The worst bike ever made or that you have owned

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Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
It was a Tensor 5-speed that my dad bought mail order from an ad in the Daily Mirror.

It wasn't bad though- I loved it, rode it around all over the place. Did my first longish rides on it. They are well-known for being terrible but mine kept going, no fork legs falling out or anything like that!

So- even my worst bike was excellent.

View attachment 612589

Looks like Dunstable Downs. Though I’m sure it’s not.
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford


Conor used to regularly ride the same evening 10 as me a good few years back, interesting to see what he's up to now.
 
OP
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johnnyb47

johnnyb47

Guru
Location
Wales
When I was a teenager BMX bikes were all the rage. I never was interested in them and much preferred my Peugeot road bike but that's another story. Any self respecting BMX, er back in its day wouldn't be seen dead on anything else unless if it was a Raleigh Burner or a Mongoose. Unfortunately not all kids were blessed with rich parents, and the lad in particular was living in hard times. I remember his mum. She was a lovely person, and worked hard on low pay wages scrimping by. Obviously the lad was besotted in wanting a BMX, but it was just out of his mums reach to afford one.
One day though his dream came true. His mum managed scrimp enough money to buy one, but it wasn't a Raleigh burner or the likes. It was called a Baur (i think that's how it spelt) , and it was truly awful quality. Everything was made of cheese on this bike and he was just not accepted by the group for his inferior bike. I really felt sorry for him being treated like the laughing stock by these cruel kids. Never the less he was proud of his bike and looked after it, but as the quality was awful it didn't take long before it fell apart.. Sometimes i still see him about, and he's still a keen cyclist who loves the old "school" Road bikes like me.
 

Spiderweb

Not So Special One
Location
North Yorkshire
612594

This was an eBay buy for £26 several years ago, I rode it once, it was awful so it sat in the garage for years. I cleaned it up and sold it on eBay during lockdown for £96!
 
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simongt

Guru
Location
Norwich
The dad of a school pal of mine bought him and his younger brother a Sun Snipe Plus each in around 1967. I was green with envy as I'd recently 'inherited' my older brother's Rudge Clubman with a four speed SA. I was perfectly happy with it but seeing my pal with a new ten speed road bike, it was just green cheese - ! :laugh:
 
Location
Cheshire
Bit of a weird one this, it 'should' have been a great bike but i just never got on with it, Synapse Carbon Ultegra from 10 years ago.
612603

I really enjoyed the test ride, but after a few months it really narked me off. I think the seat stays were to blame. When you put your foot down it had a boggy feel to the back end almost felt like a full suss MTB. Shifted it on. Lesson learnt.
 

DCLane

Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
I posted previously in the thread a Viking Targa. But I'll go with this instead which came my way after the Viking:

It was free by the side of a road, presumably because the previous owner had given up. Wheels were bent, brakes didn't work, saddle was painful, bottom bracket wobbled, cranks were creaky and the gears had a mind of their own.

And that's despite what appeared to be no use. Everything was pristine.

corona.jpg


I sold it on eBay to someone for a lad's beer weekend away for £20.
 

TheDoctor

Europe Endless
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
Here in east anglia, any bike sold by Cycle King
Lordy. I got a bike from them when I was about 18. 15 speed Santana MTB, friction thumbshifters and canti brakes. Had its own gravitational field and quite possibly an Oort cloud. Could carry 36 liters of beer and 6 bottles of wine, as long as you weren't fussy about the handling. Or acceleration. Or braking, for that matter. I'll swear the Hovercraft was sitting wonky on the way back from Calais.
 

fatjel

Veteran
Location
West Wales
2014 Giant Defy 3 with Ali frame bought online
Day one left hand pedal worked itself loose and wrecked the thread on the crank arm . Didn’t want to wait so bought a new crankset .

Day Three gears jumping about so hammered the mech hanger straight and it broke . Bought new one as it was my fault ( I fitted the pedals too

Day four and five punctures bought new tyres

First 200km ride after 100km couldn’t use left hand shifter

First 300km ride it felt like all my joints had been hit with a hammer.

the following week bb started squeaking and two spokes broke on the back wheel

Still have it

It’s for sale if anyone’s interested
 
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