# Bike components that you hate



## J1888 (11 Oct 2017)

They could be something that came with the bike, or something you bought afterwards. But what have you had on your bike that has made you think 'well, this is crap'.

For me, it's the Yksion Elite tyres that came with my Road Pro Carbon SLR. In terms of 'performance' I can't see how they're any better than the Vittoria Zaffiro ones that came with the old bike. 

The main bug bear is the lack of seemingly any puncture protection. The bike they're on is my good one so I'm not riding it that often but I reckon about 1 puncture every 50 miles at least.

What bike part has really wound you up?


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## Brandane (11 Oct 2017)

Didn't exactly wind me up, but these plastic brake levers weren't really up to the job.......


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## Ajax Bay (11 Oct 2017)

J1888 said:


> the Yksion Elite tyres . . . the main bug bear is the lack of seemingly any puncture protection. The bike they're on is my good one


Why have you not replaced them?
Lesson identified: this make/model of tyre seems vulnerable to punctures.
Lesson learnt: Replace with tyres with more puncture resistance.


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## NickNick (11 Oct 2017)

The Weinmann deep rims that came with my previous bike, they weigh a ton, water collects in them and is a nightmare to take out and the Assus (presume its a different co to the computer one) freewheel the rear wheel was fitted with died way too soon.


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## Tangoup51 (11 Oct 2017)

full length cable housing.


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## Drago (11 Oct 2017)

The scrotum crushing gear lever on the Chopper MKI and II.


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## J1888 (11 Oct 2017)

Ajax Bay said:


> Why have you not replaced them?
> Lesson identified: this make/model of tyre seems vulnerable to punctures.
> Lesson learnt: Replace with tyres with more puncture resistance.



I plan to


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## hoopdriver (11 Oct 2017)

Brandane said:


> Didn't exactly wind me up, but these plastic brake levers weren't really up to the job.......
> 
> View attachment 378203


The cable colouring is all wrong too


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## vickster (11 Oct 2017)

Shimano hoods


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## User269 (11 Oct 2017)

Neighbour hoods.


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## raleighnut (11 Oct 2017)

Un-adjustable 'Cartridge' BB's, especially square taper ones, why? just why?


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## User33236 (11 Oct 2017)

The Vision 30 wheelset that came with my Planet-X. 

Nigh on impossible getting tyres off or on even in the warmth of my home. Got rid before I had to attempt it roadside!


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## User6179 (11 Oct 2017)

Continental inner tubes and their self loosening cores


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## vickster (11 Oct 2017)

J1888 said:


> They could be something that came with the bike, or something you bought afterwards. But what have you had on your bike that has made you think 'well, this is crap'.
> 
> For me, it's the Yksion Elite tyres that came with my Road Pro Carbon SLR. In terms of 'performance' I can't see how they're any better than the Vittoria Zaffiro ones that came with the old bike.
> 
> ...


Stock bikes often have poor tyres or simply components you don't want. Hence, my more expensive bikes are built to my spec. 

Another bugbear... 42-44cm handlebars on 54cm bikes with no option to change if buying off the peg. Adds a good £50 to any roadbike purchase for me!


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## biggs682 (11 Oct 2017)

All those extra gears we never had back in the day 

Nothing wrong with 5 or 6


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## Alan Frame (11 Oct 2017)

Speedometers.

They always read low.


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## Threevok (11 Oct 2017)

Mirrors

Absolutely pants unless you fettle your own


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## simongt (11 Oct 2017)

biggs682 said:


> All those extra gears we never had back in the day
> 
> Nothing wrong with 5 or 6


Oh yes. Which is why I changed one bike's 21 speed derailleur for a 5 speed Sturmey and another 24 speed for an 8 speed Sturmey.  Just didn't use even half the gears available - ! When I were lad, anyone with a five speed derailleur road bike was the subject of envy and hate in equal measure. And anyone with a ten speed was simply envied and hated at a level only to be imagined - !


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## raleighnut (11 Oct 2017)

simongt said:


> Oh yes. Which is why I changed one bike's 21 speed derailleur for a 5 speed Sturmey and another 24 speed for an 8 speed Sturmey.  Just didn't use even half the gears available - ! When I were lad, anyone with a five speed derailleur road bike was the subject of envy and hate in equal measure. And anyone with a ten speed was simply envied and hated at a level only to be imagined - !


What about when 12 came in


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## simongt (11 Oct 2017)

raleighnut said:


> What about when 12 came in


The red mist descended - !


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## Rickshaw Phil (11 Oct 2017)

Cotter pins. I was glad to see the back of them.


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## Dan B (11 Oct 2017)

Star-fangled nut.

Headsets in general, really.


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## derrick (11 Oct 2017)

Wired tyres.


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## mcshroom (11 Oct 2017)

The transparent chain guard that came with my hybrid. It rattled, got in the way of doing any work on the gears, and gathered oil splashes on the inside that looked horrible but couldn't be cleaned without dismantling the thing.

Finally I removed it (which involved taking the BB out) and got rid.


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## Levo-Lon (11 Oct 2017)

J1888 said:


> They could be something that came with the bike, or something you bought afterwards. But what have you had on your bike that has made you think 'well, this is crap'.
> 
> For me, it's the Yksion Elite tyres that came with my Road Pro Carbon SLR. In terms of 'performance' I can't see how they're any better than the Vittoria Zaffiro ones that came with the old bike.
> 
> ...




I wont have aything i cant pronounce..wtf Is a yksion


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## bpsmith (11 Oct 2017)

I love it when people say that they don’t use half of the gears on their bike. Isn’t that the point though?

Use upper section of cassette with inner ring and the lower section with the outer ring surely?


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## Markymark (11 Oct 2017)

Clipless


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## J1888 (11 Oct 2017)

meta lon said:


> I wont have aything i cant pronounce..wtf Is a yksion



The come on the Ksyrium wheels...the 'K' is silent...to be fair maybe you're onto something!


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## Tin Pot (11 Oct 2017)

TT Bikes. Just everything is wrong with them, awkward, time consuming and a pain in the farking ass.


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## ColinJ (11 Oct 2017)

biggs682 said:


> All those extra gears we never had back in the day
> 
> Nothing wrong with 5 or 6


If you live in Northamptonshire ...


simongt said:


> Oh yes. Which is why I changed one bike's 21 speed derailleur for a 5 speed Sturmey and another 24 speed for an 8 speed Sturmey.  Just didn't use even half the gears available - ! When I were lad, anyone with a five speed derailleur road bike was the subject of envy and hate in equal measure. And anyone with a ten speed was simply envied and hated at a level only to be imagined - !


... or Norwich!


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## Welsh wheels (11 Oct 2017)

A Shimano Tourney groupset. Definitely showed why it is the cheapest groupset Shimano do. Shifting through those gears was like trying to swim in treacle.


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## Ming the Merciless (11 Oct 2017)

Crappy small pumps that involve 500 pumps to get your tyres to 50 psi. Bring back decent pumps and pegs on the frame to carry them.


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## Reynard (11 Oct 2017)

The saddle that came with my roadie. It was made by Torquemada.


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## slowmotion (11 Oct 2017)

Markymark said:


> Clipless


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## slowmotion (11 Oct 2017)

Front derailleurs. I never got the hang of adjusting the wretched things, and God knows I've tried. It seems totally hit and miss. Usually miss.


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## biggs682 (12 Oct 2017)

ColinJ said:


> If you live in Northamptonshire ...
> 
> ... or Norwich!
> 
> View attachment 378267



Yes we are blessed with a lack of "proper" hills which is a shame


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## Gary E (12 Oct 2017)

Drago said:


> The scrotum crushing gear lever on the Chopper MKI and II.



Sorry but you're dead wrong!!!

Risk of permanent damage to your manhood aside, they were possibly the coolest thing ever


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## GrumpyGregry (12 Oct 2017)

Drago said:


> The scrotum crushing gear lever on the Chopper MKI and II.


and the hub with the ever slipping second gear that would dump you on it.


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## Ajax Bay (12 Oct 2017)

raleighnut said:


> Un-adjustable 'Cartridge' BB's, especially square taper ones, why? just why?


Why (not)?


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## Threevok (12 Oct 2017)

GrumpyGregry said:


> and the hub with the ever slipping second gear that would dump you on it.



I always rode mine in third gear - which was hard - here in the valleys.

This was because I snapped the gear chain on mine the first day I had it. I thought one of the other boys had stolen it, but I discovered it 4 years later - Inside the hub.

When I finally did fix it, I could wheelie for miles in first gear, mostly due to my freakishly large leg muscles


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## MiK1138 (12 Oct 2017)

meta lon said:


> I wont have aything i cant pronounce..wtf Is a yksion


a Yksion is Mavic speak for a flimsy piece of rubber disguised as a tyre, these came on my new Ksyrium Elites and where replaced in less than 30 miles


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## presta (12 Oct 2017)

YukonBoy said:


> Bring back decent pumps and pegs on the frame to carry them.


Oh please. Yes pleaaaaaaaaaaaase.

I hung on to my old 1972 aluminium pump with the hose in the handle until it finally croaked a few years ago, and I've never found anything satisfactory to replace it with. (I made a pair of pump pegs to carry it when I bought a bike without them.)


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (12 Oct 2017)

Rim brakes


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## raleighnut (12 Oct 2017)

Ajax Bay said:


> Why (not)?


My Ridgeback after 17-18yrs and countless thousands of miles is still on the original BB, admittedly it has had 3-4 sets of bearing fitted (at a cost of £2 a pair) but it has no 'seals' and has been ridden in all weather conditions.


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## Cycleops (12 Oct 2017)

Anything anodised purple, yuk.


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## Threevok (12 Oct 2017)

Brake sets with hoses so long - you would need to trim them for a tandem


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## Tim Hall (12 Oct 2017)

presta said:


> Oh please. Yes pleaaaaaaaaaaaase.
> 
> I hung on to my old 1972 aluminium pump with the hose in the handle until it finally croaked a few years ago, and I've never found anything satisfactory to replace it with. (I made a pair of pump pegs to carry it when I bought a bike without them.)


Try either a Zefal HPX or a Topeak Road Masterblaster. Both are full length frame fit pumps that can achieve "proper" pressures.


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## presta (12 Oct 2017)

Tim Hall said:


> Try either a Zefal HPX or a Topeak Road Masterblaster. Both are full length frame fit pumps that can achieve "proper" pressures.


Frame fit are easy to find, the problem with them is that there's no hose. Zefal still sell plastic pumps with a hose in the handle, but they're aimed at the cheap end of the market: the hoses don't last, and the pump melts.


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## Reynard (12 Oct 2017)

Dogtrousers said:


> Yksiön means "of the studio" or "studio's" in Finnish if that helps.



In other words, a fancy way of saying "own brand"


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## Threevok (12 Oct 2017)

A flat for one ?

Poor choice of words for such a product, No ?


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## Reynard (12 Oct 2017)

Flat for one... Not very uplifting LOL


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## Chris S (12 Oct 2017)

Derailleurs - I'd rather have 3 hub gears that always work instead of 18 that don't.


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## GrumpyGregry (12 Oct 2017)

Dogtrousers said:


> Yksiön means "of the studio" or "studio's" in Finnish if that helps.


Great name for something that looks good in pictures but not so much on the road.


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## Drago (12 Oct 2017)

Hope hydraulics.


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## GuyBoden (12 Oct 2017)

Chris S said:


> Derailleurs - I'd rather have 3 hub gears that always work instead of 18 that don't.



Derailleurs need to be caressed with lube and a knowledge of how they function best.......................


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## gibgrth (12 Oct 2017)

Campagnolo overpriced and over engineered! SRAM Rival 22 and the Planet Rt 58 it was bolted to! Funkier clothing that doesn't last!


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## robjh (12 Oct 2017)

Dogtrousers said:


> Could be. Yksi means "one". Yksiö means a studio flat (a flat for one), I think, rather than an artist's studio. But I'm not really sure.
> It could just be a silly name that they invented.


I was going to say, humorously* that a two-room apartment must be a kaksiö. Then I found this








*and to show off a really very limited knowledge of Finnish


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## youngoldbloke (12 Oct 2017)

J1888 said:


> They could be something that came with the bike, or something you bought afterwards. But what have you had on your bike that has made you think 'well, this is crap'.
> 
> For me, it's the Yksion Elite tyres that came with my Road Pro Carbon SLR. In terms of 'performance' I can't see how they're any better than the Vittoria Zaffiro ones that came with the old bike.
> 
> ...


I've got Yksion Comp tyres on my winter bike, getting on for 1000 miles so far, no punctures, no complaints.


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## raleighnut (13 Oct 2017)

Dogtrousers said:


> Being really, really picky it should be kaksio not kaksiö (Vowel harmony: with or without dots)
> And yes, it would appear that there is such a thing as a kolmio but it stops there.
> 
> Staying massively off topic, I noticed in another thread I that Orbea make a bike called a katu. Katu means street in Finnish. Finnish is taking over the world.


Perkele.


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## Hugh Manatee (13 Oct 2017)

White bar tape. It could just be that I'm a grubby little Hector I suppose.


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## robjh (13 Oct 2017)

Dogtrousers said:


> Being really, really picky it should be kaksio not kaksiö (Vowel harmony: with or without dots)
> And yes, it would appear that there is such a thing as a kolmio but it stops there.
> 
> Staying massively off topic, I noticed in another thread I that Orbea make a bike called a katu. Katu means street in Finnish. Finnish is taking over the world.


You are absolutely right - it was me that typed in the ö, and google translate accepts it with or without. I tend to forget that in Finnish (as in Hungarian) an -i- may be ignored for vowel harmony.

I did notice though that this pattern (numeral+o/ö) carries on for three and four, giving kolmio=triangle and neliö=square. It seems to change from five though, as pentagon, hexagon are viisikulmio, kuusikulmio etc.

But yes we are getting OT here - maybe we need to start a Finnish vocabulary or Vowel Harmony thread


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## robjh (13 Oct 2017)

Returning to the subject of the OP, for me it's V brakes. Why does it take me so much fiddling, so often, to keep them running smoothly and evenly? With modern road bike caliper brakes I just centre them on the frame and they do the rest.


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## confusedcyclist (13 Oct 2017)

bolts that round off... GRRRR!!!


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## vickster (13 Oct 2017)

gibgrth said:


> Campagnolo overpriced and over engineered! SRAM Rival 22 and the Planet Rt 58 it was bolted to! Funkier clothing that doesn't last!


Rival 22 rocks


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## Ajax Bay (13 Oct 2017)

gibgrth said:


> Funkier clothing that doesn't last!


What type of garment? I've had serial gilets over 3 years: the translucent front/orange mesh rear panel ones. One good. One where the reflective strip peeled into tatters (has been sent back to invite a response/comment) and one where Funkier had seemed to go back to the original design, which is fine, a few 1000km in. All bought from my LBS.


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## J1888 (13 Oct 2017)

youngoldbloke said:


> I've got Yksion Comp tyres on my winter bike, getting on for 1000 miles so far, no punctures, no complaints.



Mibbees they're a better bet? The 'Elite' ones are truly rubbish.


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## MontyVeda (13 Oct 2017)

Toe clips & computer.

I used to have them but don't miss either one little bit.


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## J1888 (13 Oct 2017)

vickster said:


> Rival 22 rocks



S'all right. I've got it on my Boardman and it changes very reliably - quite a 'heavy' change of gear though, if that makes sense? Also, the hoods seem chunkier than the Tiagra ones I used previously.

EDIT: No, I don't have it on my boardman, I have Force!


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## confusedcyclist (13 Oct 2017)

MontyVeda said:


> Toe clips & computer.
> 
> I used to have them but don't miss either one little bit.


Just way more zen without the tech. SPDs are just too useful in hilly areas though.


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## MontyVeda (13 Oct 2017)

confusedcyclist said:


> Just way more zen without the tech. SPDs are just too useful in hilly areas though.


I used to think my toe-clips* were essential... it was only after buying some decent flat pedals that i realised they weren't.

*or any form of foot retention.


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## Threevok (13 Oct 2017)

Flat MTB pedals that eat the back of your legs (which is any decent flat pedal)


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## MichaelW2 (13 Oct 2017)

I have an adjustable leg rear luggage rack that just sucks but I can't get a normal one to fit. Adjustable racks are just a convenience for bike stores, I don't need to adjust my rack once fitted, I just need it to fit once.

Whilst I am here, can I bitch about the metalwork/cheese that comes supplied with modern full-length bolt-on mudguards. I have saved the old metalwork from 1990s ESGE/SKS versions and it is rock solid. Modern ones just split if you tighten them a tad too much.


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## Reynard (13 Oct 2017)

Hugh Manatee said:


> White bar tape. It could just be that I'm a grubby little Hector I suppose.



Yeah. Sort of. Especially after I managed to smear grease from my front QR skewer on it this morning.  Trouble is, white bar tape looks so goooooood on the bike.


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