Worst mtb ever !!!!!!!!!!!!! The Raleigh Activator II

[velomaniac]

I'll confess my previously owned Saracen and presently owned Giant URT bikes do as you describe Dr.S but you soon get the hang of compensating for that. True its a bit off when you need to adapt your riding style to cope with the bikes failings

OK although Klein is I believe part of the TREK group, I'll class the Mantra as seperate to the Trek Y frames/Gary Fisher Joshua.

Any more, come on there is surely loads of bad design out there after 30 odd years of production

 

[Neil G]

Klein Mantra was a pile of shite. Looked kinda cool but rode so bad. Brake jack was the worst thing- you brake, the front dives and the back end pumped up. Just what you want when decending.

Didn't even look nice, now you say it rides bad then it's the nail in the coffin for that one!

 

[BarneyRubble]

As we seem to have vetoed kirks for being boutique and some like them, how about the gt idrive (1st gen). Never ridden one myself but have seen so so many broken ones, surely this was a bad design?

Failing that, the Raleigh activator. I wouldn't dare ride one of those when new for fear of my personal safety. Didn't they also combine sin on sin and make a rear suspension version - yikes!

Activator yes, but more of a BSO than a real MTB.

GT I-drive - no way! We sold a few and the only one that broke was mine and that was a tiny hairline crack in the rear end. GT gave me a whole new frame (an upgrade) for free. I loved the ride and at the time it was way better on climbs than most of the big manufacturers full sus efforts.

I'm voting for the Klein Mantis as well - a triumph of form over function!

 

[Chris Hughes]

Saracen Raw, anything CBR oh and well anything from a car accessories store. you know all those aweful URT full-sus bikes with triple clamps and 3" high riser bars that weigh more than my car. Evil things!!! :twisted:

 

[velomaniac]

I've put up a poll based on trends so far discussed but I'll edit later if a bigger howler of a bike emerges

 

[mikee]

velo
get specialized stuff from 97 to, well at least 2003 on your poll

"they've managed to manipulate the aluminium on these frames (stumpy)
to a point that it rides like a £50 catalog bike "

quote from a mag test on a stumpy from 2002

 

[Deveron53]

Worst bike I ever owned was a 1994-ish Cannondale M600 with the cantilever rear dropouts. These dropouts were not deep enough to hold a rear axle in after the advent of SPDs. Many a time I did a full sprint launch from the traffic lights churning those SPDs only to find the rear wheel pop out of the dropots and jam solid against the chainstays.

Also, the paint fell off in big chunks.

Plus, they amplified every click and clunk and sounded as if they were about to crumple. Flicking the downtube gave a worrying 'clunk' like an empty coke can.

I cheered when someone nicked it.

Although my replacement bike was a 1st gen Raleigh Torus titanium which snapped twice.

 

[tintin40]

I wanted to vote for all of them. So picked this Raleigh Activator II

 

[velomaniac]

Guys, its what individual bike is the worst design

All Spesh bikes from 1997 to 2003 is a bit vague and suggests a dislike of an entire brand which in the case of Specialized seems most unlikely.

Wheels coming loose as you crank hard is definitely a design flaw though :shock: Anyone else agree with the Dale M600 opinion ?

 

[cce]

Wheels coming loose as you crank hard is definitely a design flaw though :shock: Anyone else agree with the Dale M600 opinion ?

3.0 series cannondales are terrible.