What highly rated products did the bike media convince you to buy, only to not live up to the review?
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klunkrider
Retro Guru
Re Pace, I dunno what the new stuff is like but with the old aluminium square tube frames it definitely seems to be a case of when, not if, it cracks yet you still see them changing hands at silly money. Like I know there’s less of them left in one piece so there’s scarcity but at some point you’ve gotta just be like yeah, there’s none left coz they’re a bit shit!
I’d add:
SDG I beam seats/posts. I had a regular railed Bel Air and loved it, rode my mates bike with the I beam version and it was horrible. Turns out rail flex is a good thing!
Thomson 27.2 Dropper. I bought one as a bit of retail therapy when a job didn’t go my way. It’d have meant a pay cut so staying where I was I treated myself to what was then a £400 seatpost and it was awful! In the year I owned it it was back at the distro for warranty repair 3 times. Had to be sent special delivery every time because of the value, never took less than a month to repair and get back to me. When the cartridge started to go I just cut my losses and got rid. Have always gone for the dirt cheap KS/Brand X Droppers since and they have all outperformed the Thomson by a large margin.
Gates Belt Drive. In use, brilliant. Where I thought it fell short was trying to live with it. You want to change gear ratio? £££. You want to fit it to a different type of hub? £££. You want to use different cranks, chainline has to be spot on. You want to fit it to a different bike? Got to worry about a stay splitter, got to worry about chainstay length, got to worry about chainring/pulley clearance.
I’d add:
SDG I beam seats/posts. I had a regular railed Bel Air and loved it, rode my mates bike with the I beam version and it was horrible. Turns out rail flex is a good thing!
Thomson 27.2 Dropper. I bought one as a bit of retail therapy when a job didn’t go my way. It’d have meant a pay cut so staying where I was I treated myself to what was then a £400 seatpost and it was awful! In the year I owned it it was back at the distro for warranty repair 3 times. Had to be sent special delivery every time because of the value, never took less than a month to repair and get back to me. When the cartridge started to go I just cut my losses and got rid. Have always gone for the dirt cheap KS/Brand X Droppers since and they have all outperformed the Thomson by a large margin.
Gates Belt Drive. In use, brilliant. Where I thought it fell short was trying to live with it. You want to change gear ratio? £££. You want to fit it to a different type of hub? £££. You want to use different cranks, chainline has to be spot on. You want to fit it to a different bike? Got to worry about a stay splitter, got to worry about chainstay length, got to worry about chainring/pulley clearance.
Odyssey Aerator sestpost. Practically unusable.
Easton Haven carbon wheels came with a no questions asked life time warranty which was impressive until i broke one and Easton told me my failure wasn't covered. Brilliant until they went wrong - so probably the best and worst product.
Easton Haven carbon wheels came with a no questions asked life time warranty which was impressive until i broke one and Easton told me my failure wasn't covered. Brilliant until they went wrong - so probably the best and worst product.
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I didn't have much to moan about back in the dim and distant
Sure, my 1999. 5 cannondale f3000 disc SL was an absolute shit show of how to get things wrong but the mavic crossmax were ace, the Tarantula cranks were amazing and the 9spd XT was faultless but, the aftersales, Jeeez. That's where it failed miserably and put me off for a long time
Sure, my 1999. 5 cannondale f3000 disc SL was an absolute shit show of how to get things wrong but the mavic crossmax were ace, the Tarantula cranks were amazing and the 9spd XT was faultless but, the aftersales, Jeeez. That's where it failed miserably and put me off for a long time
PanoIgano
Fat Chance Fan
Ritchey SPD pedals.
My favorite pedals of all times.
Got the first ones in '94 I believe in red (so with steel axles). The axle broke in less than a year and with mud and any impact they were receiving they were working less and less accurately.
I got the Gold SPD Ritchey (with Titanium axles) and they lasted a bit longer although almost double in price (I believe close to 120 euros in today's prices if I remember correctly) from the steel ones.
I really wanted these pedals to work for me as they were lighter from the Shimano ones. I did try to repair them and maintain them as much as I could but both of them developed play early on.
I do believe that they are the best SPD pedals though (even if the manual instructions explicitly mentioned that they should be protected from all impact!
My favorite pedals of all times.
Got the first ones in '94 I believe in red (so with steel axles). The axle broke in less than a year and with mud and any impact they were receiving they were working less and less accurately.
I got the Gold SPD Ritchey (with Titanium axles) and they lasted a bit longer although almost double in price (I believe close to 120 euros in today's prices if I remember correctly) from the steel ones.
I really wanted these pedals to work for me as they were lighter from the Shimano ones. I did try to repair them and maintain them as much as I could but both of them developed play early on.
I do believe that they are the best SPD pedals though (even if the manual instructions explicitly mentioned that they should be protected from all impact!
7Speed
Retro Guru
I am going to use this excuse
jim haseltine
Senior Retro Guru
Even with a trainer specific tyre I take my bike off the turbo after a session to avoid heat soak from the roller.
Don't think I was ever convinced to buy things by adverts or the cycling media back in the day. There were a few things which I remember as being falling short of my expectations.
Super Links - any body remember them? They were an 80s pre-cursor to Quick Links. The inner plate had internally threaded 'rivets' and the outer plate was fixed to them by small screws. Could have been a game-changer if the outer plates hadn't snapped after a few hundred miles.
During the same period Clement produced an all-in-one moulded tubeless tubular tyre the name of which I forget. Fitted rims perfectly, easy to mount and the contour of the base tape meant that they wouldn't roll off the rims. Other than that, they were an awful tyre with no life whatsoever. I used a pair for a 25 on the 'Boro and went about 2 minutes slower than I usually did.
I'm sure there must have been others but none stick in my mind.
Don't think I was ever convinced to buy things by adverts or the cycling media back in the day. There were a few things which I remember as being falling short of my expectations.
Super Links - any body remember them? They were an 80s pre-cursor to Quick Links. The inner plate had internally threaded 'rivets' and the outer plate was fixed to them by small screws. Could have been a game-changer if the outer plates hadn't snapped after a few hundred miles.
During the same period Clement produced an all-in-one moulded tubeless tubular tyre the name of which I forget. Fitted rims perfectly, easy to mount and the contour of the base tape meant that they wouldn't roll off the rims. Other than that, they were an awful tyre with no life whatsoever. I used a pair for a 25 on the 'Boro and went about 2 minutes slower than I usually did.
I'm sure there must have been others but none stick in my mind.
To be fair, a Pace RC200 was one of, if not the best retro racing chassis I ever rode, but like many things designed for racing they don't last. Their forks were great too, but again I always had reliability problems, and the later adjuster on the outside of the fork crown was just silly. Pace = Alfa Romeo of the retro MTB world imo.
Same with Hope brakes, lovely things, but mine always needed fettling. Shimano/Magura/Formula were fit & forget in my experience.
Same with Hope brakes, lovely things, but mine always needed fettling. Shimano/Magura/Formula were fit & forget in my experience.
rentedmule
Old School Hero
Bad: Syncros seatposts, SDG BelAir saddle, Shimano dual control and rapid rise (I agree on the RS Indy forks)
Good: Trek Y, Nashbar 853, Englund Total Air
Good: Trek Y, Nashbar 853, Englund Total Air
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