Worst bit of kit

[rogerzilla]

Continental UltraHamsterSkins. Fitted to replace some Vredestein Fortezzas that had never punctured.

Two punctures in the first fortnight. On examination, they were studded with shards of embedded glass. In the bin they went. Back to Fortezzas.

 

[Globalti]

I've something else to add: Look Leo pedals. Absolute garbage, the clipping in and out worked okay but the bearings were hopeless and within a few hundred miles the top surface and the cleats would wear out and the axle/bearing unit would unscrew itself from the plastic pedal body then the pedal would fall off. I wrote a letter of complaint to the UK distributor (Madison?) and received a patronising reply saying they all used Keos and had no problems with them. GtiJunior and I changed over to SPD-SL and have never had a problem, they are excellent pedals.

 

[Archie_tect]

Has anyone mentioned 'puncture sealing lime green slime' stuff yet. Used it once a few years ago- waste of a good inner tube and valve!

 

[roley poley]

Bottom bracket dynamos would aquaplane on a breath of moisture any where at any time. Glued a strip of emery cloth on to cure but that was a tyre chewing fix till the Never Readys went back on .Oh yeah and while i'm down here U-brakes that mounted under the chain stays facing the dirt and filth of anything you rode your mountain bike through, soon to be left off in shame of bad design

 

[davidphilips]

Strange, I have one on both bikes in the winter, to hold the batteries for my solar storm lights

I can't say they've ever got in the way and are a far better solution than all the other bag types I have tried

Until i was given one never liked them and thought them a waste of space but after putting one on one of my older bikes have found that they have more room than saddle bags and can even hold a mini pump so now same as yourself find them afar better solution than all the other bag types.

 

[Mike_P]

Has anyone mentioned 'puncture sealing lime green slime' stuff yet. Used it once a few years ago- waste of a good inner tube and valve!

Used it once, no problem with the tube and valve but what a performance trying to squeeze it out of the bottle while ensuring the tube stays on the opened up valve
Ended up buying another bottle, why is it not supplied like some glues with a plunger dispenser. And then discovered it on sale in Asda cheaper.

 

[Globalti]

TBH I don't mind dealing with the occasional puncture. It's quick and easy just to put in a new tube and fill it with gas.

 

[Broadside]

I used the wet stuff for a while, it was equally as useless. After just one ride it would go more dry and sticky than any wet lube I've had before (I want my wet lube to last a wee bit longer I switched back to Finishline Ceramic Wet Lube after that.

Not all Finishline products are good though, their never dries out (to seal a hole) sealant has to be right up there with my worst purchase

I would agree with that, the Muc Off dry lube disappears too quick while the wet lube stays too long! They do however sell ebike Ceramic chain lube which I use on my non ebike, it is more expensive but is excellent. It stays on even for a few wet rides but also keeps the chain pretty clean without a build up of crud.

 

[AndyRM]

Unless I've missed it, how have Tannus tyres not been mentioned?

 

[wafter]

As mocked by fate as I usually am when purchasing anything, I can't actually think of anything cycling related I've bought that's been an absolute dead loss (probably because everything gets researched to death beforehand). I've had problems, certainly.. but nothing that's made me want to throw the offending item in the sea. A few things that spring to mind:

- Orange Clockwork 10th Anniversary MTB: A really nice bike but I was too much of a weak nancy to use it as intended, so it just got used for flouncing around the village; collecting chips and damage as 17yr-old me lacked the sympathy I have now. Sold it a while ago; almost regret it but it was a bit small for me anyway.

- My Giant OCR - generally a positive experience although the cack, pitifully short seatpost shim caused its early death through fatigue-cracking of the frame. Also, the bars had reach and drop like Pat Butcher's earrings - something like 120mm and 160mm respectively - no wonder I always had a neck-and-headache the night after a ride!

- My Boardman Team Carbon - Generally an excellent bike IME, although the brakes were shocking out of the box and I live in fear of it's hateful PF30 BB creaking or CFRP steerer tube failing catastrophically after reading a few horror stories on the net..

- Specialised Sirrus - Bought used as a runaround but I never really gelled with the flat bars, while the old cack tyres punctured on every other ride. Sold it to a mate who's put a bit of time into it and uses it frequently.. in retrospect I should probably have done the same..

 

[Dogtrousers]

Unless I've missed it, how have Tannus tyres not been mentioned?

Now's your chance. What did you think of them?

 

[AndyRM]

Now's your chance. What did you think of them?

Expensive, a nightmare to get on the rim and feels like you're riding on a bygone relic, which is what you're doing really.

Best avoided I reckon.

 

[ExpatTyke]

Continental UltraHamsterSkins. Fitted to replace some Vredestein Fortezzas that had never punctured. Two punctures in the first fortnight. On examination, they were studded with shards of embedded glass. In the bin they went. Back to Fortezzas.

Yep, I've tried the Gators. I had three punctures on the way into work one morning (turned out to be a tiny shard of glass embedded between the tread and inner wall so it was undetectable by the roadside, but dug itself into the tube as soon as the bike hit a bump), and went to the bike shop in the village at lunchtime to get a tube.

They talked a good game and sold me a pair of hamster skins (to be honest I probably was moaning about punctures) as well as a tube, assuring me I'd never get another puncture. I put up with them for nearly a month - far and away the most unpleasant and unresponsive tyres I've used. One puncture was all the excuse I needed to take them off the bike, and the bike felt completely transformed with new tyres (cheapo Schwalbe Luganos, which shows just how bad the Gatorskins are).

Oddly enough I replaced the Luganos with Conti Ultrasports on that bike, and they're superb tyres for the money; roll very well, nice ride, and only one puncture in the last year.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

By reputation, the Campagnolo Sport front changer:
http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/components/campag-front-changers.html
I never used one myself but saw a couple of them on bikes that were in use. Apparently, it was almost impossible to use without getting your hand mangled in the chain and chainwheel from time to time. Great marques can have humble beginnings — they are certainly evidence for the value of continued product development.

 

[jay clock]

The triangular frame carrier appeared in the early days of mountain biking when we were actually shouldering bikes to carry them up proper mountains, not like nowadays when "mountain biking" means racing down hills on engineless motor bikes or charging round man-made trails like a hamster in a wheel.

The chain cleaning devices were useless especially as the fluid would dribble into your BB or freehub and wash out the grease.

The white threads appear on all lycra shorts, not only Castelli, when the textile gets abraded or washed too aggressively and the little elastic threads break out of the warp and weft.

I currently have about 10 pairs of varying brands inc Assos, Endura, Planet X and never even heard of this. Several are 10+ years old