Getting a few things off my mountain biking chest.
Sometimes it’s good to moan. It can help get rid of frustrations. A problem shared is a problem halved and all that. Clear the air and move on.
With that in mind, these are the 10 main things that have been bugging me with bikes for the past few years.
Semi-lightheartedly, here goes nothing…
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Carbon (apart from rims)
Let’s kick things off with a biggie. Aside from the ecological argument (that I don’t want to get sidetracked by), I just don’t think carbon is worth the money. The amount of extra £-pounds you have to spend to save one or two lb-pounds is faintly outrageous. Arguably most of that weight saving is due to the bike industry seemingly having given up on even trying to make metal bikes light(er), especially North American brands. And a lot of the time I think it’s a worse performing material than metal. The one exception is wheel rims. Carbon rims can be the best rims available. Still loads of money, mind.
High-set helmet peaks
I’m going to pin this one on Specialized. Although other brands are hopping on board this aesthetic, I think Spesh was the first to bring out helmets with peaks set bizarrely far-too-high. High to the point of actually being pointless. Even if you don’t live anywhere that sunny, these high peaks now make dusk rides an exercise in squinting and, quite frankly, dangerous.
Thru-headset anything
Yep, the classic. People may be bored of moaning about thru-headset cable routing but we need to keep up the pressure. Not only does it add complexity and cost to routing service jobs, it doesn’t even look better than regular routing. It’s a disease that’s drifted over from dropbar bikes and it can drift off back there thanks.
Torx bolts
Is it just me, or are torx bolts more prone to rounding out than Allen key bolts? Especially on items that aren’t disc rotor bolts. Any test bike from torx-tastic Scott, for example, usually ends up heading back post-test period with all of the torx bolts looking scratty and mashed. Hex FTW.
Disc mounts on chainstays
Am not exactly sure if brands are putting calipers on the chain stay for suspension-v-braking reasons but I am sure that such a location makes it much more difficult to get at the caliper mount bolts, especially with a multi-tool. And as for the introduction of the patently awful flat-mount standard coming in from roadie world… No. Just no. Can’t we just bring back I.S.? That was clearly superior.
Tokenistic adjustments
One reason why I don’t pick on brands that don’t offer proportional chainstays or flipchips, is because the brands that do offer these things very rarely do it to a sufficient degree. 11mm difference in chain stay length between Small and XX-Large? 0.5° change in geometry via a flipchip? Hardly worth it. If you’re going to market sizing/adjustments, at least make it justifiable.
Curvy rates
Whether this is suspension frame leverage or air springs, I rarely get along with curves that aren’t consistent. I can get them to function okay but in a world where most riders (understandably) don’t want to spend hours and hours setting up a pushbike, these curves are often a recipe for extremely poor bike setup and thus handling. The marketing idea of ‘supple at sag, rampy at the end’ is not what a lot of riders end up sat on.
Silicone grippers
Helmets. Knee pads. Liner shorts. Any of these that have silicone grippers frequently get on my wick. Sometime literally. Essentially using hot glue to keep cycling apparel in place. Ugh.
Car industry aping
All these ‘Works’ bikes. Or eebs with stronger motors in the top tier models. Feels very Beemer M Series. Naff.
And finally…
The tenth slot is open to you. Add your suggestions below!
Was about to give a hearty “amen" to that, but then realised you might be saying something different to what I thought you were saying…
Anyway, the DTSwiss warranty on carbon rims is indeed a jokeÂ
Agreed, saddle rail clamps are intensely frustrating.
My 2p: If you can’t design internally routed cables without them rattling, then don’t bother.
Will nobody think of us hamfisted gibbons? I much prefer Allen bolts, but then I’m a klutz with cheap tools.Â
… on the other hand I always use Pesta valves, and I’ve never yet bent one.Â
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Bikes are brilliant. Bikes today are brillianter than bikes from even a few years ago. Ebikes in particular are getting brillianter and brillianter.
I’d like the bike industry to carry on doing what it’s doing please, because as far as I can see it’s doing a brilliant job.
Needing to buy an extra shed for tools. Because there is a ridiculously diverse set of tools needed for essentially the same part and sometimes the same part and manufacturer. It’s annoying!Â
It’s a design that made sense from 1890 to 1990, but as soon as rims grew wider than 21mm it really should have been ditched.
The trouble with arguing " I’ve never yet bent one" is that when you do, it’ll be when you get a puncture miles from anywhere and because you were so sure of your own superiority in not bending them, you probably didn’t take a spare.
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This reminded me of a Youtube review of a Furch guitar. (A Furch Yellow G-CR* iirc). The reviewer complained that he couldn’t understand Furch’s naming convention. The models range, from bottom to top, Violet, Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Rainbow. Fairly straightforward if you know your rainbow, I’d have thought, and much nicer than Furch 1,2,3, 4** , or Furch Good, Better, Best.Â
In terms of Fox, how difficult is it remember that factory is Best, Elite, is Almost Best, and then, if you really need to remember this stuff, you have two models to memorise?
*G-CR is Grand Auditorium (the size), Cedar and Rosewood (the woods that it’s built out of.) Extremely easy to work out. D-CM would be Dreadnought, Cedar, Mahogany, etc.
** Is 1 the best or worst?
On the other hand I always use Presta valves and have bent them, snapped them, seized them up, ripped the head off in a pump. My main bike currently has a slightly bent and leaking valve. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d replace it, but you know, it takes the occasional pump up and all is fine.Â
I’ve broken way more carbon frames than carbon rims… and all four of my current bikes have carbon rims, they are ruddy ace, and direct from Ch they are not even expensive anymore. My previous FS frame to my current carbon one was Alu… the Alu one was lighter for a similar design and much nicer to ride as the carbon one is overbuilt and is so stiff it has the feel of riding a girder.
Convince me I’m wrong.
So many things many already stated
one frame to do everything from short travel to enduro is clearly going to be so compromised to be useless
6mm front axle 5mm rear
pretending to be green. There is nothing green about riding bikes in the woods for fun
why are bikes getting so heavy, do bike companies not employ engineers anymoreÂ
SRAM first generation of any product will be bobbins as thy are still test product
The number of bikes that get given to YouTubers that the customer will be f7nding and then anyone expecting us to think they are independent and no5 just part of the marketing strategy
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‘.. the Alu one was lighter for a similar design and much nicer to ride as the carbon one is overbuilt and is so stiff it has the feel of riding a girder.’
That is the exact opposite of my experience with hardtails. It is not possible to build a compliant Al seatstay so they’re a harsh ride and that’s that
I’d definitely like to see a move away from Presta valves for tubeless.
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Nothing else really bothers me that much as it’s easy to avoid anything I don’t like.
Proprietary accessories.
Now I don’t necessarily mind proprietary stuff but if you are selling a bike that ONLY accepts your design of computer mount, light mount, mudguard, rack etc, have the decency to actually supply these parts with the bike.Â
Or have them as tickbox add-ons at point of sale but critically, make sure they’re in stock!
It’s no good selling a bike but then having half the stuff you actually need to ride it properly as not in stock.
Making bikes with too low stack.Â
i think one of the issues is that it’s easier to use the wrong size tool on a torx. The size down will usually work but wrecking the bolt. And I find it harder to muster the correct sized by eye than hex.Â
anyway. I’m with Ben. Worst of all is manufacturers who mix the types on the same partÂ
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just batteries on everythingÂ
maybe its a gripe about consumerism more widely, im not being a velopurist or anything, shifting, droppers, motors! it all just seems so wasteful, phones, great, lights, fine even a gps, but the financial and environmental costs just seem nuts
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and breath
Can I go for “stop talking about off-road gravel bike design" even though this is an MTB site? It’s a pro-MTB post. A drop bar bike is not an optimised off-road bike. Stop promising something that can’t be done. It’s a mixed-terrain bike, CX, whatever. It might go off-road without falling apart but if it’s got drop bars and isn’t a bad road bike, as a gravel bike should have/be, it’s just never going to be a great off-road bike.
All the things that promise better off-road performance make it worse on road, that’s just the differences between the 2 opposites of riding terrain/fit/handling. If it has drop bars, flared or not, it should be because drops are for the benefit of road riding (or for smooth, fast gravel tracks).
If you want a good off-road bike and you’re going to be on varying off-road terrian most of the time – get an MTB/ATB.PS I love gravel bikes, don’t get me wrong. I just think the bike industry and some brands sell people a false promise.
I suggest those stick on +2 magnifying things for the bottom half of your riding glasses so you can see what you’re doing when making repairs out on the trail. 🙂
Similar to Gowerboy, cutting the steerer short on display bikes in shops. Just leave the thing uncut till someone buys it.
Trying to sell me bikes with SRAM on, I won’t buy it unless it’s discounted enough to replace the group with Shimano when the SRAM gets put in the bin at a year old. On a similar theme: why can’t they agree on a cassette body standard like they did for everything up to 11s? And would wheel manufacturers kindly make both types of cassette body available after market for more than a few months.
But on the whole I agree with Kramer, current bikes are ace, theough the ones with cables/hoses sprouting from the stem a little less so..
Quoting bike weights without pedals. It would more useful to quote bike weight without tyres. They have much more influence on all up weight.Â
…is there any point in quoting bike weights at all now!? Most of them weigh more than a Honda 90 Stepthrough anyway! 🤣
It was different when we were all trying to get to 20lbs or under!