Anyone bought a bike and not got on with it?

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OP
OP
fossala

fossala

Guru
Location
Cornwall
Foss
if you plan to get rid of it pm with dets I'd like this please
OK, will do. It wont be for a month though. Got to buy a headset and swap over the parts first. Would you be interested in the stem/bars/seatpost as I'm thinking about getting some ritchey classics for the croix de fer.
 

biggs682

Itching to get back on my bike's
Location
Northamptonshire
just been and picked up a 1980 Raleigh Equipe original owner rode it twice covered 3.5 miles and left it in in garage till today when i walked to pick it up and rode it 1.5 miles home , when asked why he never rode it again all i was told not really sure .
 

shouldbeinbed

Rollin' along
Location
Manchester way
I'm about to admit to folding bike heresy, but I can't love Brompton's. I've tried, I've borrowed , I've hired but I just don't get the hoopla about the ride (the fold, yes, great design although faffy hinges & clamps) but its not a patch on my Birdy as an all round fun place to be.
 
I have only once bought a bike without riding it first... And in that case I knew the handling, geometry and riding position from other models

The simple answer is not to buy without riding
 
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compo

Veteran
Location
Harlow
I have never really been at one with my Trek FX 7.2. There is nothing actually wrong with the bike. It goes OK, is comfortable enough and does all it says on the tin, but it just isn't right and I don't know why. My previous hybrid was an entry level Ridgeback Adventure. Quill stem, cheapy SIS gears with thumbshifters and a steel frame. £30 from a bootsale. I did thousands of miles on that old thing and it had that indefinable "rightness". I wish I had kept it and spent a few quid on doing it up properly rather than buying the new Trek.
 

vigomag

Über Member
After 2 happy yrs on my Boardman comp hybrid I decided that I wanted a road bike, being a short a**e I was limited to what bike I could get and eventually purchased a merlin malt 48cm ,after reading plenty of reviews on bikes . After 3 times on the bike I just cannot get away with the riding postion/gear change/and the tetchiness of the bike, yes the bike is quicker but there is no enjoyment on riding it. The way I feel it will no boubt soon be appearing on a well knowing auction site!
 
OP
OP
fossala

fossala

Guru
Location
Cornwall
Try flogging it on here first.

Update to the thread. The new build is underway, croix de fer. I'll post specs/pictures when finished but I've gone a bit extravagant on the odd item...
 

P.H

Über Member
I'm struggling to find my Audax bike, I know precisely what I want it to do and how I want it to feel, but can't get it right. The same set of components and wheels are about to be fitted to their third frameset in six years, in that time I've done far more Audax on either my Hewitt tourer or Rohloff hybrid. First frame was a Kenisis Racelight, great blast around for 20 - 30 miles I found myself fidgety on distances longer than that, not uncomfortable, just not perfectly comfortable either. Second frame was a Planet X Ti Sportive, bit of an impulse buy in a one day sale, and a mistake, great frame for what it was designed for, fast rides on good roads. But lack of clearance made it impossible to fit a big enough tyres to make it suitable for the sort of rides I want it for. Luckily because it was such a bargain I got almost all my money back. Third frame, still being built up, a SOMA ES, it ticks all the right boxes, but only time will tell.
I don't know what it is about this elusive third bike, my other two were easy to choose and are keepers, maybe I'm only meant to have two.
 

P.H

Über Member
I have only once bought a bike without riding it first... And in that case I knew the handling, geometry and riding position from other models

The simple answer is not to buy without riding
Hmmm. I'm not so sure. I takes me a few thousand miles to decide if I like a bike or not, There is a possibility that the bike that will appeal on a test ride is the one that feels most familiar, rather than the one that would be best in the long run.
 
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