What highly rated products did the bike media convince you to buy, only to not live up to the review?

[Roasted]

Back in the day I would buy all the bike mags and lust over the shiny new parts. So when I assembled my first bike I only got parts that were rated 4 cogs or more. Unfortunately not all these parts lived up to their high ratings and were actually pretty rubbish.

RaceFace System stem - a 3 piece stem that would not stop creaking no matter how tight the bolts were or how much grease was applied. Replaced for a cheap World Force stem and gave the RaceFace to a friend who had the same issue with it.
Mr Dirt Gizmo chain device - would not keep the chain on and the hard plastic guides were noisy. Replaced for an MRP.
Hope C2 brakes - these barely had enough power to lock up a wheel, pulling an endo was almost impossible, and if not used regularly they would stick on needing a blead to fix. I considered switching back to rim brakes.
DMR Jump Seat - for a saddle that was designed for abuse it certainly couldn't withstand being sat on. It's the only saddle I've had where the rails bent almost folding in half.

So what products were you duped into buying? Or, on the flip side, what poorly reviewed product turned out to be really good?

 

[legrandefromage]

The Bad:

Headshock

Coda disc brakes

Campagnolo (any)

riding bicycles in the winter

The Better than expected:

Zoom ebay disc brakes for £26 f&r during covid

British Eagle

riding bicycles in the winter

 

[Tootyred]

Bad......Pace stuff..... without exception the masters of advertising and spin over engineering credibility/ capability.

Good.....BBB stuff, cheap, but does exactly what it says the tin well, with no drama for years.....cantilever brake pads are especially good.

 

[hamster]

Bad:
9-speed and up Shimano
All those fancy bottom bracket formats, especially Octalink
Rock Shox Indy
Most things made by Nukeproof
USE Alien seatposts (one tiny Allen bolt which rounded, snapped or both!)

Better:
Thumbshifters,
Magura rim brakes,
Magura Louise, MT2
SRAM shifters and rear mechs (especially 9 speed)
Most things from Superstar Components

 

[brocklanders023]

Bad......Pace stuff..... without exception the masters of advertising and spin over engineering credibility/ capability.

Certainly not without exception as my current RC627 frame is a lovely thing, the RC40 forks I had back in 2007 were much plusher than others I tried at the time and the RC35’s a classic!

Worst I can think of is the Fizik Gobi saddle. All the mags raved about how comfortable it was so I spent a load on one and it was a hateful thing.

 

[7Speed]

I have been lucky (or too poor) to experience too many disaster products. Although @legrandefromage mention of Headshock has me worried for my new F2000 build

By far the worst was the blue ?continental? “turbo trainer” tyre I bought that was meant to stop too much heat build up so you got more consistency in resistance and also saved your outdoor tyres. Blew the inner tube with torsional stress (shredded the tube) every time I used it. I gave up after 3-4 goes and as many remedies as I could think of.

Any early micro/lipstick pump.

Saddles are personal, but I hated the Salle SMP I tried which cost a small fortune. Mark Beaumont cycled the world on one so it might just be my child bearing hips. Short nose saddles are great and wish I had tried them sooner.

 

[7Speed]

First gen SPD pedals with their plastic threaded bearing assembly collar…those shredded so easily…Pedals were a revolution though.

 

[legrandefromage]

SPD shoes - the early ones with the plates, quite often I'd unclip and they would twist, then one day, the plate and the sole stayed on the pedal whilst the rest of the shoe stayed with me. (Adidas)

as for SPD's, I have one set round their 30th year next year, I cant ride anything else

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

USE suspension seat post. Alien clamps were they? Stupid fiddly little M4 bolts. Saddle wouldn’t stay horizontal no matter how tightly you did them up.
The saddle always ended up more vertical than horizontal. I ended up keeping the whole saddle greased.

Made getting it back out more comfortable.

 

[Sir Neil d'Menture]

By far the worst was the blue ?continental? “turbo trainer” tyre I bought that was meant to stop too much heat build up so you got more consistency in resistance and also saved your outdoor tyres. Blew the inner tube with torsional stress (shredded the tube) every time I used it. I gave up after 3-4 goes and as many remedies as I could think of.

Not quite in the same league, but I get far more punctures using the blue tyre than is acceptable. Thought it was just me.
They have all been repairable - so far - but getting a puncture in the garage is hard to explain.
I put it down to heat build up but LBS (either charitably or taking the peewee) tells me I'm putting too much power down.