Not a frame but a complete bike that is either a bit rubbish or you just don’t like. Why is it bad and why do you keep it?

Tell you mine in a bit.

Commencal Supreme DH ’05 – Built it up with quality parts but itstill handled like a ballet dancer on MDMA. Possibly the worst DH bike I’ve had the misfortune to ride. A band wagon I wish I hadnt jumped on.

A pyramid folding bike. I bought it to commute three miles from my hotel to the site where I was working, in Munich. Cannot get the saddle high enough and the steering is very flexy. A scooter would have been more fun. I keep it out of laziness.

my road bike. built for commuting, and does it well… but its not a ‘real’ bike is it, really 🙂

Dave

Crap Decathlon bike I got as a pub bike / general crap bike I can leave locked up outside without having to worry too much about it. Bit rubbish, weighs a ton, but that’s the reason I got it…

my fixie… not because it’s a fixie, but becuase i’m wainting for new bearing for the stupid Surley flip-flop hub meaning it is out of service….

I haven’t got room for all the bikes I like, let alone any I don’t. I did keep a 1994 Diamondback Outlook for years though because it had belonged to my father. It finally had to give way when I needed to add a road bike to the collection.

had a meta 5. full sus didn’t suit my riding style (standing up and honking) too much SS probably. changed for a 456 – much better.

My Carrera Krakatoa, 21 years old and counting, it makes a decent enough commuter but I don’t think it’s ever going offroad again.

My BMX. It was a present, when I wanted to get in to BMX for a little more skills training. It’s a Fisher Cab. Fisher don’t really make BMXes any more, and to be honest, they shouldn’t have then, either.

Doesn’t get ridden much. 🙁

A 23″ 1993 (I think) GT Timberline, rescued on principal from a mate who was skipping it on the grounds of it having a seatpost seized into the frame which he subsequently snapped trying to remove. A bit of heat got the the post out, which I replaced with an el cheapo and a £5 Specialized saddle from eBay. Over the years it’s gained hand me downs in the form of a Titec Hell Bent XC bar, M732 XT thumbies and front/rear mechs, a Crud Guard (the original one with the upright support struts) and a few months ago a day-glo yellow Magura HS33 front brake for comedy value! It weighs about as much as my car but seems to thrive on neglect and has been a faithful commuting hack for about 10 years now.

prob my first bike a specialized hardtail…
i didnt know sod all about bikes when i got it….its ok i guess but there just werent a choice of colurs in it at that time…its bronze coloured with a kind of mint stripe on it (the stripe i like but not the bronze…. dont like the handlebars either, and ive stuck an old cheapo seat on it, and now its just sat in the cubbyhole doing sod all… 🙄
i upgraded the brakes tho last year and two years ago had beefier forks on it…which need the damping sorted out cos it bottoms out on drop offs… i upgraded to full sus so sadley its rare the hardtail comes out….if i sell it it will go for peanuts… 😥 the other downside is its 0nly a 13 inch frame so i guess no-one wud fit it…lol not many 5ft people around short arse strikes again..lol 😉
i keep it cos me thinks i mite ride it agin someday…(heres hoping)

Voodoo Dambala. It couldn’t decide if it wanted to understeer or oversteer in to corners. It often changed it’s mind mid turn.
Poor paint quality as well!

Oh! I forgot my BMX! OK in that case, it’s not my carrera at all, sorry carrera. It’s totally my rubbish Haro BMX.

Bizarre question.

If i didn’t like one of my bikes i’d sell it and get something i wanted.

my commuterised onone inbred:

it weighs half a metric tonne.

it handles badly (narrow bars, short stem, short rigid fork).

i spend about 45mins most days hauling it up sheffield’s biggest hill.

i wake up every morning hoping someone has stolen it so i can justify buying something nicer/lighter.

it’s still here.

it’s completely reliable.

i hate the bloody thing.

not a current bike but an on-one inbred i rode it twice and sold it asap. just could not get on with it but found a 456 fine

My Specialized Allez winter/commuter road bike. It weighs 2lbs more than my Top Fuel, the geometry’s horrible, it’s flexy, slow, uncomfortable and the brakes and shifters are rubbish.

Why do I keep it? Because I suspect that my Dura Ace equipped Madone is more desirable to thieves, even if it is 8 years old, and if the Allez got nicked I really wouldn’t be that fussed!

flip – Member

If i didn’t like one of my bikes i’d sell it and get something i wanted.

My crap bikes serve their purpose well- the commuter’s job is to be theftproof, indesctructible, and dirt cheap to keep on the road, not to be a great bike. And the BMX’s entire job is to stop me from buying another BMX- if I sold it, I’d want another but as long as it’s there and I’m not riding it, I’m safe.

Got a 1993 marin bear valley as I always wanted one from when I was a kid. The saddle is stuck too low, the brakes and gears are awful and it rides like a dog. It has the childseat and slicks on, but I don’t understand how anyone ever rode them off road. Cost fifty quid with brand new tyres and wheels and I still feel robbed. Really need to sell it and get anything else.

I’ve got a Pashley unicycle, but I suppose that only counts as half a bike.

What condition is it in Dibbs..? what size..? Would you be interested in selling..?

Also would have to say the unicycle my brother bought me. Stupid thing must be broken – it doesn’t work.

Rachel

2007 gt avalanche. nothing at all left on it standard apart from the frame and the brakes. set up as a rigid forked commuter with a mudguard bodged on the back with cable ties, 1×9 40t front and slicks

I have a ’98 Trek DH Pro which I built up and then immediately dismantled (the swing arm alone weighs over 12lbs). It is also the ugliest bike in the history of MTB but indestructible and one day I will rebuild it and ride it at night.

TimP – I have a ’94 Bear Valley too and agree with everything you say!

Raleigh record road bike, only reason I don’t like it is it’s too big for me, but it was the first bike I bought new expecting to gro into, but I did not grow, well upwards anyway

My Orange Five of course.

I like all my bikes at the moment, which is why I can’t get rid of any of them!

Worst one in terms of quality is my inbred single speed cos it’s just ended up with my spare bits on! Still love to ride it though (or at least I hope I still do ‘cos its been a while!)

My hack/commuter/pub bike.

Rarely gets ridden as it is not fast enough on the road and hardly ever goes off road.

I can’t bring myself to get rid of it, as it is my old mtb from my youth. I will let her go when I get a hack road bike 😥

glittergary ( i will pretend i didnt read your comment ! 🙄

The White Bike (not Whyte). Me and my dad picked it up from a council tip and rebuilt it with bits from (apparently) washing machines, bedsteads etc. It was so rusty we painted it white. I think it had brakes. It was great. Absolutely great. Right up until the time I pulled a wheelie at speed and watched the front wheel come out and roll away in front of me. I don’t remember the landing but the forks splayed out like a Cardiff hooker. Man that bike was shit.

My commuter-ed-up 2001 hardrock. The one that is supposed to look like its made of easton rad tubes like a stifee, and with MASSIVE spesh logo that covers literally 3/4 of the surface of the MASSIVE downtube. It rides fine and fast for a 26″ bike, has rackmounts and therefore proper mudguards and a rack on it which is most practical, and I expect its completely indestructible and will outlive all the parts on it, it’s just that it looks really stoopid.

my Litespeed ( shitespeed) Antares road bike

The bars were too low to ride comfortably and when cornering it felt like the front end would wash out especially at speed

Bloody horrable bike

Had a trial weekend with a Boardman Pro HT 2 or 3 years ago. Hated it. All the gear but no idea, really. Horrible rigid boneshaker, felt so crude next my (then) lovely graceful Marin hardtail.

Then a year back I bought a Kona Hei Hei 100 with loadsa bling kit on it for not very much money. Couldn’t get on with it. Far too much bob, and not that rapid. Stripped all the gear, which now adorns my old Setavento ti hardtail (the Marin’s successor) and works amazingly. Sold the Kona frame, which looked very pretty, hoping the buyer wouldn’t come back to me saying ‘it’s rubbish!’ He didn’t.

Also would have to say the unicycle my brother bought me. Stupid thing must be broken – it doesn’t work.

User error.

AN ancient mountain cycles – San andreas, Rides like a pogo stick with wheels and looks like something left over from an episode of scrap heap challenge.

Just love it though.. work of art.

I like it too. looks like something from a mad max film

Orange Five, also the best bike I own.

Carrera Kraken built up as a singlespeed. Its an 18″ but the top tube is so bloody short, I think it must be designed around a 130mm stem. So bad I’ve already bought a replacement frame after a months use.

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, boing, bounce, bounce,
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, boing, bounce, bounce,
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, boing, bounce, bounce,
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, boing, bounce, bounce,

You get the drift..