What have you bought that's a bit shit?

The canti’s that came with mid-90’s bikes, pre-V-brakes
Elastomer suspension and/or RST forks
Tesco’s tea towels
McDonalds ‘food’
Most of the really cheap stuff from Ikea that was acceptable when you were a student

Timbuk2 messenger bag, the quick clip is poorly executed as is the stabilising strap, and the corners stick out and collect rain. The reality is it is at best rather basic yet incredibly expensive. Every time I see them getting recommended on here my face falls into my palms and I sob.

Just cannot get on with my Osprey Raptor. Great build quality but I find it uncomfy and the layout frustrates me.
Renthal Grip bolts disintegrated upon installation.

I like my Hans Dampf’s and my high Rollers. Pretty much the only tyres that I’ll use.

I bought some Rock Shox Judy XC’s in 1997…they were awful. Also had some Psylos which were the worst forks that I ever bought and I’ve never forgiven RS for those forks.

A CD of nightfreak and the sons of Becker by The Coral.

Bought in gatwick when travelling to Italy for work. I liked it so much that halfway through its first play the CD became a handy drinks coaster on my desk for the 18months duration of my work secondment.

Nobeerinthefridge – Member
Hans damfs. I wanted to like them. I so wanted to like them. Everyone else liked them. They were the draggiest, slowest piece of dung I have ever used.
POSTED 20 HOURS AGO #

+1

Fenwicks foaming chain degreaser is a pretty shite.

+1 to that.

_tom_- What’s your beef with SLX brakes? I ask because mine took a bit of getting used to but I’m pretty happy with them now.

Landrover Freelander.

Schwalbe Racing Ralph .

One worked very well off-road , but suffered mechanically. Often.

The other was bloody appalling off road. Actually, bloody appalling.

Aldi track pump – hose snapped off.
Aldi cycling gloves- fell to bits
Specialized Enduro (2010)
Magura Thor forks
Fox 36van r’s

Are you using the chain scrubber sponge with the Fenwicks mousse?
I’ve found they work well together..

Each to their own with what lasts or works

Have found Fenwicks foaming degreaser to be one of the best products i’ve used over the last few years, changed the way I clean the bike, as it’s quick & easy, far easier than using a chain cleaner device, have used several, and never found one that worked well..

Have found Aldi gloves last well, yes they fall apart, but only after a lot of use & several years, far better VFM than On-one gloves which just fall apart (although they are nicer while they last)

This bloody Nokia cant do a thing, you type stuff, by the time you post and read it you realise its gobbledy gook, no capital letters and you cant actually edit the post because the cursor sits blinking at you with mo way of moving it

Pretty much everything with Endura written on it…..except for their knee warmers. Odd.
Katadyn Water Bottle. Barely a drip comes out no matter how hard you squeeze the damn thing. Utter tripe!

I wonder how many of these hates are user error. Although the Hans D’s are pure emperors clothes. Utterly shit tyres yet constantly raved about clearly by people who have no clue!

All my Endura stuff has been brilliant. The only reason I’m going with a new brand this year (DharCo, Aussie brand) is I fancied a bit more colourful kit than the muted camo colours of the Endura stuff. Saying that, Endura have more colours in the 2015 range.

My custom Chas Roberts frame in ’97 was soooo nice, but really really shit.

Maxxis Minions. Awful things. Hate mine with a passion.

Ride it harder.

Timbuk2 messenger bag, the quick clip is poorly executed as is the stabilising strap, and the corners stick out and collect rain. The reality is it is at best rather basic yet incredibly expensive. Every time I see them getting recommended on here my face falls into my palms and I sob.

I’ve used mine daily for the last 12 years it’s never let water in & is so much more comfy than a “back pack”

Although the Trek Fuel EX9 I bought in 2009 was far from a disappointment, the Jones XR front tyre was frankly terrifying. First ride was a bit wet and I was constantly stopping, checking stuff wasn’t loose and came back a bit gutted that my new bike was a bit shit and had absolutely no front grip!

It’s a summer tyre, absolutely brilliant fast rolling tyre in the dry, you were using it it the opposite conditions for which it was designed

I think this year’s timbuk2 addresses the open corner issue.

American classic race29 er wheels……..4 months of old bloke mincing and the rims are well dinged plus there’s a load of bulges below spoke holes in rim wall……I’m 180 pounds and run 25-30psi……LBS currently fitting Ryde Trace Enduro 32mm new rims……..maybe our cross country/trail stuff is a bit too aggressive for them or I’ve developed massive radness

Although the Trek Fuel EX9 I bought in 2009 was far from a disappointment, the Jones XR front tyre was frankly terrifying. First ride was a bit wet and I was constantly stopping, checking stuff wasn’t loose and came back a bit gutted that my new bike was a bit shit and had absolutely no front grip!
It’s a summer tyre, absolutely brilliant fast rolling tyre in the dry, you were using it it the opposite conditions for which it was designed

Of course Rocketdog, but it was a little disappointing all the same. What I don’t understand is that I have kept XR rears ever since, all year round! Snow, mud, anything and it’s fine!
Sadly on my last stockpiled one now…

Hated my singletrack shorts. Funnily thry outlasted everything. Retired them last week as theyve shrunk too much and replaced them with..

Singletrack II.

The humvees were binned. Awful heavy things.

Zipp 303 wheels. Crap tolerances on the rear axle mean the bearings don’t sit tight so the wheel rocks from side to side. Grabby, pulsating braking in the dry. Absolutely terrifying lack of braking power in the wet. Supremely expensive; yet supremely disappointing.

May I add Cyclo workshop tools to this list? Among a long list of shiteness, I have found:

Bottom bracket facing tool guide with a hole too small to get the shaft of the cutting tool through.
Headset facing/reaming tool with a set of guides too big so you can’t get them into the head tube until after you have reamed it – but you can’t ream it without getting the guide in!
Crown race facer too small so after cutting the crown race was a slack fit
Sloppy bushings on a rear mech hanger straightener and a plastic sliding holder for the ruler that cracked and broke after a handful of uses
Headset press with plates so large that they pressed a dent into the underside of the down tube on a steep-angled steel frame bike.
How I hate them.

Hope hubs for the last 20 yrs (i keep giving the ‘british engineering’ a chance but 6 months in, its grumbly bearing time).
Hope brakes (had 4 different versions, & gave up on them in 2000).
All riding packs apart from the lumbar res ones.

Phew, where do you start ? Best to avoid mentioning old girl friends so lets stick with mountain bikes.

2002 Spesh Enduro Pro provided my first taste of hospital food.
Any thing made Chris King, over priced and badly designed.
Intense 6.6, cost me a fortune and so was so badly aligned it was funny, they refused to believe me even though NWMTB agreed so I sent them a video clip and then they agreed to exchange it but then took over three months to ship out the new one. Intense is up there with CK as being over priced American crap.
Egg beaters – whats the point to them ? Ditto Whyte bikes
Any Push tuned shock, more emperors clothes !
A loft full of tyres, sooo many I honestly cannot recall their names.

But lets end on a positive note, my American Classic 29″ wheels and my Campy Shamal Ultra 2 Way wheels are both outstanding examples of money well spent.

Orange X2 frame. Utter tosh. I just wanted to get into the FS thing too hastily. URT design is pointless. Pivots kept coming loose on every ride.

Every BB I’ve had since square taper (so about 50 then….)

Hope Vision 1: rubbish mount kept falling forwards, even on gentle commutes.

Exposure Flare: Crap design keeps getting knocked sideways, can’t be adjusted up or down and the rubber band broke after 2 weeks, switch broke after 4 weeks. Also uses the worlds most expensive batteries

Formula disc brakes: Off or On sir?

Smartphones

The fancy green Michelin Wildgrippers.
Those Onza pedals with elastomers instead of springs.
That first year (97?) of RS forks that did away with the stanchion covers.
Most Schwalbe tyres I’ve ever tried.
Orange P7 frames (actually, I didn’t buy that one).

VW T5 Kombi, worst vehicle I’ve ever had.

Avid Juicy 5 brakes, why make it so hard to replace the pads (or was it just me)?

Racing Ralph tyres, just didn’t suit my riding style.

Any Altura clothing, only seem to last a few weeks before stitching starts coming apart (however their bags are great).

First and foremost have to be the RaceFace X-Type cranks I bought a few years back. The bearings died in four dry, summer months and within eighteen months the spline interface bit the dust.

Then there were the Mallet pedals that ingested a bearing after less than a year.

Northwave SPDs where the mesh uppers has “disolved”.

Too many seatposts to remember (all broken).

Castelli Mitts that disolved in under a year.

DHB gillet zip went in under a year (am I too fussy?)

Lapierre OEM handlebar 2011 now corroded all over.

Oh, and the super thin SRAM chainring that bent almost double with a dollop of awesome power!

Can I please add Lupine lights circa 2007, £400 even after discount for yet another hyped product whose customer support was utter shit,Howies merino, the clowns used to stitch in labels that then caused huge holes in the said merino and last but not least planet x titanium quick release skewers.

In my opinion they are the most dangerous biking product I have ever used, on my Spesh road bike every time I went close to or over 30mph (this required a descent of some sort 🙂 ) the speed would produce a violent front wheel speed wobble and on 23mm tyres dressed in lycra thats not funny, its very similar effect to when you see a caravan thats being towed start to go crazy. I had this happen 6 times and every time I re ran the event in my head trying to figure out the cause of the problem. Every bloody component was double and tripled checked.Only when I exchanged these skewers for some normal ones did the problem go away. I can only conclude that at speed the skewers flex enough to cause the wheel to momentarily lose contact with the road surface and induce the wheel wobble and its only a matter of good luck that one of these did not result in me smashing my head in to the tarmac at high speed 😕 Thanks planet x !!!!

Forgot to mention the Crank brothers headset that rusted on the outside after about 10 not terribly wet rides.

Forgot Hope seat collar QR’s.
Had two – they work poorly then they break.

They do look nice though. 🙂

KMC Chain

Michelin XC something-or-other tyres (although could be ace for 2 wheel drifting on a towpath)

I had them Michelins…. for 1 ride.

Mondraker Dune Frame – Do they have tape measures in Spain, or threadlock, or bearings larger than those used in matchbox toy cars ?

SealSkinz waterproof socks – let water in but not out – yay balloon feet

Formula RX brakes – rubbish power – pump up – requires one set of uber expensive pads per ride.

Shimano bottom brackets – available from the cheese counter at most supermarkets. (everything else by Shimano is ace)

Crank brothers foam lock on grips – having heard bad things about almost all their products I have steered clear…. but grips – surely grips would be OK! Nope – fell apart in a week

That’s not bad actually considering the amount of stuff Iv bought over the years.

Although the Hans D’s are pure emperors clothes. Utterly shit tyres yet constantly raved about clearly by people who have no clue!

For those of us who get on with HD’s, what should we be using oh wise one?

Forgot about Crank Bros headset – I bought one really cheap from CRC thinking, how bad could it be? Just as bad as people said…it was replaced without question and now sits in its box. If they spent as much time designing the product as they did the packaging, they’d be pretty good.

QR20 has got to be up there too – it was a pain in the bum and the little clamps used to break all of the time.

My Hope seat clamps haven’t been too bad, but the wheel skewers suck. Hope XC4 brakes were dire too.

For those of us who get on with HD’s, what should we be using oh wise one?

haha no idea matey, I tried to love them, tried them in all conditions and I just hated them. Choose wisely young padawan for the trails are alive….

Have to agree with the Crankbrothers sentiment. Nice stuff visually, but utter tripe performance wise. Seatpost clamp that doesn’t clamp, silk screen printing that rubs off with your fingers, terrible wheels that are virtually disposable.

My Hope hubs have survived 2 Welsh winters and are still going strong (and as noisy as ever) but the QR skewers are useless. I want them to release when I’m removing a wheel, not at some random point during a ride.

I bought a Fat Spanner external bottom bracket tool that won’t fit the bottom bracket properly.

Endura baggy shorts and gloves fall to pieces (the jerseys and bib shorts I have a great though).

Zipp Service Course CX bar tape that fell to bits after about 5 dry road rides!

Charge saddles (Spoon/Knife) are great value and comfy but creak horrendously after not a great deal of use (Scope is going pretty well so far though).

And after finally trying something else after nearly 3 years of mtb’ing I’ve decided that Nobby Nics are pretty shit.