What are your 3 biggest cycle related purchase regrets?

[L Q]

Sports direct cycle clothing when I got back in the saddle two years ago, it's cheap for a reason.

Turbo trainer.

Aluminium water bottles, I just hate them.

 

[John the Monkey]

1) Every £5 mini pump I ever bought. Useless, and I should have sprung for the (then) £10 Specialized Airtool Road on day one.

2) The Pro-Logo Nago PAS saddle. The single least comfortable "contact point" I've ever endured. Not nice after 5 miles, and has you on the point of begging for the merciful release of oblivion by 30 miles.

3) "Seconds" shorts from an already cheap supplier. The pad in them wasn't uncomforatable, so much as it was abrasive.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

A Merida Speeder bike bought years ago, really uncomfortable and quite pricey for what you get.
Marathon+ tyres, like cycling through treacle.
Padded lycra: hate the feeling of it, like having central heating down below

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Schwalbe Marathon tyres for the hybrid - terrible things, lasted a fortnight before being replaced with something that didn't feel like cycling through treacle and that had some grip in the wet.

A Bike Hut mini pump from Halfords that was virtually useless and almost left me stranded.

Not my purchase, but not talking Mrs ND out of buying an Apollo Elyse. She liked the look of it in the shop but I had my doubts that it would be a pile of sh*te from the outset, which it was. Ridden four times and consigned to the back of the shed.

A Merida Speeder bike bought years ago, really uncomfortable and quite pricey for what you get.
Marathon+ tyres, like cycling through treacle.
Padded lycra: hate the feeling of it, like having central heating down below

Marathon Plus nearly made it into my top 3 best purchases

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Marathon Plus nearly made it into my top 3 best purchases

I much prefer Marathons Original Greenguard, but regarding tyres, only Schwalbe will do!
Forgot my other bad purchase: a £70 Abus helmet that dented by merely dropping from handlebar height.

 

[StuAff]

1. Park Tools chain cleaner. Excellent at derailing the chain and filling up with gunk. For cleaning the chain, manual methods are so much better.
2. Power Grips. Couldn't get on with them at all. Switched to SPDs.
3. Planet X neoprene overshoes. Failed to cope with November 2009 FNRttC deluge, though to be fair doubt anything would. Bought a pair of Shimano MW80s (rather more expensive, natch) the following year and they're still going strong. Overshoes still in the cupboard.

 

[mjr]

Specialized clothing is decent, especially the gloves.
There are just many more interesting bikes out there in my experience

There's more interesting bikes, more interesting clothing, better tyres and better components from less evil companies.

 

[ColinJ]

They are all actually NON-purchase regrets:

• NOT purchasing a bus ticket. (That is instead of riding to school, the day that my bike was stolen from the school bike shed.)
• NOT buying a decent lock for my bike. (I think I probably just used a very cheap lock on it.)
• NOT buying a replacement bike with the insurance payout. (I bought a hifi system instead. It was 20 years before I bought another bike.)

 

[mickle]

Also: Park chain bath. And WTB saddle.

 

[Hyslop]

Mavic Ykksion tyres-like riding through concrete.
Mavic helmet-uncomfortable,retaining strap slips when in use.
Pearl Izumi Softshell-ineffective in lower temperatures.

 

[I like Skol]

View attachment 155242 .

Crikey mickle! I had to check this was the regrets thread when I saw that picture. Surely that bike features in the good thread, it must have had the girls swarming to you like bees round honey. I bet on a sunny day when you rolled into town on that, sporting your Oakley shades and lightly splattered in mud even the guys fancied you! Oh wait, it's not a Klein..... You loser

 

[SAB]

Anything from eBay. - parts don't fit, quality so poor you don't want to use them
Anything from Halfords. -same low quality as eBay stuff but a bit more expensive and a bigger disappointment.

I've learnt just suck up the cost the first time, and there won't be a second.

 

[Low Gear Guy]

Buying a bottle dynamo. I'm now waiting for the front wheel to wear out to justify a hub unit.

 

[Threevok]

Purchasing bikes purely on paint scheme and looks - which resulted in me...
a) buying a bike from Halfrauds that weighed a ton, fell to bits almost instantly and nearly ended my return to cycling.
b) buying a full suspension (along with the unnecessary weight and servicing expense) when I clearly didn't need one for what I do. Twas nice though

Purchasing (and using) components without checking manufacturers guidelines, that is, until I have broken them - usually just as the warranty runs out too...
e.g - severely cracking the rim of my rear Mavic Cross-One wheel after one year, only to find that my combined weight and equipment - far exceeded the max

Purchasing items with glowing reviews - only to find them totally pants...
e.g - Conti Town & Country tyres - Claimed to be the best MTB commute tyre and used worldwide by police forces, due to their rugged design and superior puncture performance. Reality - 3 commutes and 7 punctures later - BIN.

 

[mjr]

Anything from eBay. - parts don't fit, quality so poor you don't want to use them.

EBay's just the auctioneer. Still need to look at who's selling. Some good, some poor.