[Closed] Bikes you bought and ended up hating.....

I hate Northwind's Ellsworth just from looking at that picture of it. That is GRIM 😯

Intense Tracer Mk1. Bought the frame whilst I was sidelined with a broken clavicle, and once I'd built it up it was handling nightmare.

Despite much research, advise, tuning, fettling with bearings & shock mounts etc, and a change of shock, it felt like a wallowing mess.

🙁

Northwind - Member
This godawful piece of shit

You know when a bike just looks "right"? Not that.

Interesting thread this. Some very popular bikes - Soul, 456ti, Five, etc are getting mentions. Would love to know what people have loved compared to what they hated.

One thing I notice is how some folks ride the back of a bike, and some ride the front - look at the tyre setup on Martin Maes' bike in this [url= http://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ews-finale-pro-bikes-martin-maes-gt-sanction-pro/ ]link[/url] for example, and Danny Hart had similar for that Champery run - so what one rider finds to be a nice, compliant rear end is a back breaker or a noodly mess to another.

another vote for the cotic roadrat - i still use it as a bad weather commuter, but I agree the flexy frame, sliding dropouts/mudgaurd/rack issues make me want to smash it to bits sometimes.

Also the Krampus - really wanted to love it, but somehow to get it set up for me everything was a bodge. Rear wheel never really fitted straight, and would slide in the dropouts under heavy braking, it steered way worse than a 29er (slow and massive turning circle), and the death knell was the knards. Like riding slicks on ice. Useless.

Both those bikes have made me allergic to anything steel, and esp with sliding dropouts. they really do make getting a rear wheel out complete COCKBAGS!

ah, thats better! 🙂

Scandal - but only because I had a size too small and it was cramped. Extra long stem fixed it, but then it felt no better than a mid-90's hardtail. Lesson learnt - don't rely on manufacturers size charts.

On the other hand -inbreds - ace! Can't believe all the hate. Just build them light and singlespeed then they whip along just fine.

Interesting to see a few mention the tricross - I love mine (singlecross). But I use it as a commuter, and it has the perfect qualities for that, i.e. efficient, reliable, handles random detours and heavy loads and nothing too exciting on a monday morning.

Specialized tricross. Always felt slightly short, and the forks juddered horrendously under braking. Which Specialized didn't see as an issue, so I spent the 2 years I commuted on it doing 90% of my braking with the rear brake only. When my wife spilt paint removed on its forks I scrapped the whole thing.

Ti456 (Lynskey)..loved it right up to the point the back end fell off mid-ride...hate developed during each step back home.

another vote for the Tricross. I still have mine, I use it as a commuter and a tourer. I think the alu is way too soft, i'm forever stripping various threaded parts on it. It really ticks me off. It also has a stupid headset size, which is impossible to find over here. But as a commuter, it's decent and it has taken a battering. As a tourer, i can take to all sorts of places and if it gets nicked, it isn't the end of the world (unlike losing a custom made thing).

Also, not happy with my liteville atm. It keeps trying to put me in hospital.

odd - having just got a dialled PA i instantly thought - ahh crap. it was long and pitched me over teh front and didnt go around corners. however since i`ve swapped a few bits around, got a shorter stem and wider bars, inline post, i really like it. so much so the FS is gathering dust.

I had a dmr exalt that i grew to hate. just too heavy.

Schweiz - you sure it isn't a faulty shock? I have an XL Sultan and it pedals superbly, barely a hint of bob

Giant XTC full suss - I thought it was great until I test rode some decent full-sussers, then couldn't wait to get rid of it. The shock setup was never right for me, and it made the Sub-5 that replaced it feel like the best bike ever...

There is something about the looks of Lapierre bikes which I don't like. I owned an Orange 5 which thankfully got stolen.

Don't have any as i've liked every bike i've ever owned.

Out of my current bikes i have...

Hated my 456 summer season. Hated it. Really really hated it.

I like mine.

Stumpjumper Evo 26" worst

I really, really like mine.

1997 Pro-Flex Animal.

That reminds me. A 1996 Proflex Xp-X. Elastomer sprung front and rear suspension, with a Girvin Vector fork that wouldn't move unless launching off a cliff, plus Magura hydraulic rim brakes that were considerably less powerful than ordinary cantilevers, oh, and you had to buy an upgrade for them so you could take the wheel out without deflating the tyre. I upgraded the rear shock with a coil spring - the suspension then worked but pogoed over every tiny ripple. The only good thing about it was the Z3 Bombers I fitted.

Orange 5.I really tried to like it for a year but admitted defeat and sold it.

On One Whippet - stiff in the wrong places (kicks you up the arse), flexy in the wrong places (noodles a fair bit).

I love my rigid SS Whippet! It has a Ti seatpost which seems to work better than the one supplied.

For me it would have to be my very first "proper" MTB. A Claud Butler Cape Wrath. Spent £500 on it which was a lot of money to me at the time. Bought it from a bike shop who happily sold me a frame 3 sizes too big for me. Spec was brilliant for the cost though. Full Deore transmission, Hayes hydraulic brakes and branded finishing kit.

Spent a load of money on it for new brakes, wheels, and a few bits and bobs in an effort to get it to run better. Eventually realised I was polishing a turd and moved it on. Not a bad sell at £150 after nearly 6 years of ownership!

Guy who bought it was using it as a donor bike for his son.

2005 Kona Coiler - Just never felt right and had the worst Hayes 9 brakes ever made, also it was next to useless uphill.

So, the current top most hated bike are...
[IMG] [/IMG]

(the next have only got 1 or 2 votes)

2007 orange P7 was ace. Sold frame to buy the latest/last reincarnation of the P7, probably the 2010 model. Swapped all the bits over and it was the slowest, heaviest pile of garbage I've owned

Interesting to see the comments on horizontal drop outs. It seems you can't buy a hardtail these days without either these or some awful looking adjustable drop out just to keep a minority of beardy single speeders happy.

I had a 2008 Meta 5 which I loved and found it was made for me. The inevitable happened and it was replaced by a 2010 frame. The bike was never the same after. 🙁

Interesting thread this. Some very popular bikes - Soul, 456ti, Five, etc are getting mentions. Would love to know what people have loved compared to what they hated.

I sold an old 853 Voodoo Bizango frame to someone in Brighton who didn't like his Soul - but loved the Bizango.

I bought it for £80 but never built it up so sold it for the same.

PePPeR - Member
Dialled bikes Prince Albert, just no life in it whatsoever, I'd sold a wonderfully lively Saracen Zen which although cheap had been a fun thing to ride in the same mould.

The one I truly hated was a Pompetamine with the 8speed Alfine and midge bars - just never got on with the ergonomics off-road and the weight on-road made it a joyless piece of scrap.

Had a sliding drop-out inbred too which I shipped on mainly because of the weight and dull ride characteristics.

mikewsmith - Member
Never hated, demo'd bikes that I walked away from being glad I had done the demo to find out...
Orange 5/Alpine - Just don't get it, especially for the money
Original Kona Dawg - just so dull
mikewsmith - Member
Never hated, demo'd bikes that I walked away from being glad I had done the demo to find out...
Orange 5/Alpine - Just don't get it, especially for the money
Original Kona Dawg - just so dull

A Kona Dawg Primo 😆

Tested bikes from Orange, Rocky Mountain, Spec, Trek and Cove Hustler. On the day I chose the Kona I also rode the Hustler and an ETSX for the 3rd time but this time on my home trail. Kona was head and shoulders better than the other two. The guys I was riding with couldn't believe how much faster I was on the Kona which as you rightly say was receiving poor reviews at the time 🙄 Bought in 2005 and still riding it. Bontrager replaced by. A Blue Pig. Kona about to be supplemented, not replaced, by a RM Altitude 😆

there hasn't been a bike that i have absolutely hated,BUT i just never gelled with my 2006 stumpy fsr comp.

just felt like work riding it on the flat and uphill (if that makes any sense?)

Another vote for the 456ss. I hated it.So I spent more £'s upgrading the components, thinking that would help. But you cant buy love. And I so wanted to love it.

But I do still love my inbred 29er, singlespeed, light wheels, a cracking bike, its done the PDS and South downs. I'll keep her forever.

Only one I can think of was my old 2008 Giant XTC. Too short forks for the head angle, twitchy as anything even for XC racing, and stiff as a board. Broke ribs and collar bone on it. Gave the frame away after stripping it down a year later to replace it with a Scott Scale - wonderful bike.

Not an Inbred hater - loved my two (still have one 26inch SS in Ireland at folks house)

I thought this was going to be great when I was building it up

[img] [/img]

but for me it was terrible to ride, on the downs it felt like it was trying to throw me off at any moment.

Hating is a strong word but I couldn't get on with the Dialled Alpine, really cramped cockpit which I tried to open up with a moderately long stem and a layback post(still never worked ). It was good fun in some situations but not what I wanted it for, long forks and tight wheelbase had me struggling a bit.

[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8434/7803777196_c7d6abf01c_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8434/7803777196_c7d6abf01c_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/cTAp5G ]Dialled1 012[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/28886706@N05/ ]Bigbroondug[/url], on Flickr

Not many better illustrations of how geometry has evolved than that Cove above.

I wanted a G-Spot so much back int he day too. Loved the machined rocker.

[img] [/img]

It broke.

So, the current top most hated bike are...

You need to specify the Stumpjumper being. 26". The 29" is about as good as it gets.

My fugly vote so far goes to this

[img] [/img]

Here's my 101 bike

Lenz Behemoth

Custom made frame for me - arrived the wrong size after practically 6 months waiting and costing a freaking fortune

Rear single pivot suspension was totally crap - was meant to be a 5" travel bike

[img] [/img]

bonesetter - Member

My fugly vote so far goes to this

It's aerospace-grade!

Hate is a bit strong but I never got on with my Santacruz V10 (mk1 made from scaffolding and RSJs)

My first fling with vpp or anything other than single pivot in fact and never really liked it - though we did have an understanding - point it at stuff and hold on, felt as capable as a monster truck but had zero finesse.

Any full susser I ever bought. Oh and a Pashley PDQ recumbent with overseat steering, there are no words. no words.

But to top it all, there was the absolute abject horror/terror of a Daewoo Shuttle.

[IMG] [/IMG]

It's no good...I've tried squinting or turning my monitor sideways but I simply cannot improve this:
[img] [/img]

You need to specify the Stumpjumper being. 26". The 29" is about as good as it gets.

Sorry but if look at the data it clearly says...

[img] [/img]

Which means yours is the worstest/most hated bike.

It should actually say 6 now as i've changed my mind and hate mine too. It's practically a landslide.

A bloke I used to see out and about (come to think of it I haven't seen him since) had a Focus Superbud that I'd always lusted after. When I heard he was selling it I jumped at the chance and after a quick bounce around the car park on it cash was exchanged and it was mine.

As much as I'd never admit at the time I just couldn't get it set up right for me no matter what I did. Also, it had 4 nylon bushes in the shock link that would wear out about every 3 months and didn't seem to be available off the shelf anywhere meaning I had to get them made at £30 a go. After about a year it snapped a seat stay on the final verderers descent at FoD. They very kindly (as I wasn't the original owner) replaced the frame for me but we parted company shortly after.

Interestingly, both the bike I replaced it with and my current HT (Kona Dawg and a 456, both of which I love) have appeared on this thread.

My 456 was crap. It felt like an xc bike with long forks so it was high up and unstable. Which is strange as I have had that build on 2 other frames that are the two best bike I have ridden.

It's funny how some people hate bikes that others love. I love my BFe and Stumpjumper FSR and think they are two of the best bikes I have ever ridden, but some people hate them. Likewise with me hating my 456 but others thinking they are ace. Obviously it is a case of horses for courses and different riding styles mean we like some bikes and not others.

I've never owned a bike I truly hated.

I bought a new shape Cove G-Spot second hand in 2006-2007. It was pretty good, but completely inappropriate for the predominantly trail centre riding that I was doing at that time. It was really heavy too. I sold it a month later and kept my hardtail going, which I've continually updated over the years.

I really want one of those Whyte new full sussers with the dropper posts - they just look right. One thing this thread has taught me is you really need to sling your leg over a bike first, and even then it's an educated guess.

Specialized Enduro 2003/4? The one with the "Brain" shock. Utter, utter pile of marketing crap. 4 rear shocks replaced under warranty and it ate through bearings at an incredible rate due to appalling frame alignment. Rode like crap too.

Back in 1998/9 I spent a massive grand and a bit on a spesh stump jumper fsr. 5 star bike in the reviews of the day.
Hated almost every moment on it. Worst bike I have ever owned. Worst bike I have ever ridden was a 2003ish spesh enduro I hired for weekend in ft William. Waste of £60.

One thing this thread has taught me is you really need to sling your leg over a bike first

A test ride isnt enough to time to get to dislike subtle aspects of a bike (or to learn to ride around them), and how many demo rides are set up to your tastes anyway (stem length, bar width, suspension spring and damping etc)? I initially liked my Nomad, but grew to hate it the more I rode it in the granny.

real reviews by real customers who ride them, great reading this thread

Euro - but there are thousands of Stumpjumpers out there of all vintages, so bound to feature highly in any list (good or bad). Not so many Whyte 46s made, but they really were shit despite all the rave press reviews back in the day!

Your list needs to be normalised against production numbers to be of any value.

Not my list moshi, i just reposted it to wind up JCL 😀

If this thread has a point, it's that we all look for something different from a bike. Some just need it to have wheels and not be broken while others want some sort of skill transformer that makes mountain biking as easy and as comfortable as possible. Oh, and that JCL is wrong about the 26 Stumpy Evo - it's the best bike ever made and only a fool would disagree.

1996 Cannondale V800. First full sus bike. I'm a big chap, even at my sveltest I was +100kg. This, combined with a stem so long that it flexed, did the headshock no favours. I probably had 20mm of travel if I was lucky. The rear however had the rebound force of a jack hammer. It tried to buck me over the bars riding over a pebble.

On One 456 Summer Season. On paper it should have been my perfect bike. I liked the standard 456, but thought the slacker SS would be perfect. Deadist dead thing I've ever ridden. It's only positive was that it looked the business in the raw finish. Even the stupidly expensive components I threw at couldn't save it.

I replaced the 456 with a Orange P7. I'd wanted one for years and it didn't disappoint. Well until I ripped both rear dropouts out of the frame off a foot high drop off. Orange ignored me with regards to any warranty. It had been used outside of its intended use they said. 6 months of very light trail centre mincing does not make for abuse. Hang your head in shame Orange.

Love/Hate relationship with my 2010 Anthem X. Loved the ride and the speed, hated the way it chewed through pivot bearings depsite OCD levels of cleaning & maintenance. 3 sets in the 18 months I owned it, got shot after that and back to HT.

moshimonster - Member

Euro - but there are thousands of Stumpjumpers out there of all vintages, so bound to feature highly in any list (good or bad). Not so many Whyte 46s made, but they really were shit despite all the rave press reviews back in the day!

Meanwhile only one Northwind's Ellsworth and it's got about 5 people hating it who've never even ridden it.

What a great thread 🙂

Only one bike I've ever realy not been able to enjoy... at all:

[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3258/2588499552_a9ae0c2fa2.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3258/2588499552_a9ae0c2fa2.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/4WJJJC ]Pipedream[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/92747687@N00/ ]Jonathan Bateman[/url], on Flickr

It's was a proto frame and I should have guessed it wasn't quite "right" as I got given it for free from a mate, and it had been through another mate already. But I really needed a decent geared hardtail and it looked so nice in the flesh...

Horrible, high BB. Turned in like a 70ft narrow boat. And harsh. Not just a bit stiff but comepletely unflexing, immovably harsh. Sat down was hard, but it was still like riding something made of reinforced concrete standing up. Tried it with forks and stems of all sorts of lengths. I did eventually get it to turn in OK, but the high BB and and incredible stiffness meant it just always felt 'unpleasant' once in the turn.

Obviously as it was free I did make money on it (with the donor's approval). Frame pictures looked great on eBay too. I sincerely hope the buyer enjoyed it more than me :-/

I've only properly not got on with/hated one bike.

Orange E3 - 1995 - First bike saved for with my pay. A lot of money and a very very unforgiving back end. My previous Clockwork beat it hands down at everything and was resurrected once this got shifted onto a second hand dealer. The Royce BB creaked the Middleburn cranks were ace though. Snapped in 2004 in Berlin at SSWC on the next bike. The forks were shit.
[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3507/3731911434_6cf62b97d9.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3507/3731911434_6cf62b97d9.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/6FM2fA ]Orange E3[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/84784025@N00/ ]tomlevell[/url], on Flickr

On One INbred EBB - 2002 - Loved it and hated it. Too often it felt waaaay toooo long and impossibly unsafe to get down some stuff. Did lots with it including SSUK SSWC fixed etc so it's a nostalgic like and a not so good to ride.

[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/20/73616406_4bbc3692e9.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/20/73616406_4bbc3692e9.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/7viAo ]Sleddale[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/84784025@N00/ ]tomlevell[/url], on Flickr

Ellsworth ID - 2002 - Just plain odd. Again not hated but some stuff it was good at some stuff it was a handful. Very light for the age and travel and ran various forks including Junior Ts. Best description I heard was the factory made the rocker wrong for the Truth so they just stuck them on anyway and hey presto a new bike.

[url= https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3505/3731913492_684c471121.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3505/3731913492_684c471121.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/6FM2S5 ]Ellsworth ID[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/84784025@N00/ ]tomlevell[/url], on Flickr

Kelly Knobby X - Too heavy really. Too much fork flutter on the road under braking so just realised I'd never use it so got rid. Road fine offroad but the weight meant I may as well ride the MTB.

[url= https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1400/561823593_70bfb9e081.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1400/561823593_70bfb9e081.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/RDuzF ]Rivers[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/84784025@N00/ ]tomlevell[/url], on Flickr

while others want some sort of skill transformer that makes mountain biking as easy and as comfortable as possible

That's me. I need as much advantage as I can get!

I grew to hate my first proper mountain bike - 2003 Cannondale Scalpel.
I bought it mainly because it was on sale, but also because I was new to mountain biking and thought I wanted a racey XC bike. It was great for the first few rides, even quite enjoyed it at Afan and other Welsh trail centres. Then I took it to Aston Hill and the steep rooty downhills highlighted just how sketchy the handling was and my lack of skills. I sailed over the bars on the first steep descent and I never forgave it after that! Later I discovered that beefy long travel trail bikes are more my thing.

Ditto Moshimonster with the Scalpel. My first FS, which worked well for it's intended purpose, which was not the way my riding was going at that stage.
Blew the fork, broke the back end, went back to a HT. DMR Switchback which I still have.

kiwi - oh yeah I also bent the rear shock mount too when I blew through the 0.5" of bottomless travel. Nice bike, wrong application for me too!

I'll add another Heckler to the list. Stupid geometry and too little standover for a medium meant it just had to go. At least I didn't loose too much money on it as I'd bought it 2nd hand.

Oh so many

Santa Cruz Bullit Mk 1 with Z1 orange forks, climbed like a elephant shining up a drain pipe...............

Intense Tracer tall the wrong angles

Gary Fisher Cake.bought instead of a Turner 5 Spot on STW review WHY oh WHY

Nicolai CC too short so really my fault

Turner Six pack non HL just wrong after so many turners HL

SCOTT SPARK, light oh so light and able to bend and flex like nothing else.

Hmm, just about every full susser I've owned.

I had a Proflex XP8 which I upgraded to Noleen coils. The rear shock snapped at the top of the Firmounth leaving me a two hour walk back to the car (in shimano spd shoes). That's certainly enough time to develop a pathological hatred. Got warranty for the shock but never rode it again.

Never really got my Heckler, pedal strike agogo. Might've been the 5th element shock.

Chumba Vf2, the shock was just not matched to the frame, rebound was either tooooo ssssslllooowwww or too****ingfast in just one click.

Last but not least Cove Handjob. Got it to replace a nicked Kona Explosif (and sold a Klien Race Attitude to get it, duh). A piece of shit with a coke can top tube. Still can't believe I managed to trade it in against my soul!

I also have never had a bike I actually 'hated'. The only one I really didn't get on with was an Alpine Stars ChroMega (elevated chainstay job) & that was probably cos it was 2 sizes too big. (cheap though). Climbed like a mountain goat but was a nightmare on descents. (cos it was too big)
Ride a 2010 5 now & It's a better bike than I'll ever be a rider & I've ridden stuff & thought 'how TF did I do that?'
Ton even said to me, 'Orange 5, best bike out there' or words to that effect. (may have been trying to make me feel good though) 😉

I bought a cx frame a few years ago and very soon realised that I hated riding it off road (properly, not gravel roads, though only in the new forest). My own fault, and it's made a nice winter road bike so no big loss

Orange Sub 5.

Mk1 Blur LT. It rode great but the bearings would wear out wheeling it out to the car. Not a bike designed with Scottish riding in mind

Still for 5 days in the summer it was brilliant.

There's some real gold in this thread, especially that Ellsworth (What were you thinking?)

Most hated, that I've owned, from me:

Cotic Roadrat - by a country mile. It's the only bike I've thrown at a wall in rage after getting a second rear wheel puncture about 8 miles from home. Ended up riding it home on the rim, smashing it off kerbs and generally trying to break it. Stupid dropouts, mudguard nonsense. I was even unlucky enough to have someone try to nick it and fail.

Inbred - tick (for all the reasons people mention) except I was on the same boat as everyone else, buying into the 'hype' of the ultimate do-it-all hardtail for peanuts stuff.

Giant XTC 26er, just not for me, really hated it.

Didn't own it, and didnt really hate it, but "biggest disappointment ever" award goes to the Kona Explosif I borrowed. I wanted so much to love it's skinny steel tubes, but it was just a bit average, lifeless, and dull.

The Original Cotic Soul. I'm in between sizes (which for a 5'10" bloke is pretty bloody impressive) medium is too small, large is too big, and the whole thing was too steep at the front.

oh, and the Nicolia Helius FS that I had for a bit, was OK to ride, but I didn't ride it enough, and it always had something wrong with it, because I didn't ride it enough, so it sat there, until I fixed it, which meant that I didn't ride it. and the anodizing was so hard to keep looking nice.

A bench mark for this might be...what bikes have you willingly sold on.........

I bought second hand, one of the first steel 456s that came out, and while you couldn't use superlatives, I was reasonably impressed with it, so I've kept it.

On the strength of that I bought the Lynskey Ti 456 and I tried various different builds with it but I could never gell with it...then it broke. They gave me a replacement frame but I kind of figured, how many fork/stem/bar/combos does it take before you surrender and sell it...so I did.

I had a Pace 325.5 which I liked but I kept getting chain suck once the C/Rs were part worn, so I've given up on that and when I can be arsed the frame will be sold for £50 ono.

I had a Trek 2.3 road bike and I was sure that was going to kill me so that got sold within 2 months.

I had a Kinesis T5 cross frame made up as a hybrid commuter, and, on a good day I enjoyed it...but mostly not. When I can be arsed that will be sold.

All the rest I have kept.

I loved my 456
I still do love my BFe ...
Ho Hum, horses for course ....

I hated my Roberts Genesis - over sized, the bottom bracket would never fit properly, and the paint chipped like cheap nail varnish

while i didnt hate it, i just didnt like My 2008 SX trail II, it was too steep and too heavy, basically like they gone for a compromise of dh bike and xc bike and got the bad bits of both. (id come from a demo 8 which was the best bike ever) lasted 14 months (and maybe 6 proper rides) before I sold it one to buy the next one....

[img] [/img]

A GT1 IT1 DH bike which was a love hate relationship

Loves:
it had a gearbox
it had 2 chains
it had bottomless travel
change gear without pedaling

hates:
it weighed more than the moon. (50+ lbs)
there was a good 4 BHP worth of resistance from the drivetrain.
the chain was always moving, great in a crash
drivetrain was a PITA to keep working
oil for servicing said drivetrain was £90 a litre.
prety much every part was proprietary, and super rare.

Hated my 2010 Spesh Enduro.

Ponderous in tight techy stuff, it did hammer on down anything fast though to be fair.

[img] http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/11638943/ [/img] [url= http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/11638943/ ]OnOne Scandal V2 29er[/url]

Built this OnOne Scandal 29er from parts. It was fast but really boring to ride. Sold it a couple of weeks ago and replaced it with a 26" carbon hardtail (also built up from parts) - this one is way more fun to ride. [img] http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/11638352/ [/img][url= http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/11638352/ ]SAB Carbon 26[/url]

Scandal 29er is probrably my fav bike!!

If it helps Tom, I also hated it. Took it to antur for an uplift day and couldn't get the chain back on. It then snapped one of those special parts and got thrown in the garage never to be ridden again.

Those forks were amazing though ...

Cotic Soul, same as nickc above, stuck between sizes.
Original Specialized Epic, heavy and a disappointment.
I have an Inbred which I like, it's simple and heavy like me 😀

Dialled pa lasted 2 maybe 3 rides before I stripped it and sold it on to replace with another 456.

Top of the tree: Specialized Pitch.

I demo'd an enduro and thought it ws OK. It wasn't as good as the Trance, and I really wanted a Cannondale Prophet, but by then the bandwagon had rolled in and they weren't £1100 anymore, the pitch was on sale briefly back down to about £1400 so I bought it. Every single ****ing component had been cost cut to the point it was 6 months before I managed consecutive trouble free rides. Every single component either failed or was replaced due to being s***. It was also a size too small for me. A large Prophet would have been perfect.

2nd, there've been a few that weren't great and were replaced with better bikes, but I didn't actively hate them at the time. My first Carrera Fury arround 2003 was way too short for a 21" frame (the later Carrera's were great bargains this on just suffered with almost CX geometry), the DMR switchback was ahead of the game but not as developed geometry as the 456 that replaced it, it did ride nicer though. My medium Swift was a bit small, my large El-mariachi isn't as nice a ride (but takes a tapered fork). And my chumba HX1 is still in it's box never been ridden, I don't know why, I think I resent it for the number of times I broke my arm on other bikes after buying it and now never want to ride it! Planning on selling it any maybe getting something similar just becasue I don't 'want' to ride it.

Airborne Lucky Strike
[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/192/505674568_ed82474253_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/192/505674568_ed82474253_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/LFHr3 ]Airborne Lucky Strike Sep 03 - May 04[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/60876362@N00/ ]Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Sold my Santa Cruz Superlight because this would be a better all rounder. Yes, I realise that rationale is a bit odd. Anyway never got on with it, felt twitchy and nervous. Tried it with a longer fork. Made it worse

Ellsworth ISIS
[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/209/505669956_ddd4b24d84_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/209/505669956_ddd4b24d84_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/LFG4w ]Ellsworth ISIS - April 04 - June 05[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/60876362@N00/ ]Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Tried that with a longer fork as well (a pattern emerges) as it always felt a bit undergunned. It didn't improve it.

Voodo Wanga
[url= https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2104/2111101008_e3a4b3b7bb_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2104/2111101008_e3a4b3b7bb_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/4dxWMf ]Voodoo Wanga[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/60876362@N00/ ]Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

Lasted one ride. TT too short but mainly it was the day i decided I hated singlespeeding.

I kind of agree with NickC on the soul (although my M solaris fits way better) and I loved my 2009 SX trail.

A few years ago I bought a Specialized Epic FSR, principally to try and enter events held on fire roads with other like-minded lycra devotees.

The bike was possessed by a malevolent entity. Spokes repeatedly punctured inner tubes but this was nothing compared to the evil handling. You know how a good bike will seemingly respond to the rider's thoughts, well this thing would punish you just as fast if not quicker.

Eventually I gifted it to Mrs Digga, thinking she should be safe enough on it riding the fairly easy trails we ride together, but it developed a hatred for her too and spat her over the bars hard enough to crack (I should mention at this point that Specialized helmet crash repair program is excellent) her helmet and suffer several hours of headache.

We're I blessed with a conscience or any shred of social responsibility, I should have burned the bike with fire, but instead I sold it to its next poor, unsuspecting victim.