What is the worst product ever produced for MTB/ATB'S

[bkt]

moto-cross stylee mudguards (had one on my trailstar lol looked ridiculous) :roll:

 

[jimihendrix]

Did you thank them afterwards for hanging back for you?

It depends upon how fit you are. On the flat I can easily maintain 20mph. Around where I live I haven't found a hill yet that I can't get up on the bike. The only time I failed to get up a hill on my SS is when I took it to the Lake district and even then that only happened a couple of times on a ride.

Fitness aside, are you saying that you could do a 20 mile loop on an SS at the same pace you could do it on a geared bike? (Not a flat loop either, one with uphills & downhills).

The only thing that the SS has going for it are clean lines & weight. But surely you impair the whole principle of what the bike was designed to do? You've taken away it's ability to climb & descend at any descent rate, & handicapped yourself into the bargain.

TSC.

I had to wait for the geared bikes at the top of climbs (and yes they were long and steep) on a recent run, i was the only single speed there, only times i missed gears and felt "handicaped" was when getting going again in technical stuff and the 2 mile road section at the end, 90 % of the time the single speed was great, no friction, no weight, no crunching or nasty noises.

You need to be fit to enjoy a single speed though

 

[hoegaardenadds1]

no you dont have to be fit. single speed makes sense for a commuter, especially when its your only form of transport.

 

[jimihendrix]

no you dont have to be fit. single speed makes sense for a commuter, especially when its your only form of transport.

I'd agree, wasn't thinking about commuting though, was thinking about general offroad stuff.

 

[stevek]

SS's are great, geared bikes too, there's room for all of us quirky folk out there without 'dissing' each others riding preferences. If you don't get it then perhaps try it before nay saying. There are those who try it and never look back and of course there are those that just don't get on with it. Each to their own.

If you're strong and fit you'll be used to going for it on the hills and not twiddling away in the granny gear. Usually you'll be at the top before the geared guys.

Slow on descents? well, hardly any. My top speed on my geared XC bike down one of my favourite hills is 49.9 mph (just couldn't spin any faster to drive the back wheel that extra 0.1 mph!) I've managed over 46 mph on the ss going down the same hill (36:16 ratio).

They're cleaner looking, lighter (usually) and simpler than geared bikes, pretty easy to maintain too.

 

[Stick Legs]

Dragging the debate back from the SS vs Geared debate...

... I have racked my brains for the worst products and to be honest my first MTB was a Shogun TrailBreaker with 200GS. I upgraded that bike systematically and the parts that disappointed the most were the ones that cost a lot and offered no improvment (and on occasion reduction) in performance.
Subsequently I have tried some trick kit on many bikes and after a few disappointing episodes have pretty much stuck to the stuff the big S produces.

So my controversial addition is anything that sacrifices function for form.

 

[silverclaws]

To me, it was Shimano's M-system brakes

Why do you say that silverclaws? I always thought it was an effective, though maybe not the prettiest, no-nonsense system.

I say that because I spent ages trying to set the things up in the past, I even had Shimano's plastic guage things, but they were always unsatisfactory, even with the correct guage, they to me were just spongy.

Things improved a bit when I fitted Aztec brake pads, but I eventually went back to old way of doing things, cut the M-system off and fitted a straddle cable and hanger arrangement, powerful brakes at last, but a hook underneath the straddle wire just in case, I did not want to be catapulted if the cable broke.

When I had my older Saracen, I had intended then to fit V brakes, as a pal had an avid set, and I was very impressed, a decent brake design at last, but then shortly after that, I lost my bike.

Now, with another Saracen of similar vintage, I again have M-system, but this one is worse, in that the brake cable outer stop is low down by the fork, the amount of travel of the inner cable is miniscule before it hits the stop, I have no faith in that set up, something will be done very soon.

 

[Mr Chicken]

for me it was the proflex 550 a product i was glad to see the back of and the gripshift it used.

just a small note, all you single speed people could prob beat me no trouble, but i cant help feeling like its actually more of a statement to have one gear rather than any other tangible reason. i notice you are enthusiastic explaining how you can keep up/beat etc, someone who uses gears and how only but a few of the toughest climbs were conquered, but dont really elaborate on why you actually have one gear? on a practical side, on some climbs im sure my knees would explode under that sort of pressure whats your secret?

 

[perry]

thats it gripshite ive been thinking since this thread started but everything has a place for someone o matter how dodgy it was but i cant see why people would shift gears with a twist on the bars , ive never been able to ride a bike with them and stay in one gear over anything but smooth pavement . maye if there was some kind of a lockout

ive been using one gear for 15 years , you dont really get much choice with a bmx

back then i had a problem with my right knee , it never was as strong as the left and on a few occasions id happily be walking and it would give up momentarilly so id stumble a bit i remember one instance sat watching telly and i knelt down to put a video in and my knee locked into place :shock: scary shit not being able to straighten your leg for a few moments . i guess over time pushing a big gear up hills ( its always a personal challenge to get up a steeper hill you had to push up in the past ) has given me stronger muscles to support the knee . i seem to have developed into a large gear pusher , when ive had gears ( marketing for you :roll: ) ive always had a 44 tooth chainring and used no larger than an 18tooth on the rear so using only a single front ring was inevitable . i went through a point in time where i kept snapping chains . anyone whos snapped or had a chain drop under load or at speed will know what its like to suddenly lose faith in their bike especially as i enjoyed racing cars from traffic lights so much . using only the 1 gear on a mtb makes more sense to me to keep what made cycling fun to me in the first place and thats the feeling that you are giving it your all . im now having to make a consious effort to gear down and learn to spin a higher rpm but i probably never will stop using too big a gear and pushing it for all its worth . but cycling is a broad spectrum and we are all catered for

so basically its because i want a big bmx to go a bit quickly over rougher ground

 

[The Ken]

2 fingered brake levers - my hands have 4 fingers, it's not like brakes had got much better when they were introduced.

If you want to only use 2 fingers you can, but when the shit hits the fan it's comforting to know all your knuckles are white.

I reckon it was a mtbing yakuza that force shimano to make them.