Following on from the best bike thread, I was wondering what have been the biggest “ooh blimey” and ” aww b@lls” moments on which bikes?

My biggest surprise – 100mm forked voodoo wanga (nimble , fun, took rocks much better than it should , faster than mates bouncy bikes on rocky descents it seemed)

My biggest let down – 6″ travel Foes FXR with huge ti-coiled curnutt shock ( heavy, over damped and unresponsive shock (despite £200 rebuild) odd geometry, never gave more than 5″ travel)

best…………..raleigh mtrax 100, a lot of years ago.
one of the best rides in the dales ever.

worst………..orange patriot.
overweight bouncy pile of pooh
dragged it up to the top of minchmoor, and the descent was crap.

Disappointment, my Scandal… Fantastic 100mm XC bike but, well, you know how everyone says “Don’t put a longer fork into a bike that’s not designed for it, it’ll ruin it”? That’s exactly what it was like with my 130mm forks even though it’s supposed to be suited to it. Didn’t last long. I’d have another like a shot for 100mm use though but I was kind of put off it and sold it in a fit of sour grapes.

I guess the “Oh blimey that’s good” would be the Soul then… Since I only really rode one out of curiosity and ended up riding it faster and harder after about 5 minutes than I’d ever ridden the Scandal. I couldn’t really afford the upgrade but every ride on the On One in the meantime felt like purgatory, after I’d learned what a 130mm hardtail should ride like, so I ended up getting one after about 3 weeks.

The Wanga is good – there are some great reviews on mtbr. And Halfords were selling them off real cheap a while ago.

Makes you wonder how good the Bizango is, or the D-Jab – more Joe Murray designs.

I’ve just rebuilt my Wanga and although I haven’t had much of a chance to run about on it, the odd nip to the shops and around the streets has reminded me how much fun it is.

(the Wanga’s for sale for £680 at halfords at the moment – amazing bargain!)

Biggest disappointment: Ibis mojo. Sold it after a few rides. Had got a cheap deal through Scot Nichol too.

Surprise: Pompetamine I think.

Suprise – Scott Scale 29er Pro, was sceptical but got lent the demo bike for a few weeks and, WOW, what a bike. perfect for what I want it for…

Disappointment – Had always coveted a Litespeed Vortex road bike, saved for ages and bought a frameset eventually. it rode like complete crap, flexy, bad handling, you name it. rode it for 2 weeks and then sold it…

my wife, your wife

disappointment blur lt mk2 (not mine but a friend who lent it to me whilst he was injured for a few months), it was large that felt like a med, weird suspension, just over hyped or Gary fisher cake singletrack review in 05 scored better than a turner horst link 5 spot……so i went on the basis of a review and car park ride. Dire bike

suprise dialled pa hardtails can be fun and comfy and very possibly all one needs :wink:…..or Maverick suspension prepared for a urt suspension but just excellent grip and control

Biggest surprise 1- the whole big wheel thing, got a cheap inbred 29er deal of the classifieds ‘cos I thought it was a bunch of hype, but was willing to experiment for a modest sum of cash(cheers mark, it’s all your fault!)and found that with the correct geometry they really are very good indeed and have made some lovely additions to the bike collection. 😀

biggest surprise 2- playing on a saracen ariel, really fun bike if you like ’em burly

biggest bag of poo- 2009 marin mount vision, heavy for the travel didn’t handle very well and just took all the fun out of riding. Got it based on magazine reviews and it just goes to show you really should give everything a decent test ride 🙄

Suprise; dmr trailstar for funability, (apart from being too small and still weighing more than me). Disappointment; Chameleon. Happy comprimise; Soul

disappointment blur lt mk2 (not mine but a friend who lent it to me whilst he was injured for a few months), it was large that felt like a med, weird suspension, just over hyped or Gary fisher cake singletrack review in 05 scored better than a turner horst link 5 spot……so i went on the basis of a review and car park ride. Dire bike

Whilst I wouldn’t say it was dire at any stretch, I was also unimpressed with the LT2. Probably my own fault for believing the magazine hype (they were crazy for it at the time). It felt the same as my old intense 5.5 and the RS revs are the only fork that’s ever given me arm pump. Shame as I really wanted one and was prepared to drop some money to “upgrade”.
I really liked the alpine 160, it felt like it was smashing everything in its way into little pieces. A little too portly for a biffer like me on the climbs but for a fitter rider it would be amazing.

I think dire might be too strong iwas so disappointed because i looked at all the rave reviews and riders comments.

Vondally/backhander. The Blur blew me away when I tried it and I ended up buying one because it was easily the best bike I demoed. Possibly not set up right for you?

Biggest let down was a Trek Fuel or whatever is the 5″ travel job. Dull, with rubbish small bump absorbtion

Surprises:I have 3
1. Santa cruz blur xc, surprised me how ‘bike’ like it felt after years of riding hardtails and trying a few rather disappointing full suspension bikes. Shouldn’t have sold it especially as it’s replacement was the most disappointing bike I have ever owned.
2, Orange Elite (2011), test rode one as couldn’t find much else out there that I liked, that I could afford, after disaster with my ‘disappointment’ bike, thought it would be too a little short feeling esp with very short stem fitted to test bike, it felt fine. Also thought that it wouldn’t be that confidence inspiring on the descents especially after years of riding full suspension, so much better than I could have imagined, felt I was descending with the same confidence as when i had the blur. Ordered the frame at the end of the test ride.
3, pompino, just bought it cheap 2nd hand to get about town on, really loved that bike, even if it was built up with shoddy parts and the toe straps where death traps. Wish I never sold it to buy a road bike.

Disappointment: Giant anthem x, after reading all the reviews, thought this would be my ideal bike, certainly looked like it on paper, but never got on with it. For me, it descended slowly and badly (thought it was me for a long time till I switched bikes) and climbed badly, wasn’t even that comfortable. No matter how much I spent on it both time and money, it still felt terrible. Sold it after a year and received an email from the buyer saying how much he loved it! Shows that a ‘good’ bike is totally subjective.

Possibly cpt, i don’t think it was a poor bike at all (the 5.5 was pretty bloody good so the comparison wasn’t negative). I was just expecting to be blown away because of all of the mag reviews. Lesson learnt; mag reviewers talk out of their arrse and bike preference is a personal thing.

andy7t2 – Member
my wife, your wife

LOL 😀

Backhander, couldn’t agree more, I my case I would never say that the Giant anthem is a bad bike, it was just me and that bike didn’t work. Wouldn’t advice anyone against buying it, just would say test ride it first, like any bike, don’t be an idiot like me and just go by what others say.
Yes there are bad bikes, but there are a lot more good bikes that just don’t suit a particular rider.

Disappointment for me was the ibis mojo just never got on with it. Don’t know why just not for me.

On the other hand the Bfe is the opposite it’s such a laugh of a bike and every ride It just gets better!!

capt m, possibly but tried every psi, stem and trye combo going. just not for me i guess.

Biggest disappointment, Ellsworth Moment, transformed my riding for the worst, BB was over an inch higher than the bike it replaced. Suspension system was very nice tho.

Disappointment….Specialized Epic, always wanted one, just didn’t live up to expectations.

On the flip side my Maverick ML7, it just never ceases to amaze me how good it rides.

Surprise – Kona Unit 29, bought as a cheap winter bike and got me hooked on big wheels.

Disappointment – Nicolai Helius FR, looked nice but horrible tall geometry and the suspension performance was just poop despite trying 3 different shocks. The DW 5 Spot that replced it restored my faith in suspension bikes thankfully.

Biggest surprise for me was buying a 1992 Kona Cindercone (A bike I’d owned when it was new) and building it up as a rigid SS. I was honestly expecting it to be heavy, slow, boring and flexy after my newer bikes (and there’s the old thing of not revisiting your first love too…), but it hops and skips around like a mad thing, it climbs like a goat and makes me giggle like a demented kid whenever I ride it. Super stuff!

Biggest disappointment (‘Disappointment’ is probably a bit OTT to be fair, but here goes…) is our Genesis IO. It’s not a bad bike, but it just leaves me cold. It’s got no finesse, no fun, no character. It’s just a bike. I can never really remember riding it. It looks nice, it rides fine, it’s fairly comfy, but it’s just boring.

I couldnt get over how capable my 2nd gen ss Inbred was with the forks at 120mm. It made me realise how overbiked I was with my FS for 90% of the riding I get to do.
Giant NRS probably my biggest dissapoitment. Oh dear.

Biggest surprise:
Bought a Tange-framed no-name frame off the classifieds for commuting & put some longish Kona Project 2s on it – grin factor 10 everyday. I should really try it off-road. 😀

Biggest disappointment:
Was massively excited about and privileged enough to go on a frame-building course to build my dream bike. Somewhere along the line (more than likely my fault) the sizing and geometry have gone to hell and the bike is no fun at all… 😕

Disappointment – new model EBB Chameleon. Way too high on the BB. Dalbeattie trail centre was also a disappointment. Longest downhill bit seemed to be about 15 seconds long.

Nice surprise – Azonic DS1. I then ruined it by putting longer forks on.

Suprise-Kona Unit 29,bought after I had given up mtb’s for pootling along the canal.4 years on still ss,still rigid,still big wheels and still loving it.
Dissapointment-Everytime I relent and have a go on a bouncy geared bikes.Slow,dull,heavy and uninvolving.

Biggest surprise was the Chameleon, was building it for just a do it all hardtail, but I was genuinely amazed by how capable a bike it really is, so much so that I can’t see myself riding anything else.

Biggest disappointment was the Expolsif I borrowed for a weekend, wanted so much to love it, but it was just so ordinary

Suppose my biggest surprise was my Langster as I never thought I could enjoy a road bike, but loved how fast it accelerated and just felt fun to ride. My Allez is faster but it’s not as fun to ride, something about it’s just a bit boring!

Biggest disappointment was probably my Rockhopper. I liked it initially as it was light, but it was probably a size too big for me and I never felt that confident on it.

biggest surprise 2- playing on a saracen ariel, really fun bike if you like ’em burly

So they’re actually good for a bit of a play bike that may still be able to climb ok then? I’ve been interested in having a go on one since I first saw em. I have some money saved up and could probably afford the frame…

Biggest surprise was my first pompino. It was too big for me, looked butt ugly, my wife pronounced me ‘ripped off’ when she saw it and I didn’t really like the colour. That bike gave me more smiles per mile and more miles per pound than any other bike I have ever owned.

Biggest disappointment is easy. MK1 GT i-drive 2.0. “Latest technology” I was told, “no chain extension during compression”, they added and ran with my thousand pounds.

Awful, awful bike. My first full suss, I wish it had been my last. Too heavy, bob-tastic, the rear shock died about 6 times on account of being right in the firing line of all the mud coming off the back tyre, the i-drive itself was a joke and broke more than once which wouldn’t have been so bad if you could buy spares for the thing.

Biggest surprise: How utterly awesome the 456 carbon I built up is.
Biggest dissapointment: How I can’t ride a hardtail like Raddogair or Bigdugsbaws 🙁

Biggest suprise – Wife’s fsr xc comp. Way better that I thought it should be given the money.

Biggest disapiontment – Orange 5 and SC Heckler

_tom_ you seem to like mini downhilly play bikes ( it does actually go up stuff without too much pain as well)so I would seriously think about getting a demo on one as I think you may love it

nice review of a ariel build up and ride

I think I had both experiences yesterday.

This is my current race bmx

And yesterday I had a go on one of these..

The disappointment was when I rode the Mondraker, and the pleasent surprise was when I got back on mine. It may be a fair bit heavier, the hubs and bb shot to pieces, and a lot of the kit is a bit naff, but it just feels so much nicer. Saved me a fair chunk of cash anyway.

Cheers Tazzy, sounds good! I’ll wait and see what happens with my working situation, if it becomes more stable I’ll have a go on a demo.

That Mondraker looks horrible :\

Biggest let down for me was a 2009 Teocali Super – on paper it should have rocked. Great parts – RP23, Float 140, XT/SLX drive chain etc but the geometry felt all wrong and the rear suspension action was frankly weird.

Biggest surprise was the first time I rode my Anthem X – I’d always thought a hardtail would be quicker cross country but the Anthem was so fast everywhere.

Hmmmm.

Disappointment would have to be my Inbred. Perhaps down to the build, but it was heavy, dull and uninspiring, I hated the colour and just never got on with it. Sold it and never missed it for a second.

Surprise, perhaps Surly Karate Monkey – I was amazed by how easy it was suddenly to ride a rigid bike fast and really enjoy it. Chromag Samurai also a possible in this category.
🙂

Biggest disappointment was riding a Demo 9, a bike I really wanted to fall in love with.

Biggest surprise, Kona Stinkys at Whistler. Love those bikes.