Whats the worst bike you've brought

[jimboalee]

Hmm none have been bad. The first bike I bought was when I was 16 with my first pay - it was a Raleigh Road Ace - 531c frame, Shimano 600 (ultegra) - the only bad thing, it was slightly too big - 2cm, but that's it. The cranks, seat pin and brake callipers are still going fine on my Ribble, 23 years later.....

2cm too big! It wasn't from the same shop I was sold a Pug 531 2cm too big?

Was it a 53/43 set with a 13 - 23 six speed? For a 20lb bike? Did you treat it to a 39 ring?

 

[TheDoctor]

Probably a Deawoo Shuttle. Although I actually quite liked it.

Or the 15-speed dual-sus BSO I got from a ex-colleague for nothing, and I still felt ripped off.
Although I only kept it for a week.

 

[fossyant]

2cm too big! It wasn't from the same shop I was sold a Pug 531 2cm too big?

Was it a 53/43 set with a 13 - 23 six speed? For a 20lb bike? Did you treat it to a 39 ring?

52 x 42 and a six speed 13-21. No 39 until a couple of years ago.... and still use a 21....

And it was a Raleigh dealer that sold it too big...

 

[jimboalee]

52 x 42 and a six speed 13-21. No 39 until a couple of years ago.... and still use a 21....

And it was a Raleigh dealer that sold it too big...

54" lowest gear. Those were the days

Did it weigh less than 20 lb?

That's how you build big legs

 

[fossyant]

54" lowest gear. Those were the days

Did it weigh less than 20 lb?

That's how you build big legs

Yeh - about 9kg's - not bad - same weight as my Ribble and Herety now (including pedals of course....knock 400 grams off for the sans pedal weight)

Only got a 50" bottom now

 

[stumpy]

I brought a Scott Octane MTB when I was a bit tipsy once. It weighed more than most of the hills I tried it on and you had to hit it with a sledge hammer to get the suspension to work. All good though now as it got nicked (obviously by the worlds strongest bike thief!!!) and I got a shiny new light weight MTB instead

 

[yorkshiregoth]

Something by Emmelle. Weighed as much as a small car.

 

[phil120867]

http://www.sterlinghouse.co.uk/prodlist.php?catid=48&curcatgrp=1

I bought an MTB from this lot a number of years ago and got a ladies one free all for about £60. I realised that they were made from pig iron by young kids in China. I felt guilty about buying it and it lay in the garage for a long time until I needed to pay a taxi driver for an early morning taxi ride back from a heavy session. I did try to ride it a few times but I couldn't lift it. My wif still uses the other one for short trips (she's never had a bike before).

I also bought a 'bankrupt' frame off ebay a few years ago and nothing 'normal' ever fitted it so I had to buy a series of bankrupt parts to get it built up. And guess what, it was too heavy to ride and still sits in the shed.

Oh, and something from Thomson in the 80's that was more of a steam roller than a bike.
Now I don't drink and my bike collection is getting better!

 

[marooncat]

Actually the bike I have got at the moment, bought it last summer (before I found here) and did not really have a clue what I was spending my money on.

However nothing actually wrong with it, just to heavy etc so I can not justify replacing it till it actually falls to bits (or my work does a CTW scheme)

 

[cheadle hulme]

Raleigh Mustang MTB. The original black and white ones with a mustang sticker on the top tube. I think it was their first foray into the off road market and was an absolute pile of ***k

Edit: Like this one!http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Raleigh-Musta...temQQimsxZ20090427?IMSfp=TL090427134003r24679

Wonder what its been doing all these years

 

[bianchi1]

An omega. When i say brought, more like I left £1000 deposit followed up by 8 months of bull sh*t then a photo sent by e mail. Thats as close as i got!

 

[jimboalee]

I've just bought a Batavus ladies 'step-through'.
53cm frame size and weighs in at 30lb.

FIVE speed freewheel of 14 - 24 coupled to a 44 tooth single chainring.

With a 50" lowest ( how many hills are there in Holland? ), how on Earth is a beginner lady going to get this up a hill?

This is probably why I found it on the Tat Man's truck, complete and usable.

 

[MadoneRider1991]

appollo outrage

indeed it was an outrage lol

 

[beanzontoast]

I don't think any bike I've had stands out as the worst as a whole entity - it's more a component thing. Where the tyres were letting me down, I changed them. Where the frame seemed a bit heavy, I compensated by using lighter panniers. Improved brakes, better lights, replacing worn bb's - all these things have turned some of my original purchases into very functional bikes.

They each have quirks and I'm still looking for the perfect bike purchase , but a lot can be done by upgrading components.

 

[froze]

My worst bike was a Ridley Scandium bike, it started out feeling like I was riding on bricks, but what made it worse than any other bike I had was about a year and half and 8,000 miles into riding it I noticed a crack on the top of the headtube coming down from under the headset about an inch. The dealer, and myself went around and around with Ridley, and all Ridley would say was that it failed due to fatigue?! So no warranty coverage for me. A lawyer I spoke to said it wouldn't be worth the cost of his time vs buying another frame to pursue a case against them. I never bought another Scandium bike, and I will never buy another Ridley bike.

I found out over the years that a lot of bike companies get out of their warranty contracts by blaming fatigue, ok, but not after 18 or so months and 8,000 miles!!!