crap bikes - discuss...

[bm0p700f]

On cheap kit one of my MTB's has the cheapest canti's I could buy (sub £10). They work very well and are easy to set up. The pads wore out in one ride but no matter those were replaced and even though they look cheap they work too well to replace. They are not even branded. Cheap good kit for a change. Oh and they have lastest well as well and show no signs of failing yet.

On the other hand some Marinlite canti's I bought of here are crap. When assembled I found it impossible to get them balanced to my satisifaction (no balancing screws) so I gave up hense the cheap no name canti's that work perfectly with no faff. I hate faff.

 

[JeffGothro]

Zaskars have been voted as one of the greatest hard tails of all time...jus sayin.

 

[sylus]

Are they crap if they keep people riding? I mean it's a bike..two wheels, it's not a ferrari

As a purists hobby I can see why some elitism exists but sometimes I question wether it is about bikes actually being crap or as we get older we forget the fun we had on them "crap bikes"?

 

[r0gue]

I've had a lot of hardware from beginning back in 1991 and onward through the truly boutique years of CNC and customer manufacturing. IMO, if it didn't say Shimano on it, it was in some... or many, ways... sort of uh.. well... "crap".

Mind you I love the stuff just the same!

Machine Tech Power Claw hubs, Paul Derailleurs, Avid Tri Align brakes, Manitou rubber-baby-buggy-bumper forks. The stuff was a joy, it was exciting to buy, neat to install, and a sight to behold. You could create your own steed and the zen that went along with that artistic expression is what brings many of us here today.

But I'm quite confident that a fresh new Cannondale with a Lefty and... whatevertheHeck they spec for drivetrain nowadays would be a much better bike than anything I spent paycheck after paycheck on in the 90s.

But if you make me pick one thing, I'm going to say the collet style closure seatpost clamp Klein Pulse I had in 1995. That seat post just wouldn't stay up no matter how hard I tried to tighten it. I actually had to return the bike. :cry:

 

[clockd]

Zaskar, got one recently and love it.
Klein, like the ride but my back hates it

Crap is any early 90s suspension forks, let's talk the Scott unishock. The mag 20 with no dampening, the manitou 1-3 etc without talking boutique.

Wicked long stems with straight handlebars. Could you make it handle worse ?

My shogun prairie braker bitd was crap, steel rims that didn't make the brakes work in the rain, tyres that didn't grip.

 

[Conde Pyruslav]

I thought it was going to be more of "classic crap bikes", following the same meaning as for "classic cars" nowadays, when anything older than its owner is considered a classic, no matter whether it is an Austin Montego, a Ford Fiesta diesel, or a Matra Murena. Anything goes.

I see this in Spanish mtb forums, some threads about "classics" in which yes, you see old school mountain bikes (i.e. that Klein Attitude in team colors... or a DEAN Titanium... or a Salsa cromoly...) but you also see anything considered "old", which can be a 2002 full suspension I look like a motorbike two wheel bought at the supermarket truck.

Personally, anything that was not the high-end of any certain brand, except if we talk of very special bikes, is crap. It was crap back in those years, you would buy a Marin Muirwoods because you couldn't afford a Marin Team Marin, and will for sure have some sentimental value to the owners (the 1989 Marin Muirwoods, odd white with pink/blue/purple splatter for me, please), but they have always been crap and they will always be. Except in 50 years time. Like a Renault 11 GTX nowadays, no matter what, for the moment not even the R11 Turbo is "a classic", and you better keep it pristine and unused, otherwise no value. Same for bikes.

 

[poweredbypies]

This really annoys me, we get newbies on here with bikes that some peeps just jump in with straight away " yeah your bikes crap". How about we offer some gentle advice it wont take long for them to see they could get a much better bike for not a lot of money. No insted we get some a-hole shooting them down. Surely this place is supposed to be about the fun and joy of biking in all its flavours. When I started on here I had a bike of dubious quality fortunatley i made friends with some decent folk on here who helped me up my standard of bike, and I have been lucky with some finds. I try to help the newbies out point them in the right way gently point out the shortcomings of their bike.

Or are we going to start a door policy, sorry mate not with that bike.

 

[poweredbypies]

Double post.

 

[Conde Pyruslav]

This really annoys me, we get newbies on here with bikes that some peeps just jump in with straight away " yeah your bikes crap". How about we offer some gentle advice it wont take long for them to see they could get a much better bike for not a lot of money. No insted we get some a-hole shooting them down. Surely this place is supposed to be about the fun and joy of biking in all its flavours. When I started on here I had a bike of dubious quality fortunatley i made friends with some decent folk on here who helped me up my standard of bike, and I have been lucky with some finds. I try to help the newbies out point them in the right way gently point out the shortcomings of their bike.

Or are we going to start a door policy, sorry mate not with that bike.

Personally, I am nobody to say "you cannot enter here". This I would only dare to say on my own forum, and I don't have one...

For politeness, I would not reply saying "ha ha, your bike is shit!" if a boy comes to me showing me his "magnificent" 17kg '92 Specialized Rockhopper in poor condition, or if he presents his '91 Pryca (former Carrefour) Mentor bike, even if this last one was really the mother of all craps (my cousin had it).

But, by not saying it it doesn't make those bikes any better, or any special. The thread starts with it: it's nothing to do with snobbery.

Having said that, I remember the day my dad was returning his Fisher Montare to the shop, as too unstable for him, when another guy entered the shop with his brand new Alpinestars (same style as the Fisher, short wheel base) throwing it to the seller by shouting " this bike is shit, it almost killed me!!"

 

[poweredbypies]

I agree with what your saying, not telling them their bike is a bit naff wont make it better but perhaps telling them in a more gentle way is the better way of doing things. After all most of us started out on a bso or something equally poor. Im not saying the bikes aint crap but we should be a bit more understanding of other people. Even tho I am a working man now with 2 kids I still cant afford xtr and the boutique stuff. Any thing I do have of really nice quality has usuallly been found at a bargain price or karma'd me.