# Whats the worst bike you've brought



## RedBike (15 Apr 2009)

I found myself looking at this today. 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Track-Bike-Ro...14&_trkparms=72:1688|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

I was actually serious about buying it but thankfully I saw sense at the last minute and stopped. Too close for comfort though. 

Whats the worst bike you've ever brought?


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## ACS (15 Apr 2009)

Second hand Raleigh Explorer MT20. 

Had to start somewhere


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## gavintc (15 Apr 2009)

RedBike said:


> I found myself looking at this today.
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Track-Bike-Ro...14&_trkparms=72:1688|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318
> 
> I was actually serious about buying it but thankfully I saw sense at the last minute and stopped. Too close for comfort though.
> ...



I do not think the seller knows what he is selling. 700 or 26 inch wheels, fixed or freewheel. Frame that weighs in at 10kg. It does not seem to add up terribly well.


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## ASC1951 (15 Apr 2009)

RedBike said:


> I found myself looking at this today.
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Track-Bike-Ro...14&_trkparms=72:1688|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318


"Fixed gear track bikes have become affiliated with the streets of New York, but they are the latest influence to arrive from America to the UK."

The cheeky sods. We were riding fixed wheels while they were still stealing land from the Sioux.


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## Greenbread (15 Apr 2009)

That's a funny looking bike! Why was you even close to buying it? :-s


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## Plax (15 Apr 2009)

Apollo CX10


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## RedBike (15 Apr 2009)

Greenbread said:


> That's a funny looking bike! Why was you even close to buying it? :-s



A cheap but fun bike to ride to/from work. 
Thankfully I realised that it would be neither!

My worst bike has to be the un-known named duel suspension bike I brought from Aldi. (It was my first bike). Took it back for a refund when I bucked the wheel trying to ride it home.


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## Greenbread (15 Apr 2009)

RedBike said:


> A cheap but fun bike to ride to/from work.
> Thankfully I realised that it would be neither!
> 
> My worst bike has to be the un-known named duel suspension bike I brought from Aldi. (It was my first bike). Took it back for a refund when I bucked the wheel trying to ride it home.



Buying a bike from Aldi is beyond frugal...

...I'm on the hunt for a decent second hand bike. Even the quality 'entry level' ones a pretty steep brand new.

My worst was probably my Rock Rider - I think that's what is was called - from Decathlon. Paid about £100 or so for it on sale. Got stolen a few months after.


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## punkypossum (15 Apr 2009)

A Raleigh Tundra...didn't realise so much could be wrong/go wrong with a simple bike in such a short amout of time!


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## tyred (15 Apr 2009)

I don't think I could criticise any of my bikes too much tbh. None were expensive, all have worked as intended. I know I have fallen badly out of love with my old low end 15 speed MTB lately but it isn't really the bike's fault, it's just I ride on tarmac mostly and that isn't really what an MTB does best.


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## Alembicbassman (15 Apr 2009)

Apollo Hi-Ten steel fixed gear folder. As rough as a night out in Doncaster.


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## jimboalee (16 Apr 2009)

I bought an old Dawes for a fiver.

Then the guy told me he'd reversed his car into it.
I took a second look at it.

I stripped it to the bare frame, got two lengths of steel bar, put one bar in a big vice and used the other bar to bring the seat and head tubes back to parallel.

It was OK after that. I rode it for one winter and sold it for twenty five quid.


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## Flying_Monkey (16 Apr 2009)

I bought a Emmelle step-through bike once - it was all I could afford at the time. It did the job I suppose...


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## yenrod (16 Apr 2009)

>Whats the worst bike you've brought 

The 1 ive got now until i replaced the majority of the parts WHEELS especially !


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## fossyant (16 Apr 2009)

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.....


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## jimboalee (16 Apr 2009)

fossyant said:


> 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?


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## TheDoctor (16 Apr 2009)

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.


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## fossyant (16 Apr 2009)

jimboalee said:


> 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...


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## jimboalee (16 Apr 2009)

fossyant said:


> 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


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## fossyant (16 Apr 2009)

jimboalee said:


> 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


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## stumpy (16 Apr 2009)

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


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## yorkshiregoth (16 Apr 2009)

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


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## phil120867 (28 Apr 2009)

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!


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## marooncat (28 Apr 2009)

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)


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## cheadle hulme (28 Apr 2009)

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


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## bianchi1 (29 Apr 2009)

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!


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## jimboalee (29 Apr 2009)

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.


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## MadoneRider1991 (29 Apr 2009)

appollo outrage 

indeed it was an outrage lol


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## beanzontoast (29 Apr 2009)

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.


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## froze (2 Apr 2022)

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!!!


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## DCLane (2 Apr 2022)

Probably one of three:

A free Corona beer MTB. Terrible, terrible BSO. Sold it for £20 to someone for a beer weekend party.

A Wilier Izoard XP carbon road bike. It just rode like a dull thing and only had Sora componentry. Bought on the cycle-to-work scheme for £900 and I sold it for £500 after it was all paid off.

Also on cycle-to-work a Whyte 605 650B MTB. Looked lovely but it just felt too unwieldy for me even though it was supposed to be the right size and spent most of the time stored unused. Sold at the end for about £450.


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## froze (3 Apr 2022)

fossyant said:


> 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...


I bought a 84 Fuji Club at a garage sale for $40 that only had 5 miles on it, the guy never rode after the first day he bought it, why? the bike shop sold him the last of a floor clearance model, told him it was a great bike and it fit him fine, except it pained him too much so he threw it in the attic till a garage sale about 26 years later, I saw the bike I bought it, but I noticed the bike was about an inch too big for his stand over height, that's why he hated it, but I loved it and it fits me perfectly.


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## DCBassman (4 Apr 2022)

A 2011 Norco alu hybrid from the dump, for a tenner. Looked to be a good fixer-upper, but eventually just stripped it. It had been left outside for many years and was not worth the effort.


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## dan_bo (4 Apr 2022)

Bloke down the road here is selling a Raleigh Activator for 65 quid if anyone's looking to update this thread.


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## Dogtrousers (4 Apr 2022)

I've never bought a bad one. I think I've bought four in total over the years. All good. 

No plans to buy another unless one gets nicked.


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## GuyBoden (4 Apr 2022)

I bought a bike with flat handlebars, but the flat handlebars made my hands ache after 4-6 hours cycling, but it's just my physiology.

There was nothing wrong with the flat handlebar bike, so I sold it, it was my hands/wrists.

Edit: But it was, the worse bike I've bought.


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## rogerzilla (15 Apr 2022)

A modern (2013) Kona Cinder Cone MTB. Hated the ride, the position, the suspension fork and the disc brakes. Sold it and built a 1994 Kona Kilauea. The early 90s XC MTBs were the peak. Then all MTBs started aping DH bikes and became unrideable for long distances.


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## froze (15 Apr 2022)

YJXC said:


> I just remember the best bike I 've had which my parents bought for me when I was 7 years old. It is red and easy to ride. But it was stolen someday and I was crying for several hours.


You reminded me of something! I had a Mattel V-rroom bike when I was 6, rode it for about a year when my friend wanted to ride it, so we exchanged bikes for the day, he and I was coming down this road down a hill, we were riding on the dirt off to the side of the road, he hit a hole which blew the bike into several pieces sprawling him out over the dirt and gravel. He had a bunch of abrasions, nothing serious thankfully, but we were 7 at that time and he was screaming, this gas station owner came running over and took him, me and the bike back to his shop where he cleaned up his wounds put some Band-Aids on the worst ones, and tried to put my bike back together but it was bent up to badly. It wasn't my worse bike, but by the time I got to older side of age 7 I was getting embarrassed to be riding it, all the other kids had "grown-up" bike, so I wasn't too upset it got destroyed. Even when I hit 7 I "accidently" broke the motor so my dad could take off to eliminate some of the embarrassment! But the stupid thing about removing that motor was that it was more cool to put several clothespins with a playing cards to make noise instead?! WEIRD!


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## cougie uk (15 Apr 2022)

One back in the early 80s. From a catalogue. A silver 10 speed Rudi Altig. 
Heavy as anything but it got me hooked so it can't have been that bad. Many a club ride it did - happy days.


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## SkipdiverJohn (15 Apr 2022)

Plax said:


> Apollo CX10



I've had two of these for use as parts donors, one I paid a whole quid for off eBay, and the other one I found dumped in the street 50 yards from my front door. Worst thing about them is the frame, very heavy and built like a cheap MTB. The salvaged mechanicals have proved to be pretty durable even though they are low end.
Absolute worst was probably a Dunlop full-sus disc braked BSO, but technically I didn't buy that as I found it abandoned. They are really crap bikes, but I still salvaged a few spares off it all the same.


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## Thorn Sherpa (15 Apr 2022)

A single speed dmr aluminium framed bike, forget the model but bought it for a barely 3 mile commute to work when I bought my 1st house. The single (no pun intended) worst bike I'd ever bought, everything but the frame and fork failed on me within a year. Lesson learnt


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## All uphill (15 Apr 2022)

My worst was a Jumpertrek bought in 1996. Hugely heavy frame and fork with heavy wheels and heavy tyres. The canti brakes were ineffective. There was something wrong with the geometry which made it want to do anything other than go in a straight line. 

I rode it all over the Quantocks and must have developed some fitness carting all that weight around.

I didn't know any better and it didn't let me down, so it wasn't all bad.


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## freiston (18 Apr 2022)

I'll have to link to a post of mine in another thread. I've had another bad bike, bought for me back in the 70s - a single speed Halfords Wanderer (iirc) - pretty much their competition for the Raleigh Wayfarer. Cheap shoddy components made from cheap shoddy metal, gas pipe frame. It had quite a bit of chrome plating but that peeled and flaked off, as did the paint. I know that my mum and dad struggled to raise the cash for it and so I still feel guilty slagging it off. Otherwise (apart from that and the one in the link below), I have been happy with all the bikes I've had - and quite a few of them have been cheap old 2nd hand bikes that would have been cheap when new.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/w...d-object-youve-ever-bought.36980/post-6707579

EDIT: I've just done a quick search and can see that Halfords did a 20" folding shopper bike called the Wanderer - this is definitely not the bike that I had but I am still confident that mine was also called a Wanderer.


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## kingrollo (18 Apr 2022)

Kuota Khydra.

£3.5k - nothing but trouble from day 1. Expensive mistake.


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## SkipdiverJohn (18 Apr 2022)

freiston said:


> I'll have to link to a post of mine in another thread. I've had another bad bike, bought for me back in the 70s - a single speed Halfords Wanderer (iirc) - pretty much their competition for the Raleigh Wayfarer. Cheap shoddy components made from cheap shoddy metal, gas pipe frame. It had quite a bit of chrome plating but that peeled and flaked off, as did the paint.



I once picked up a cheapo 3-speed roadster as a donor bike that was Halfords branded rather than Apollo. Low quality chrome, pitted and flaking everywhere. The frame, although clearly gas pipe and pretty heavy, was surprisingly well made with neat brazing and half decent dropouts. Better quality than an equivalent Puch frame, which used swaged tube ends and electro-welded dropouts.


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## Paulus (9 May 2022)

About thirty years back, a chap at work was selling his 3 speed Universal bike (Polish built). He only wanted £15 for it. He bought it in one day , I duly paid him. 
It looked ok on first inspection, until I went to ride it home. It wouldn't go in a straight line. On a very close inspection there was a crease in the downtube, and the forks were very slightly bent. He denied it had been crashed. 
I used it as a doner bike for another one, but in reality it was £15 badly spent. He left work soon after.


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## Pokitren (17 May 2022)

ASC1951 said:


> "Fixed gear track bikes have become affiliated with the streets of New York, but they are the latest influence to arrive from America to the UK."
> 
> The cheeky sods. We were riding fixed wheels while they were still stealing land from the Sioux.



 That's for sure! They couldn't think of a better slogan to entice customers. It's for a certain audience who are more likely to buy the product they want.


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