a 98 or 99 stumpjumper fsr, the bike and the dealer put me off spesh bikes forever. the only good thing was the avid V's.
Matlock...the Orange I had certainly wasn't my first bike, I'd had low of bikes by the time I had it but for some reason I hated it with a passion.
I saved for months to but my first proper MTB, a '97 Rockhopper, so no silver spoon.
2007 Orange 5.Terrible rear shock,awful paint,flawed geometry.
Depends on your definition of worst.
Most annoyingly poor workmanship award would go to the 2008 Trek Top Fuel 9.8 that had the shock mount on the downtube de-bond after 35 miles from new. It was a write-off as was the frame it replaced (2006 top fuel 110) and the one that replaced it (2008 top fuel 9.9ssl). top marks for Trek's warranty, nul points for longevity
The bike that was the most disappointing was the Ragley Ti, to be fair it was a good bike but the rear end was harsh compared to my Litespeed Kitsuma and I never bonded with it. I guess it was that my expectations were so high that when they were not met.....
My worst built was undoubtedly a custom built 853 cross bike. It was miss aligned, floppy and didn't even handle well. My results were always better with my MTB. I was very glad when I got taken out by a dozey driver who paid for a nice kinesis as a replacement.
Raleigh activator circa 1993 thought it was amazing at the time, how things change !
Well both of my current mountain bikes are mentioned above.
Surly Karate Monkey and Nicolai Helius CC. For me they are both fantastic and I reckon they'll both be with me for some years to come.
Worst bike? I haven't had any true lemons ride-wise but my Mongoose Teocali kept working loose at the pivot bolts no matter what I did to it so, it would have to be that. I actually thought it rode okay though.
I had a go on my mate's 06 Norco A-line the other day 😯
Gary Fisher Big Sur from 2003 or 2004
utter pile of poo
the horrible rockshox duke u-turn fork
and the frame was utter gash and mis-aligned
and the old hayes "six" hydraulic brakes - arghh
Anyone who frequented Ghyllside Cycles in Ambleside in the early 90s might remember the bluey green XTR-equipped Dave Yates Diabolo that lived in there for a couple of years, with the asking price constantly dropping to the point that my dad could resist it no longer, and bought it 'for your mother'.
Due to snapping her wrists a few years ago, and on account of her being 70, mam is no longer emulating Josh Bender and so the bike has a pair of road-going tyres on it, to suit her canal path ways. So, rigid steel bike, full (albeit old) XTR and skinny tyres. You'd expect it to be reasonably light, right? That thing has its own gravitational pull. The other bikes in their shed revolve around it, and the type of riding you do depends on what bike is floating past at the time you go in.
From a personal point of view, I've never owned a bad bike, although it took me nearly two years of riding my first (and only) FS to realise that when I felt funny things happening with the back wheel, I'd not got a puncture, it was the suspension working.
Last time I was in the market for a new bike, in 2005, I demo'd an Orange Five. Unmitigated shite. I'm willing to concede that suspension technology back then was wildly different to its current state, but I genuinely cannot look at a Five now without thinking that they are horrible bikes to ride.
Roberts Genesis - too big, the bottom bracket never fitted properly and it chain sucked like a bastard ....
And the paint chipped like nail varnish
Would have to be my Fat Chance Wicked. It want necessarily a bad bike but I just didn't really get on with it. I'm surprised to see P7's on here. My 1997 P7 was probably my favorite riding bike of all time but I guess that just shows we all have different tastes.
1999 Marin Attack Trail - what was I thinking. It was just a heavy useless pile of poo!
A Whyte JW4, the strangest thing ever with its tele-lever forks.
A normal Marin swingarm back end which made great on light
Singletrack, but take on any big stuff and the forks would just
duck under the headset and spit me off. Got lots of admiring looks
though.
On-one inbred. (earlyish one before they got beefed up)
Foolishly drank the STW/on-one kool-aid at a time when conti vertpro's were supposedly a good tyre. (another myth)
Far too flexy and you could feel it load up and then go the other way round long sweeping corners, quite unnerving at speed.
STW may hate this one.
Cotic Roadrat, I bought it because I loved my Soul.
Was incapable of running 26" wheels like it was advertised, BB ended up WAAAY too low. Super flexy and couldn't take a rack or any sort of weight on the bike, infact it was borderline too flexy with nothing bolted onto it at all. AND it had an annoying brazeon in the middle of the toptube which kept catching my knee.
I put about 10,000 miles on that bike, and part of me was thankful when it finally broke. Bought a pompino which though cheaper and theoretically similar was a revelation in that it rode how it should.
`01 i-drive . Nasty creaky turd of a frame was convinced that crappy seat tube mount was gonna break..
Wanted rid so bad took a dodgy loan being unemployed at the time , to get a Patriot, which actually another bad move, it wasn't a bad bike infact the opposite was just the wrong bike.
Charge Duster steel around 2005, jack of all master of none.
Kinesis Maxlight xc120, noodle flex fest.
But anything with two wheels is still brilliant.
I've loved every bike I've had...but the one I loved the idea of but never ever got on with was my IBIS MOJO, dream bike dream build but I just couldn't get on with. Worst bike Never had one one I didn't get one with yes.
Saying that any of my mates who rode it loved it it was me that was the issue!
DBW I remember the sale/behind on the cobbles. You were coming from a Chameleon?
Anyway it was a brilliant frame. Fitting a ti spring ruined it IMO. Chameleon is still my best frame ever. Then the 4X.
My worst ever frame was the Ellsworth ID. Hideously tall awkward frame.
STW may hate this one
You drank the STW kool-aid
2002 Marin Riftzone put me off full suspension until 2013 😕
Ah hora you are still alive!!
Just to let you know I've sold the Bike you were after.
I couldn't be arsed waiting for you to pay the price we agreed on and then you stopped replying to my emails nearly costing me a sale!
JUst saying like...
A leopard never changes it spots. 🙄
Then theres the Enduro frame that I held off sale for 6 months for you with countless emailed questions from you to eventually receive 'sorry got a fistfull of army dollars, buying something posh'
Whereas I asked (this) Friday pm if you'd take x amount and Sunday pm I get that ^reply? Sorry I owe you what? I didnt reply.
Boom? Leopard? I buy so much secondhand from here but sometimes I dont get the love back.
Stw is wearing me down. Its like the readership is becoming older and bitter
Never bought/owned a bike that I didn't like but I test rode a few when I worked at a Lakes bike shop.
Undoubtedly the best was the Cove G-Spot, the absolute worst was an Orange 5.
Hated it's single pivot suspension and the brake jack - can't look at an Orange now without remembering that horrendous ride round the Borrowdale Bash route on that heavy piece of shit.
Also test rode a Cannondale 1FG which succeeded in putting me off the idea of SS on MTB for life. Strange cos I really like SS on the road.
Worst Latley was a 2008 sworks stumpy fsr carbon
Just could not get happy with it , kept falling off lol
My Heckler.
Built up as my dream bike, but as already been pointed out, they are too tall, but too short in the TT..
I just lack the stones they require to be ridden the way they are meant to be sadly.
Hora I sent you an email on Friday Night at 21:14 to ask wether or not you still wanted it as you didn't reply. I actually turned down an offer Saturday as I thought you might respond.
As for the enduro I think I asked twice about it before you wrecked it by stripping all the paint off!
Chameleon. Harsh and not a pleasant experience to ride on anywhere that featured rocks.
Twice? I stripped the frame after the event when you said you'd changed your mind. It wasnt twice either it was a constant flow of emails over months. You said definitely but not until your back from Afghanistan if I'd wait it was a definite. You emailed fairly frequently back when I emailed/update for assurance or replied to a question from your base.
My last email to you on Friday was 'would you take £50'. I emailed you nothing/didnt reply again beyond that.
Anyway I normally dont bother. Its the nature of buying/selling.
Commencal Super4.
Low BB height killed it for me... followed by multiple cracked frames...
Inbred.
Got it cheap to build up as a SS. Long and low, means it's good for cranking uphill with 1 gear..but too long and 120mm max fork travel = rubbish for coming down.
All in all not terrible, just the worst bike I've owned.
I don't know about worst, but most unsuitable was my 2011 enduro. Too much bike for trail riding and climbed like a three legged dog (probably due to the crap tune the shock came with)
It came alive on DH tracks, but felt pretty dead on everything else, unless you were caning the hell out of it.