a problem I’m less likely to go for a premium option.

Spent almost a decade looking at a maxxD, could never justify the cost compared to cheap shite eBay specials.

Bought a mxxD last year on finance.

I regret not buying one sooner.

Still liking my £90 stainless chainring…. I try and get good barely used stuff second hand if possible…. New bike for someone and they immediately change the brakes kind of thing.

From that other thread. Emtbs – they just do not appear value for money at the minute in terms of how long they will last to the cost

On the other hand I spent £1k on some lovely Zipp road wheels. They are amazing and bombproof and I just know I will get many years of use out of them

I don’t have many regrets MTB purchase wise, but having spent a year on 29 inch wheels on the Spur, I wish I’d gone for a Solaris Max over my Soul. The Soul was convenience as I initially used the wheels from my old T130 and just swapped them between the two bikes, but as I subsequently built a new set for it anyway, the convenience of initial lower cost is gone. Now I just have that nagging “it’s slower, heavier and has silly little wheels” every time I’m looking at which bike to ride. Safe to say I’ve picked the Spur. Every. Single. Time.

Come to think of it, a Foxy XR Carbon SE that cost a fortune, then cost even more of a fortune with all the upgrades I put on it. It still rattled itself to pieces and creaked more than anything I’ve ever ridden. Was very glad when that was gone!

1998 Marzocchi Bombers. Came into a bit of cash so built myself a decent hard tail with the new fanged suspension fork thingy. Hated it – terrible handling and pogoing everywhere. I even pined for my old fully rigid set up! Rode it, but didn’t enjoy it, for a couple of years and eventually replaced them with rock shox (Tora?) – that transformed the bike and made it really very good.
The bombers cost me a fortune, still annoyed by them to this day!
Like tomd, I bought Merlin’s hand built wheels for the bike but they rank as one of my favourite purchases – still running true to this day!

Yeah… I keep trying to buy comfort on the bike when pretty much 90% of the time I just need to do some physio work or tweak position.

About £300 of saddles in garage that I probably didn’t need to buy… 🙄

I only regret expensive things that are rubbish (use vyce)!

I sometimes give a gulp when clicking ‘bye now’ but you know, nice things are nice….!

I often ponder if my Travers single speed specific ti frame is ‘worth’ TEN TIMES the cost of the scandal it replaced…. but it IS a lovely frame!

DrP

Splashed out on a Ti “bike for life” from a swanky brand. It does everything I want it to do very well, but just doesn’t quite feel as “perfect” as I had hoped for the eye-watering cost.

Do not mention this to MrsMC.

Carbon rims on an ebike, what a **** stupid idea.

Tbf, I couldn’t change them, that’s what it came with, 5 rides in and I’ve predictably wrecked one of them. Back to Alloy rims we go!.

Currently going through this with my Evil Offering.

As soon as I bought it they brought out the V2 which put a downer on things.

I haven’t been riding my XC bike for a few months and been trying to get into riding the offering. Its great pointed downhill but its over the top for most of the trails I ride.

I thought I had become really unfit until I switched back to my XC bike last night and realized the offering is so slow and heavy going up its just not fun for me.

Debating selling the frame and getting a spur but I cant get a frame due to the current shortage of everything, don’t think I will sell the complete bike as I will loose too much money now everybody will want the V2.

I’ve thought of another. Not a single item that was expensive and regretted but the tub full of straps, clips and bags that I’ve bought to allow me to carry a spare tube etc on the bike in a minimalist style but didn’t really work out. Total cost of that tub full will be ridiculous for what it is.

A Ringle Moby seat post back in the 90’s…WTF was I thinking?

I picked up a X01 AXS Groupset in June as my current drive train was getting close to end of life and the shortages of SRAM stuff was already appearing, I then broke my hand and have had this £1200 box of parts sit on the side in my garage… because I’ve not been riding and instead have spent more time at home, I can see where that £1200 might have been “better” spent in some house or garden improvements!

Had this with my Occam last Autumn. Long, low, pedal strikes, sluggish rubbish.

Then took it to done proper mountains to ride. Love it now.

Bought some Paul’s Klamper brakes + Love Levers for my Stooge last year….£500 for mechanical disc brakes.

Luckily they’re lovely and work very well. Though I do wince at the cost!

I regret going quite spendy on a short, 26in trail bike just before geometry started stretching and wheels got bigger. At least it was insurance money, but I should have just bought a newer van instead.

I happen to enjoy the unfeasibly loud Hope freehub

Me too, and its better than having a bell. Loud enough to announce to walkers that you’re coming and you can add a few rapid back pedals to make the sound even more noticeable.
So much better than CK. That buzz was ok in the beginning but it got annoying fast.

They weren’t expensive, but i don’t like my Hunt’s for the same reason you don’t like your i9s. there’s a freewheel down a road near the end of my rides with close packed or terraced houses on both sides. Just too much noise, so I pedal most of it, most of the time. Increasingly tickled by the Onyx hubs!

1998 Marzocchi Bombers.

Whaaaaaat? : )
One of my first big spends on a bike – Chameleon V1 with some XTR and orange 110mm Z1 BAMs. The XTR cranks died pretty fast but those forks changed my riding for a few years and lasted well. Fettled a bit along the way yes but that was one of the great things about them – they were basic so oil height and weight was an effective tune and easy to do.

MK 1 Santa Cruz Nomad. Mine came with a leaky shock which didn’t help but it was a pig on the climbs. Definitely not the quiver killer it was reviewed as.

Chris King Hubs. I’ve had lighter and much cheaper wheels and the Kings seemed to contunually need some sort of fettling. Not quite the fit and forget I was hoping for. I appreciate that’s subjective and others love them.

Increasingly tickled by the Onyx hubs!

That is a bullet I’ve dodged (for now). It’s not even the ridiculous price or weight that have stopped me, it’s the thought of expensive hard to obtain spares being needed in the future

just got a granite cricket bell, my last few bells have been £2-6 so £18 seems frivolous,
the reviews say they are good but can break so i’ll happily cut into amazons deep pockets.

I’m also not overly keen on an FSA outer ring i’m waiting delivery, that seems to be only avaiable in the usa, and so already spent double the price of the last one i bought

I read that as “granite cricket ball”, twice.

😀

my last few bells have been £2-6 so £18 seems frivolous,

I have a couple of Crane ENE bells now, £25 or so. First one felt a bit daft £-wise but they do sound good – loud with a good tone. Much less tinny than the cheap Spur copies. Makes more difference to my riding in busier places than anything else.

Chris King ceramic BB. Fed up of HT2 BBs not lasting long so spent on a posh one. The bearings may be high quality but the sealing just isn’t up to winter use off-road. Got fed up of grease-purging it every few weeks and it’s sat in the spares box. Might put it on a summer best road bike one day.

That is a bullet I’ve dodged (for now). It’s not even the ridiculous price or weight that have stopped me, it’s the thought of expensive hard to obtain spares being needed in the future

weight has come down on the newer Vesper. still £150 more for the hub than the entire Hunt wheelset cost me though! And the trouble is, I’ve got more than one bike, so even the quieter hubs would sound horrendous after riding the Onyx!

I’ve certainly regretted;

1. Not paying for someone to do a bit of maintenance and screwing it up myself.

2. Not paying for a part / upgrade that really fixes the problem.

Just grease the freehub ratchets, it’ll quieten down if that’s what you’re after.

What kind of grease?

Echo’ing the comments above, I just don’t like the sound of the Hunt hubs and also find myself pedalling unnecessarily just to keep it quiet, especially coming home after a night ride.

SRAM XO Eagle cassette, bought a couple of weeks ago as an impulse buy ! Ouch…sat in it’s box looking expensive, just in case