crap bikes - discuss...

[Jussa]

Raleigh Activator, Crap Bike? Well yes, built of pig iron, cheap components, not very nice to ride. Yet BITD brough a smile to many young lads, who'd saved his pocket money from his paper round.

Very much in the same vain as todays BSO's and Supermarket Specials. One thing that it is doing despite the 'Crappyness' of these bikes it is keeping the interest going and often leads to the owner buying better bikes (Especially when it breaks)

It still makes me smile when i see some of the older 'Crap Bikes' still being ridden, going to show that some have infact lasted the test of time........... Maybe not so Crappy after all........

anyway enjoy my once owned Activator (Non standard and slightly modded) It was the source of much abuse in previous threads, now in a fellow Retrobikers hands and being enjoyed as it should be.

Crap, but still bringing smiles..........

 

[Conde Pyruslav]

It may be envy in lots of people, of course! But it may be also passion for cars (or bikes) in many others...

Nevertheless, that's a consideration over a person saying a thing, but it doesn't make a 1986 fourth hand Ford Escort any valuable, or a 17kg Mentor by Pryca, or a pair of fake Nike shoes, or a fake Rolex.

I am trying to remember another crap bike, but cannot recall the model. I know it was a Cannondale, sorry I am not an expert on this. A friend of mine, actually at that time a friend of my dad, used to ride always very expensive bikes. He was (and still is, and still rides) quite wealthy so he first got that Specialized Stumpjumper in XT, then an aluminium Specialized mounted in XTR, then another one also in XTR with Manitou fork... and then he bought the Cannondale. It was also a fully spec XTR bike, so black, so cool... but he hated it.

He hated it to the point one day he had badly installed the rear wheel and after a jump it got slightly to one side and was touching the frame and the brakes. He got so crossed that when we told him "you have not installed your wheel properly" he looked at us and shouted: IT WAS NOT ME!

 

[r0gue]

If I caught the intent of this thread (and I believe I did) it was to have an interesting conversation -- perhaps a debate, but not necessarily -- on things of the past. And crap is a fun word to assign to the target subject of finicky stuff. Heck, I chose only the most expensive stuff to call crap. Because it was. And I can't wait to buy more of it!

Forums are for talking. And pics! These were the first upgrade I ever got. A Christmas present. They had a helical groove inside them. As they were pulled forward by the wheel, they would move inward onto the rim. In truth they worked! So I guess not crap!

 

[Conde Pyruslav]

I HAD THOSE BRAKES TOO!!

And no, they never worked for me.

 

[videojetman]

Raleigh DynaTech. It is crap because the tube popped out of it's socket after going down a short steep slope. That made it crap then.
Then with reports of it happening to others (other have mentioned it on here) that in my book makes it even crapper.
Any bike that falls apart trying to kill its rider is crap.

until mine fails, i have to disagree. best bike iv'e ever ridden so far.

 

[MikeD]

Someone mentioned Coda brakes -- I remember following someone down a descent with his Coda calipers howling and, best of all, emitting clouds of blue smoke. It was like being in the Red Arrows.

 

[legrandefromage]

Someone mentioned Coda brakes -- I remember following someone down a descent with his Coda calipers howling and, best of all, emitting clouds of blue smoke. It was like being in the Red Arrows.

I ran over the Cannondale reps feet in the shop and he still wouldnt have it that they were shite...

This your chance to moan about a bike you had that just didnt work whether it was a £200 Raleigh or a £3000 Cannondale, just dont bitch and moan about why someone else didnt have a good experience with your chosen bike. Let them air their reasons - its not about the budget or envy either

I made bad choices over the years and am happy to admit it and perhaps too eager to pass on that experience.

 

[Mr.Toad]

Okay i'll bite.

My response is based on personal experience and opinion, no debate or pointing fingers. Generally I love most bikes and have learned to appreciate the designs I used to disdain.

90 Rockhopper was crap only because the bike was equipped with very heavy components, once I upgraded the stem, shifters, brakes, and seatpost it rode quite well. Won a few races on that crap bike back in the day then sold it to a friend who rode it for a few years when it was sold to another, still going strong to this day. Some crap piles can be massaged into cubic zirconias and shine!

Mongoose toblerone frames. I've seen a few of these frames brake at races back in the day. One expert racer won the race with the downtube completely sheared at the bottom bracket.

All Gt's. I never understand why a company would design a frame that required strange noodling of the rear brake cable. I do like the look of them though, and I almost bought a 89 Avalanche over the weekend!

Klein's. So cool looking but I was sadly dissapointed when I rode one in 92. To me it felt like everything I expected from aluminum, in a bad way. I couldn't get off that bike quick enough. Of course now i'd really like a Klein and would ride the heck out of it.

Oil dampened forks. I put many miles on my bikes so the easier to maintain the better. Manitous were always the forks of choice based on the ease of maintenance and simplicity. Plus they weren't a cross over design from motorcycle.

CNC cranks. Yes i've broken a few and have seen many snap so the design is certainly not as strong as forged but I still love and use them.

 

[wookiee]

....Think my Raleigh Mustang (poss 88/89) has to have been the worst bike I have owned...within weeks the pedals bb had gone, were then replaced over the 1st year 6 or 7 times! Then there was the snapped rear axle, crank arm that fell off etc etc....BUT it was my 1st MTB and got me hooked so it served a good purpose! In a couple of years of saving my saturday job pay I moved onto a 92 Marin Murwoods, my 1st "proper" and felt so much better than the Mustang...20 years on and I'm still riding Marins and they have become my bike of choice!

Wook

 

[oldave]

Hmmmm ... guess I've had at least 50 bicycles pass through the garage in last 10 years. Very few were "crap", else I wouldn't have bought them! Even a couple I bought simply for a few bits were actually perfectly functional for the purpose for which they were designed. And that last bit is the key.

Some were disappointing. Best example was a suare tubed Pace - in beautiful ano red with some good parts it was something I'd always wanted. Rode like a brick. In and out the door in a matter of weeks. On road side, a Raleigh Titec all-ti looked great - even stiffer than a brick (but then in the only objective test of frame stiffness I've ever seen it came out the most well stiff). (My mate who was mean TTer in his youth and a much heavier chap than I reckoned it was fine for 10 miles, but after that a killer - back to "purpose", I suppose.)

Nearly any bike can be rendered non-crap with a pair of good wheels and tyres - most important parts on any bike are NOT the frame but the bottom axle and the hubs.