Regrets…

… well I’ve got one. What bike/frame do you wish you hadn’t punted?

My first 29er was a second-hand carbon Highball. I rode it everywhere, gave it hell, and the frame never complained. Man it was light and fast.

Sold it for pittance as I decided I needed more aggressive geo.

Now i’m doing lots of riding that it would suit and have an FS that manages the gnar, I really wish I still had it 🙁

I am slightly wondering if selling my BFe was a mistake. Didn’t think I needed two hardtails and the Scandal is arguably more suited to the riding I do…. but the BFe was bloody brilliant.

Not so much regret selling, as regretting not replacing when stolen, an 05 Specialized Demo 8. It got stolen and I replaced it with an SX trail, which I hated, so didn’t ride as much so my riding stopped progressing, where previously I had been really getting as good as I’ve ever been.

I miss my Langster.

Not so much regret selling, as regretting not replacing when stolen, an 05 Specialized Demo 8. It got stolen and I replaced it with an SX trail, which I hated.

Well that’s a whole other story for me. Dynatech Diablo LX got stolen from in my garage and insurance replaced it with the new model … an M-Trax something or other, less titanium and it had suspension that I hated. That got stolen from outside Bloomsbury Theatre and replaced by insurance with another, even worse M-Trax… which got stolen (but by then was my BILs commuter).

My hand was forced after it kept breaking and Orange said ‘no more parts, it’s an old tool and out of warranty’….but I miss my ST4.

Low, slacker, short travel and just a rocket ship on your average trail.

My 2005 Blur. It was the bike or the wife.

I miss that bike.

First batch 853 Inbred.
Moved to a new house that was a long flat ride to the nearest woods. Killed singlespeeding for me and sold the bike. Still in the same house but would be an ideal dad ride bike now.

I’m sure it’s the angle, but that ST4 looks like you’re sat on top of a kids’ bike!

Cotic Solaris mk2. Needed to sell it as I had to pay for the Nukeproof Reactor I’d just bought. couple of years later I bought a Cotic Cascade to replace the broken Planet X London Road, but really didn’t like it as a dropped bar gravel bike and it’s now morphed into an xc mtb but probably not as good as the Solaris was. TBF I do actually really like the Cascade, but I think would rather have the Solaris back.

Nope – only had 9 bikes (not including kids/teenage), still have 5 of them

Of the ones sold/put into retirement

First mtb – big old gate of a Scott, not even good enough to be a retro bike

Specialized Enduro Expert (the era when the Pitch was in production) – was doing my head in by the time I sold it and replaced it with a carbon S-Works Enduro. Was a great bike though.

S-Works Enduro – was very old school geometry when I replaced it with a YT Capra CF. Still, was a great bike while it was in use. Dismantled it and used most of the bits on a s/h PP Shan that I built up

2016 Capra – sold it when I got the ebike as it was too similar (with the exception of the propulsion method obvs). Think it’s still kicking about locally, but don’t particularly miss it

Old steel frame Kona lava dome.

slight deviation, but Yamaha fs1E, could almost retire if I had it now!!

The last ever California made 16″ GT Zaskar frame, imported by Caratti, bought from action bikes with a student loan. Rode it for all those years and sold on a whim. Idiot.

I’ve had a few.

But then again…

I do miss my old Stanton slackline. It was a bit too small for me, but was a hoot to ride. Kinda wish I’d held on to it and mini-mulleted it with a 27.5F /26R wheel combo.

I needed to pay for my enduro bike so I shifted it on.

Swapping this:

For this & cash:

*shakes head

Kinda regret buying the Transition Throttle that was too small for me and then having to sell it. Should’ve waited til a Large or a 29er Vanquish became available, was such a fab ride, great looking too. Parts that came off the Throttle were all top spec and happy on my Commencal HT.

My biggest regret is not Invisiframing my RM Instinct though  😆

http://m.pinkbike.com/photo/15719021/

Cove stiffee. It went to a bike recycling place as it felt terrifying compared to my geometron and the chainstays were very gouged by chainsuck.

It would have been the perfect gravel and commuter bike with 700c wheels, some gravel tires and a massive stem to offset the super short top tube.

@spawnofyorkshire I’ve my Stanton slackline for sell currently on Pinkbike if you’re interested….

tall_martin

Cove stiffee

Funny how things have changes, can’t imagine any hardtail today having “it’s really stiff” as a USP

I was so keen on a Cove G-Spot back in the day,  loved the linkage with the machining on it.

I’ve never regretted getting rid of an old bike, usually because I’ve either not liked them, or kept them until the end of their useful life and replaced them with something better.

Don’t think I regret selling any of my modern bikes? Every full suss that’s gone has been replaced by something better/newer tech, my road bike was replaced by gravel which was replaced by XC and I liked each one better. I missed my P7 a bit but after a few years I replaced it with a Pace that’s more of the same.

Retro’s a different matter though….

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tall_martin

Cove stiffee

Funny how things have changes, can’t imagine any hardtail today having “it’s really stiff” as a USP

I was so keen on a Cove G-Spot back in the day, loved the linkage with the machining on it.

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Because I had the 26.8mm skinny seat post so far out of the frame it was as comfy with 26 inch 2.3 tires as my current 29 inch 2.6 tires hardtail.

My brother in law had the g spot. It bobbed while climbing like nothing else I’ve ever seen. He said he didn’t notice/ care as it was ace downhill

Always regret selling my Cotic Rocket.
Stupid eebs coming along, complicating bicycle riding 😡

Sold a top shelf 92 Kona Explosif to buy a full sus Crackenfail.

Idiot.

Cannondale Trail SL SS 29er, sold the 29 single speed for a winter hardtail with gears and front suspension.

not the same and they stopped making them…. sad times

No mad regrets, but prob stayed on 26 two bikes too long.

Bought a 26 whippet in 2011 – actually a decent bike that I liked riding, so not regretful as much as a bit of an ignorant purchase. Reckon most people appreciated 29er HT bikes were superior in that xc style at that time, just not me.

Also got a 26 enduro bike in 2012, a jekyll. This was more of a defensible buy as could you even get good 29er enduro bikes then? iirc 26ers including this actual bike won the first couple of EWS events. There was also a lot of 650B cringe muddying the discussion waters. But anyhow it was OK, plenty of good rides, just not a very enabling bike. Never felt confident with it on demanding stuff, or felt it took my riding to new places.

The complex pull shock never gave me any issues, but having two quite different switchable geometries always seemed wrong. Like if we agree that geo is important, this surely cannot be the way to design an enduro bike. But flip chips seems to be taken seriously nowadays so perhaps it was just ahead of its time.

All that switchable geometry stuff was a way to give you a steeper seat angle.  Then they figured out you could have a steeper seat angle just by designing frames with a steep seat angle.

Louise.

I’ve had a lot of bikes. There’s a few I was sad to see go, but top three would be

DMR Switchback. Had so much fun on that bike. Probably as we starting riding in lots more interesting places and as a hardcore hardtail (as much as they existed back then), it was very confidence inspiring.

Kona Caldera – full XTR brakes! Again I’m not sure I’d want to ride it much, but I’d love to own it.

And same as Matt ^^^ – original ST4, did loads of trips/miles on this. Came back from a ‘bikepacking’ pyrenees trip with real issues with ghost shifting. Removed cranks, BB fell out 😉 That was not a stuff frame at the back. They sent me the new model which was way stiffer but I never got on with it.

And my first RipMo. But that’s okay as I bought another one last year!

Doh – that ST4 was the replacement. The original full noodle was one of these

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Cotic Solaris mk2.

Me too. Just did everything extremely well. Jacked it in for the Longshot

Stif Morf and my Stooge Dirtbomb 😕

Not a bike, but my biggest regret was not attempting Mountain Mayhem solo. I always said I would then got injured the one time I was going to enter.

Flaremax. I dream of my Flaremax…

@kayak23. Not even one single letter?

My first proper MTB was a medium 26″ Cotic Soul, which I fairly quickly worked out was to small for me, I kinda regret not keeping the frame to hang on the wall.

But every time I’ve changed bike, the new one has been ridden better.

To summarise then, everybody who’s ever had a Cotic and sold it regrets it.

Intense Primer, first generation. Fast, smooth, reasonably lightweight, geometry worked well for my purposes, never creaked, didn’t rattle, no heel clearance issues. Most importantly the rear suspension. Never had to think about it because it always did what I wanted. The thing just would not bob, even with the shock open. Little bit more chain growth pulling back on pedalling than I would prefer, but not nearly as much as some.

I guess something like a Singular Swift as well. Probably wouldn’t get on with the angles now but it rode how I thought a steel bike should. Haven’t ridden anything since that does.

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Wish I had kept my  black with red decals Specialized Stumpjumper Pro.

Mainly for memories of the fun and experiences on it.

I bet its still in action somewhere.

My first brand new bike and first xc race (and still fairly new bike) had a narrowish plank over a river which my bike and me ended up in…..

It was my 2nd proper mtb . But the one I remember most and kept for so long…before I sold it 🙁

an easy question for me to answer my 2002 cannondale f800 lefty ht in matt black which i sold in a moment of stupidity (partly depression also).

i  loved that bike (always lusted after a cannondale back then and this was also the first bike i owned that had suspension and disc brakes).

i did my longest ride in a day on it (205 miles) so it had special meaning to me also 🙁