what was something you used to think was crap but now you quite like it?

[greencat]

Proper thumbshifters. First mountain bike was rapidfire, didn‘t get thumbikes until 20yrs later!

I'm the reverse. My first encounter was with the first generation rapidfire which failed after about 3 months. I replaced with thumbshifters on every bike since and stuck with them until about 2013 when I realised they had long ago fixed the reliability problems.

 

[Bike Hoarder]

Suntour...

Maybe cause I was a sheep, ' gotta be shimano mate', or just never had the chance to experience the quality of it in comparison to shimano.

 

[vtwinvince]

I hated sweet potatoes as a kid, now I love them.

 

[doctor-bond]

Pie plates.

 

[Prodigal Son]

29ers. Can´t wait to build me one.

 

[The History Man]

Lycra

 

[ishaw]

1x. Back in the day it was the preserve of low end bikes. Pressed tin chainsets that somehow managed to weigh a ton despite their fragility.

I wanted a 10 speed (2x5) bine for a birthday present and my parents could only afford a 5 speed.

Now I quite like the 1x.

I'd also add rigid forks into the mix. When suspension became a thing, you had to have it. My first were Rockshox quadra 10s, then I 5hink 20s (yellow). Loved the upgrade.

I still like suspension, but also rekindled the joy,, simplicity and direct feel of a rigid fork.

+1 for amber walls too. Hated the look, old fogie tyres again on bsos like appollos and emelles, couldn't wait to replace with black walls. Now I've got many tan walls and liking the look.

Last up, flat pedals. Waited a very long time before moving to sods, was an instant convert and wondered why I resisted for so long. After 4 knee operations, I'm fairly sure some were a result of the unclipping motion from spds, I went back to flats and proper flat shoes. Feels like I'm clipped in but I'm not.

 

[pete_mcc]

I never had a Shimano bike back in the day, but all my modern stuff is Shimano. Maybe I’ve got to a point in life where looks don’t matter (both personally and with bikes) and I just focus on function.
I had Suntour bikes, Campa bikes, CNC American groupset bikes and all looked the biz but were so bad compared to equivalent Shimano stuff. Compare M900 XTR to Campa Record OR, Record is like jewellery but is just so, well, Italian about everything. Shimano all the way

 

[grey-beard]

Retro bikes.
Obviously when I was younger, I wanted the latest thing, old stuff was crap, because it was old.

 

[905]

I really can't think of anything bike-wise, so I'm going to say my hometown. Couldn't wait to escape - left the day I turned 18. It just seemed so boring and dead end (bonus: I grew up on a dead end street). Now when I visit I see it has most of what I need. It's also quiet but not too quiet, has about the right population for an interesting mix of people, and surprisingly for being in the rust belt, has been steadily on the up for years; it seemed on the down when I left...