15 worst ever mtb inventions

lightweight freehub bodies - have you ever tried to remove a cassette thats spun itself around one of these freehubs?
 
So as anyone got a set of those bullet bros forks, they look pretty trick. Are they as bad as they say?
 
The bike journo who came up with that list is obviously a retro hater. If he tried to destroy anything on that list in front of me I'd shove a long stem where the sun dont shine. As for posting up a pic of my most favourite dream bike in the all URT frames bit I'd add some particularly hooky bar ends to the sun dont shine shoving which will give hime genuine reason for hating them !
 
He's probably in his early 20s and never rides up hills.

Or more likely, in his late 30s and wants to hang on to what is left of his youth and be dahn wif da kidz, so is mocking anything he thinks da kidz would mock.

Shame really, onZa HO were quite good once you had done the basic mods and got the right elastomer fitted, bar ends and long stems were useful for fireroad hacking and old school xc races (3 hours long, riding round some mental countryside rather than 75 minutes doing 5 short laps) rapid rise are what's stopping me going 10 speed and flappy paddles worked well for what they were designed for.
Toe clips and straps were a cheap alternative to spds, and most people who had problems with them seemed to ride them as tight as possible *all the sodding time* christ, I did several seasons on the road with them and several cx seasons as well and never found them dangerous.

Ah well.
 
there's some severe retroblinkering going on in this thread

most of those components were shite when they were new, and by extension, shite now. The only one I really object to is bar ends...
 
cce":2w0jadvl said:
there's some severe retroblinkering going on in this thread

most of those components were shite when they were new, and by extension, shite now. The only one I really object to is bar ends...

I'm with you as well. If you actually read the text, it specifically explains the beef rather than lambasting the whole product (bar a few exceptions).

I'm in the don't need bar-end camp. I had them back in the day, but these days I just don't need them and contrary to Dirt, I go up hill a lot (and like it)!

Fingerless gloves is the one I disagree with; absolutely necessary in the warm (on the odd day we get one) and want to keep a good firm grip (and save your palms if you crash).
 
al-onestare":3cgfnk98 said:
cce":3cgfnk98 said:
there's some severe retroblinkering going on in this thread

most of those components were shite when they were new, and by extension, shite now. The only one I really object to is bar ends...

I'm with you as well. If you actually read the text, it specifically explains the beef rather than lambasting the whole product (bar a few exceptions).

I'm in the don't need bar-end camp. I had them back in the day, but these days I just don't need them and contrary to Dirt, I go up hill a lot (and like it)!

Fingerless gloves is the one I disagree with; absolutely necessary in the warm (on the odd day we get one) and want to keep a good firm grip (and save your palms if you crash).


Strangely, i've come back to bar ends since riding on the road more. a pair of stubbies gives a nice change of position, and you can use them like hoods on road bikes
 
I read it yesterday, and have to say - it's all very revisionist and designed to appeal to the magazine's / website's demographic.

Whilst some of these things are / were probably evolutionary dead-ends, some were quite reasonable of their time.

I don't mind them making a metaphorical fast buck on this, but it's all just a little revisionist, isn't it? Sure, time has shown the folly of some things, but surely their ire should be more accurately focused on the things that were truly awful of their time, as opposed to looking back.

Bar ends? Toe clips? Even elastomer suspension? I mean, yes, history has probably shown a lot of things being superseded by newer, better, evolved ideas - but couldn't they just cut to the chase? "Everything before us was crap, stuff now is great... in a few years, though, the current good stuff will be crap, and the new stuff will be great - get with the programme!"
 
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