15 worst MTB Products: how many can you score?

[Hugh Manatee]

There's a website I won't be bothering with again. Yesterday's must have is tomorrow's worst product.

 

[Threevok]

OK, I'll bite. What's wrong with fingerless gloves on a mtn bike?

They don't offer as much (if any) protection.

However, if (like me) most of your offs involve landing on your head or arse - who give a crap about looking like Sly Stallone in Cobra

Oh, and that Klein is very nice

 

[Ian H]

Bar-ends give me the only comfortable grip on straight bars.

The handlebar-crank drive is an old idea. There was one ridden to an end-to-end record in (I think) the 1920s, though in that case the bars drove the front wheel.

 

[Crackle]

They don't offer as much (if any) protection.

I'm not sure. They'll still protect your hands from abrasion in a crash and as I was reminded recently, stop you developing blisters on your palms on rough tracks which doesn't happen if you forget to pack them!

 

[fossyant]

I've just ordered new MTB bars for my old skool bike as they were cut down many years ago. They take a bit of getting used to when switching between a modern bike, so I'm going wider again (and I can fit the lights on better with the Garmin)

 

[Threevok]

I'm not sure. They'll still protect your hands from abrasion in a crash and as I was reminded recently, stop you developing blisters on your palms on rough tracks which doesn't happen if you forget to pack them!

True, although they don't protect your fingers at all.

Of course, if there are no trees or bushes along your intended route - a rap on the knuckles from a stray branch or bramble is of no concern.

As I mentioned, I wear mine all the time on my commute (in fine weather) - but I wouldn't dream of using them off road, at least around here

 

[KnackeredBike]

Love my fingerless gloves. Whenever I have had an off I have landed on my palms. If you land on your fingers I suspect you are buggered in ways that a full glove will not protect you against.

 

[guitarpete247]

My old Saracen Tufftrax ('87) is fitted with bar ends. I fitted them to give me different hand positions. I use fingerless gloves in summer.
One that isn't on the list is U brakes fitted beneath the chainstays. They collect plenty of mud.

 

[Drago]

I had bar ends, toe clips and fingerless gloves all at the same time. In fact everyone did back in the day. And that Klein is beautiful

Perhaps Im just old.

I had all the same gear too. I must respectfully disagree about the Klein though - it looks a mess to my eye, full of engineering mistakes. Eye of the beholder and all that though, no one is forcing me to ride one.

 

[Northern Jack]

One that isn't on the list is U brakes fitted beneath the chainstays. They collect plenty of mud.

Good call. I had them on my old Specialized Hardrock. Probably too long ago for these young journalists to remember. Always caked in crud. That location didn't do any favours for the cables either.

 

[Threevok]

You'd be surprised how many MTB bike manufacturers still have cables running in places where the ingress of water and mud would cause a problem.

There are some frames I avoid for this very reason

 

[Labradorofperception]

My first MTB, a 1990 Diamondback Response had those weird brahma bars. It was like trying to ride a spinning bike.

It also had toe clips but I changed to the Onza clipless pedals. They used elastomers instead of a spring, so in cold weather, when the elastomer effectively froze, you were doomed to follow the bike into whatever bramble patch or precipice it had decided to head for.

I still wear fingerless gloves, as do most of the lads I ride with. Even the ones on Yetis wear them and they're posing fannies.

 

[Alan O]

Bar ends? I have them (though pointing largely forward rather than up in the air like that picture) and I love them. Perhaps its the cycle-tourist in me, but they give me a more relaxing hand position on long-ish straight-ish sections (and also on the road/cyclepath sections that I use to travel between mudbaths).

And I use fingerless gloves during the summer - though not when icy winter water and mud is splashing over my dainty little pinkies.

I do agree about toe clips, though only as a no-no for MTBs (on touring bikes, with old-fashioned smooth-soled shoes and no cleats, they're still great). My first old clunker MTB years ago had plastic half-clips, cos I needed some way to keep my feet on the pedals. And I bought a pair last year intending to use them with my new (2nd hand) MTB, but it has DMR flat pedals with those grippy little pegs and they're brilliant.

 

[Motozulu]

My fingerless MTB gloves are ace - they have protection on the knuckles - they are great on hot days - winner.

 

[MontyVeda]

How come these aren't on the list?